PLTW Digital Electronics
A Multisim Live Alternative for PLTW Digital Electronics
Updated August 11, 2026 · By Britt at CircuitSim · 6 min read
For years, Project Lead The Way's Digital Electronics course ran its circuit work in Multisim Live, in a browser tab, on whatever machines the classroom happened to have. Digilent, which manages Multisim Live today, is retiring the service on September 15, 2026, and PLTW's software page now says the Digital Electronics course "will use Multisim Desktop software as the primary circuit design software moving forward."
Multisim Desktop is capable software, and if your school runs Windows machines with an IT department that handles installs, it will serve the course well. Plenty of DE classrooms run on Chromebooks instead, and Multisim Desktop does not install on a Chromebook. For those rooms, the recommended path does not fit the hardware in students' hands.
CircuitSim exists for exactly this situation. CircuitSim is a browser-based circuit simulator with a real SPICE engine, it runs on Chromebooks with nothing to install, and it opens the files you download from Multisim Live. Sam and I worked on Multisim Live at NI before we left to build CircuitSim, so we are not a neutral party on this question. The rest of the page sticks to things you can verify yourself.
The school year and the shutdown do not line up
The calendar is what makes this urgent. Most DE sections start between early August and early September, and Multisim Live retires on September 15, a few weeks into the fall term. A class that begins the semester in Multisim Live has to switch tools mid-unit, so it is worth choosing the destination before the first day rather than after.
The dates Digilent has published
- August 1, 2026. Last day Digilent offered new monthly Multisim Live subscriptions. Yearly subscriptions were withdrawn before that.
- September 15, 2026. Multisim Live is retired. After this date Digilent does not guarantee access to saved designs.
- October 1, 2026. End of the courtesy access Digilent offered to NI Circuit Design Suite for affected subscribers.
Download the course circuits first
Whatever tool your program lands on, get the files out while Multisim Live is still running. Digilent's end-of-life notice says the company "does not guarantee the continued access" to Multisim Live data, including saved designs, after September 15, 2026. If a circuit lives in Multisim Live, download it, and that includes work saved under PLTW class groups.
Log in to Multisim Live, open each circuit, and use the download option to save the file locally. Have students download their own work too, or collect the files yourself if the class set is small. We wrote a step-by-step version with screenshots at Save your Multisim Live circuits.
The two paths PLTW lists, and where they pinch
Multisim Desktop is the primary path, and PLTW provides an installation guide for it. It is a deeper tool than Multisim Live ever was, with a full desktop analysis set. Multisim Desktop installs on Windows and is licensed per seat as professional software, so for students carrying Chromebooks it can only live in a computer lab.
Tinkercad Classroom appears on PLTW's software page under distance learning. Tinkercad runs in the browser and joins students to a class with a code, which is friendly. It is also built around breadboard prototyping and Arduino projects rather than circuit analysis. Tinkercad does not run SPICE, and it does not open the Multisim Live files a DE program has built up over the years.
What a DE classroom gets in CircuitSim
The parts a DE unit is built from. Logic gates, SR latches and JK flip-flops, 555 timers, seven-segment displays and the BCD decoders that drive them are all in the CircuitSim catalog, which holds 3,000+ parts. When a part is missing, the custom component studio takes SPICE model text pasted from a datasheet, or a KiCad symbol, and turns it into a part you can place and simulate like any other.
Students work without accounts. CircuitSim group licenses come with private student seats. A student clicks the seat link and is in the editor, with no account creation and no email address collected, so there is nothing for the district to provision. Private seats keep the classroom FERPA and COPPA compliant, which matters more in a high school than anywhere else. The longer version is at CircuitSim for educators and CircuitSim for schools.
Simulation students can put their hands on. Interactive simulation runs live, so a student can flip a switch and watch a latch hold or a display change while the SPICE engine is running. Six more analysis types cover the quantitative labs: interactive operating point, transient, AC sweep, DC operating point, DC sweep, and parameter sweep. DC sweep and parameter sweep are on the Standard plan and above.
Moving the circuits over
CircuitSim opens the files you download from Multisim Live. It accepts .csim, .ms14, and .msjs files, and a .zip if you want to bring a whole folder in at once, which is the sensible way to move a class set. The importer rebuilds each schematic as an editable, simulating circuit rather than a picture of one. Component placement and rotation, wiring and junctions, net labels, probes, text notes, and simulation settings all come through, and each component is mapped onto a simulating part in the CircuitSim catalog. A part with no match yet arrives as a marked placeholder, so nothing disappears in the move and you can swap it in place.
The importer is new, and CircuitSim labels it experimental inside the app for a reason. Import a circuit or two before the semester leans on it, compare them against the originals, and run the simulation once. If something comes through wrong, send us the file and we will look at it.
How the options compare
| CircuitSim | Multisim Desktop | Tinkercad Circuits | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Runs on a Chromebook | Yes | No, Windows installation | Yes |
| Simulation engine | SPICE, in the browser | SPICE | Own engine, not SPICE |
| Opens Multisim Live files | Yes | Yes | No |
| Analysis types | Seven, including DC sweep and parameter sweep | Full desktop analysis set | Interactive only |
| Component catalog | 3,000+ parts, plus a custom component studio | Large catalog | Breadboard parts and Arduino |
| Students without accounts | Yes, private seats in group licenses | No, installed per-seat licenses | Yes, class codes |
| Cost | Free Basic tier; group licenses for classrooms | Professional per-seat licensing | Free |
Basic is free and stays free. Standard is $2.99 per month or $30 per year, Premium is $8.99 per month or $90 per year, and classrooms use group licenses with bulk seat pricing instead of paying retail seat by seat. CircuitSim for schools has the numbers.
Questions from DE teachers
Can CircuitSim open circuits from a PLTW Multisim Live class?
Yes. Download each circuit from Multisim Live as a file (.csim, .ms14, or .msjs) and CircuitSim opens it, or zip a folder of files and import the batch. The downloading has to happen before September 15, 2026.
Does CircuitSim run on managed Chromebooks?
Yes. CircuitSim runs in the browser, so a managed Chromebook needs nothing installed and no admin rights. There is more detail at circuit simulator for Chromebooks.
Do my students need accounts?
No. CircuitSim group licenses include private student seats that work from a link, with no account creation and no email address collected. CircuitSim for schools has the details.
Does CircuitSim have the parts Digital Electronics uses?
Logic gates, latches and flip-flops, 555 timers, and seven-segment displays are in the 3,000+ part catalog, and the custom component studio covers parts that are not in it yet.
Is CircuitSim free?
The Basic tier is free and includes five saved circuits and five simulation types. Standard is $2.99 per month or $30 per year and adds DC sweep and parameter sweep. Premium is $8.99 per month or $90 per year. Classrooms use group licenses with bulk seat pricing.
Is CircuitSim affiliated with PLTW or NI?
No. CircuitSim is an independent product from Elsewhere Labs. Britt and Sam, who build CircuitSim, worked on Multisim Live at NI years ago, and CircuitSim has no affiliation with PLTW, NI, or Digilent.
More from CircuitSim: Save your Multisim Live circuits · Best Multisim alternative in 2026 · CircuitSim for educators · CircuitSim for schools · Circuit simulator for Chromebooks
PLTW and Project Lead The Way are trademarks of Project Lead The Way, Inc. Multisim and Multisim Live are trademarks of National Instruments (Emerson). Tinkercad is a trademark of Autodesk. CircuitSim is not affiliated with Project Lead The Way, National Instruments, Digilent, or Autodesk. Course software plans reflect PLTW's public software page and Digilent's announcements as of August 2026; confirm details with PLTW and Digilent.