How to Convert Eagle to KiCad — 2026 Migration Guide

Autodesk EAGLE Is Done — What Now

Autodesk announced EAGLE's discontinuation in 2023 and the final sunset lands June 7, 2026. New licenses are gone, subscription renewals are gone, and Autodesk is nudging everyone toward Fusion Electronics — a paid subscription bolted into Fusion 360. A lot of teams aren't happy with that pivot. The natural home for EAGLE projects is KiCad: open-source, free forever, actively developed, and since KiCad 6 it ships a native EAGLE importer that handles .brd boards, .sch schematics, and .lbr libraries out of the box. Here's what the migration actually looks like, where it breaks, and how to verify the result before trusting it.

What the Migration Actually Moves

EAGLE files are XML — .brd for the board, .sch for the schematic, .lbr for libraries. KiCad files are S-expressions — .kicad_pcb, .kicad_sch, .kicad_sym, .kicad_mod. KiCad's importer reads the EAGLE XML directly and emits the S-expression equivalents. What comes across: board outline, copper layers, tracks, vias, pads, zones (polygon pours), silkscreen, component placements, ratsnest, net names, and design rules. What needs a second pass: footprint library references (EAGLE packages vs KiCad footprints), 3D models (EAGLE doesn't ship them, KiCad expects .step or .wrl), and custom design-rule checks written in EAGLE's ULP scripting. Schematic symbols transfer but may land on KiCad's generic placeholders until you remap to real symbol libraries.

What KiCad's EAGLE Importer Handles

• Native built-in — File > Import > Non-KiCad Board/Schematic in KiCad 8. No plugin, no external tool, no subscription. Ships in the default install.
• Nets preserved — every wire, ratsnest connection, and net name carries over. This is the hard part of any PCB migration and the importer nails it.
• Layer stackup remapped — EAGLE's 16 copper layers map onto KiCad's 32-layer stackup automatically. Silkscreen, paste, mask, and keepout layers line up.
• Component placements kept — X/Y coordinates, rotation, side (top/bottom), and package name all transfer. You'll still need to remap package names to KiCad footprint library paths.
• Polygon pours converted — copper zones become KiCad zones with the same net assignment and clearance rules. Thermal connections preserved.
• Design rules imported — clearance, trace width, via sizes read from the EAGLE DRU file and populated in KiCad's board setup. Verify before fabricating.

How to Migrate in Five Steps

1. Open pcbviewer.app — drag your .brd file first to confirm it parses cleanly. If MakerSuite 3D reads it, KiCad will too.
2. Open KiCad 8.x, pick File > Import > Non-KiCad Board File, select your .brd. KiCad creates a matching .kicad_pcb in the same folder.
3. Import the schematic separately — File > Import > Non-KiCad Schematic/Project for the .sch. Run Tools > Update PCB from Schematic once both are in.
4. Remap footprint libraries — Tools > Footprint Editor > Global Library Nickname Substitution. EAGLE's library names won't match KiCad's; map them to the KiCad official libraries or to a converted .kicad_sym generated from the .lbr file.
5. Export the KiCad board to Gerber and drop the resulting zip back on MakerSuite 3D. Compare visually with the original EAGLE board — any layer drift, missing zones, or rotated parts show up immediately.

Why This Migration Has a Real Deadline

The June 7, 2026 sunset isn't marketing — after that date EAGLE stops activating new installs and existing installs lose access to the component library cloud service. You can keep the .exe running offline indefinitely, but new hires can't install, license transfers fail, and any team workflow that assumed cloud library sync breaks. Teams that delay past the sunset end up maintaining dead tooling instead of shipping boards. The right move is to convert the active projects now, pin one machine with an offline EAGLE install as a read-only archive, and spin up all new boards in KiCad from day one.

Who's Migrating and Why

• Autodesk sunset — primary driver for 2026; teams migrating before the June deadline to avoid workflow disruption
• License cost — EAGLE's Premium subscription was $65/month in its final year; KiCad is free with zero seat limits
• Open-source policy — companies with internal requirements for auditable, vendor-neutral CAD stacks switching to KiCad as policy
• Linux-native workflow — KiCad runs natively on Linux without Wine; Autodesk never shipped a Linux EAGLE build
• Git-friendly source control — KiCad's S-expression files diff in git cleanly; EAGLE XML works but is more verbose and noisier in code review

Verify the Conversion in Your Browser

PCB source files contain your full design IP. Uploading .brd or .kicad_pcb to a cloud viewer is a risk for NDA work. MakerSuite 3D parses both EAGLE and KiCad files entirely in your browser via JavaScript — no server, no upload, no cached copy. Drop the original EAGLE .brd on one tab, the converted .kicad_pcb on another, and compare side by side. Same parsing logic used internally by the importer developers, just ported to run client-side so your board never leaves the machine.