The best KiCad plugins worth installing

KiCad ships with a lot in the box, but its Plugin and Content Manager (PCM) is where the ecosystem really opens up: panelizers, interactive BOMs, one-click fab exports, layout automation, and autorouting. The catch is that the list changes constantly, and several jobs that used to need a plugin are now built in. Here's an honest roundup of what's actually worth installing.

Short answer: Install Interactive HTML BOM and a JLCPCB fab plugin (Fabrication Toolkit) first — they save time on every board. Add KiKit for panelization, Board2Pdf for documentation, and Replicate Layout if you do repeated blocks. Skip teardrop and length-tuning plugins: KiCad does both natively now.

How the Plugin and Content Manager works#

The PCM is built into KiCad. Open it from the project window (or press Ctrl+M), browse or search, click Install, then Apply Pending Changes. It handles Python plugins, symbol and footprint libraries, color themes, and 3D models — all distributed as versioned ZIP packages from the official repository, which serves the right build for your KiCad version automatically. You can also add third-party repositories if a plugin isn't in the official one.

One important caveat before you go plugin-hunting: some things that once required a plugin are now native. Teardrops have been built in since KiCad 7 (configured in Board Setup, with separate settings for round pads, rectangular pads, and track-to-track), and length- and delay-tuning patterns are part of the interactive router. If you find an old tutorial recommending a teardrop or round-track plugin, you probably don't need it — check the native router features first. Install plugins for what KiCad genuinely doesn't do, not for what it now does out of the box.

Manufacturing and fab prep#

This is where plugins pay for themselves fastest, because assembling a clean, manufacturer-ready output set by hand is tedious and error-prone.

Fabrication Toolkit (by bennymeg) exports Gerbers, the BOM, and the pick-and-place (CPL) file all in JLCPCB's required format in a single click, with automatic component-position translation. It reads an LCSC part-number field from your symbols so assembly parts map correctly. It's in the PCM — search "Fabrication Toolkit." If you regularly send boards to JLCPCB, this removes the most repetitive step in the whole flow. (See our guide to the JLCPCB BOM and CPL format for what those files need to contain.)

kicad-jlcpcb-tools (by Bouni) approaches the same problem from the component side: it searches JLCPCB's parts database from inside KiCad, assigns LCSC numbers to footprints, shows stock and price, and generates assembly-ready BOM and CPL files. Installable via the PCM. It pairs naturally with Fabrication Toolkit — one finds parts, the other packages the output.

KiKit is the panelization powerhouse. It arranges boards into a grid with mousebites or V-cuts, adds frames, tooling holes, fiducials, and tabs, and can export manufacturing data from manufacturer presets. Crucially, it's repeatable: change your board and regenerate the panel instead of hand-editing an appended layout. KiKit is a plugin (in the PCM) and also a command-line tool. If you're new to it, start with our KiCad panelization walkthrough.

Documentation and BOM#

Interactive HTML BOM (iBOM) is the plugin almost everyone recommends first. It generates a self-contained HTML file with a searchable BOM alongside a rendered board; click a line and the part highlights on the PCB. For hand-soldering a prototype or handing an assembler a visual reference, nothing built into KiCad matches it. Two-click install from the PCM.

Board2Pdf creates clean, vector, searchable PDF fabrication documentation. You define templates — which layers to show, in which colors — and each template becomes a page, so you can produce a full fab/assembly drawing set in one export. It's in the PCM; note that the 2.x line uses KiCad 9's newer IPC API while the 1.9.x line still supports v6–v9. This is the closest KiCad gets to Altium's Draftsman-style documentation without leaving the tool.

Layout productivity#

Replicate Layout (by MitjaNemec) duplicates a placed-and-routed layout block across hierarchical sheets that share the same schematic structure — ideal for multi-channel designs, LED arrays, or anything with repeated circuitry. Lay out one channel, replicate it to the rest. Available in the PCM.

The same author maintains a set of small action plugins worth knowing: Place Footprints (arrange parts in patterns), Save/Restore Layout, and Archive 3D Models (bundle referenced STEP/WRL models into the project so nothing goes missing when you share it). These are quality-of-life tools rather than headline features, but they smooth over real annoyances. If 3D models are your concern, also see our note on STEP export from KiCad.

Niche, RF and routing#

Freerouting integration brings a mature autorouter to KiCad. The plugin (installable via the PCM) automates the round-trip: it exports the Specctra DSN, runs the router, and imports the resulting SES session back into your board. It's not a substitute for careful manual routing on critical nets, but it's genuinely useful for dense, low-stakes connectivity. We cover the workflow and its limits in using Freerouting with KiCad.

RF tools exist as plugin packages too — footprint wizards, via fencing/stitching, coil and round-track generators, and mask-expansion helpers aimed at RF and microwave layout. These are more specialized; install them only if your work needs them.

Quick comparison#

Where plugins stop and automation begins#

Notice a pattern: a lot of the most-installed plugins — Fabrication Toolkit, kicad-jlcpcb-tools, KiKit's export, Board2Pdf — exist because turning a finished board into a clean, complete manufacturing package by hand is tedious and easy to get wrong. They make that manual step faster, but it's still a step you run yourself, every revision, and remember to run consistently.

That's the gap GoForFab closes, and it's complementary to these plugins rather than a replacement. Connect a KiCad project and every push regenerates the full package automatically — Gerbers, BOM, CPL, DRC/ERC reports, and 3D renders — so your outputs are always current and reproducible without anyone clicking "Generate." It's free forever for the core pipeline. Keep the plugins you love for interactive, in-editor work; let the automation handle the repetitive export-and-package chore.

Bottom line: start with Interactive HTML BOM and a JLCPCB fab plugin, add KiKit and Board2Pdf as your needs grow, and don't install a plugin for teardrops or length tuning — KiCad already has them.

Sources: KiCad Addons documentation, awesome-kicad plugin list, Fabrication Toolkit, Board2Pdf