Mokxi and Fritzing, compared fairly
Fritzing is an open-source desktop tool for designing a circuit as a breadboard, a schematic and a PCB, with a simulator built on ngspice for simple circuits; it does not run microcontroller code. Mokxi is a live firmware and breadboard simulator in a browser tab. The two solve different halves of the same project, and this page says so plainly.
Last checked September 2026
- 505parts on the bench
- 45boards running now
- 1.00xreal time, on every board
The Mokxi editor running a tidy breadboard circuit, wired at the real 0.1 inch pitch, with its LED lit.
Where Fritzing leads
These are the strongest reasons to choose Fritzing today.
- Breadboard, schematic and PCB views of the same design, kept in sync, which is genuinely useful for documenting a build.
- A direct path from a design to an ordered, fabricated PCB through Fritzing Fab, run with AISLER.
- A built-in simulator, based on ngspice, for the DC and transient behavior of circuits whose parts carry SPICE models, aimed at beginners.
- Open source under the GPL, with a large community parts library, and widely used for publishing wiring diagrams.
Where Mokxi leads
These are working parts of Mokxi you can open and test for yourself.
- The microcontroller runs too: your C++ is built by a real clang and executes on a modeled chip, on any of 42 boards, which Fritzing’s simulator does not attempt.
- Bench instruments wired in as parts: a two-channel scope, a function generator, a multimeter, a bench supply and a logic analyzer.
- Free in a browser tab, with nothing to install and no account needed to start.
- A Schematic view and a two-layer, through-hole PCB view drawn from the same breadboard, with Gerber files on Pro. No surface mount parts yet, and no wiring-diagram community to match Fritzing’s.
Side by side
Last checked September 2026. If anything here has gone stale, that is our mistake and we want to know.
| Mokxi | Fritzing | |
|---|---|---|
| Aimed at | Running firmware and circuits together | Designing and documenting a circuit through to a PCB |
| Simulates | Firmware, digital logic and analog circuits, live | Simple circuits with SPICE models, DC and transient; no microcontroller code |
| Runs in | A browser tab | A Windows, macOS or Linux install |
| PCB fabrication | Two-layer through-hole boards: Gerber export on Pro. Mokxi does not make or order boards | Yes, through Fritzing Fab |
| Price | Free; paid plans for classes and more room | Open-source code; the official installers are sold for a one-time contribution |
Which one should you use
Straight answers. Where the other one is the right call, we say so.
You want to watch your code and circuit actually run
Mokxi. Fritzing’s simulator does not run microcontroller code.
You need a wiring diagram to publish or hand to someone else
Fritzing is built for exactly that.
You want to send a design off to be fabricated as a PCB
Either, for a simple through-hole board. Fritzing has the longer record and Fritzing Fab; Mokxi writes the Gerbers on Pro after the circuit has run.
You want to test a sketch before the parts arrive
Mokxi.
Import your Fritzing project
Drop the .fzz file on Mokxi’s import page. The breadboard view comes across: Fritzing’s core parts, including the Arduino Uno, Nano and Mega, resistors with their value, LEDs with their color, buttons, pots, capacitors, transistors, sensors, the 555 and the 74HC595, placed where they stood, every wire, and the code saved in the Code tab.
Two things change on the way. The breadboard itself is not brought across: the parts in each of its strips are joined by wires instead, which connects the same pins. And Fritzing’s schematic and PCB views are not read: Mokxi draws its own Schematic and PCB views from the breadboard instead. A part from another library becomes a labeled note, and the report lists every connection it had.
Compare the other options
The same straight comparison for the tools teachers, students and makers also consider.
In short
Can I import my Fritzing projects?
Yes, the breadboard view. Drop the .fzz on the import page: the core parts, the wires and the sketch from the Code tab come across, and a report names anything that did not. The schematic and PCB views are not read.
Should I use Mokxi if you want to watch your code and circuit actually run?
Mokxi. Fritzing’s simulator does not run microcontroller code.
Should I use Mokxi if you need a wiring diagram to publish or hand to someone else?
Fritzing is built for exactly that.
Should I use Mokxi if you want to send a design off to be fabricated as a pcb?
Either, for a simple through-hole board. Fritzing has the longer record and Fritzing Fab; Mokxi writes the Gerbers on Pro after the circuit has run.
Should I use Mokxi if you want to test a sketch before the parts arrive?
Mokxi.
Try it yourself
A comparison page is somebody else’s opinion. Open the editor, press Run and make up your own mind.