cifertech/free-embedded-dev-tools

This repository is a curated list, not a piece of software you install. It collects free tools and services useful to people who build embedded systems, firmware, and physical electronics hardware, organized into clear categories with short notes on what is actually free versus what has limits. The categories cover the whole process of building a piece of hardware. There are tools for designing circuit boards, such as KiCad, EasyEDA, and LibrePCB, each noted for what is free and what restrictions apply, like account requirements or a cap on private projects. There are tools for debugging chips over JTAG and SWD connections, including OpenOCD and Black Magic Debug, plus notes on which debug probes are free only for non-commercial use. A simulation section lists tools like Wokwi and Renode that let someone test firmware behavior in a browser or on a simulated system before any physical hardware exists. Further sections list free or free-tier cloud backends for connecting devices to the internet, such as HiveMQ Cloud and Adafruit IO, along with their message and connection limits, and approaches for hosting firmware updates so devices can update themselves over the air, including a simple approach using GitHub Releases with no separate backend server required. There are also sections for continuous integration and automated firmware testing, logic analyzers for reading digital signals, and enclosure and 3D printing resources, with more categories continuing beyond what is captured here, based on the table of contents, including RF tools, component search engines, power supply design, and TinyML for running small AI models on embedded devices. Each entry in every table names the tool, states plainly what is free, and lists any limits or notes a builder should know before relying on it. The project accepts pull requests from anyone who wants to add another free tool, and it is released under the MIT license.