KiCad Development Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know what will be in the next KiCad release?

Feature requests that are implemented by the feature freeze date will make it in. To see which features have a chance of making it in, see which have a developer assigned and are assigned to the next release milestone. This does not guarantee that the feature will be in the next release, but gives an indication of what we are working on currently.

You can see a list of feature requests that were already committed to the development branch via this GitLab search although it is important to note that not all new features have a corresponding GitLab issue, so this is not a complete listing of all new features.

How do we decide what features to work on next?

Developers choose what to work on based on their own personal interests, their availability, and the popularity of feature requests. A less-popular feature request may be implemented before a more-popular feature request for a number of reasons, including ease of implementation and availability of developers who are interested in working on it.

Most features in KiCad are implemented by volunteers who choose to work on the particular feature (rather than being sponsored in some way). The best way to support a feature getting prioritized is to vote for its GitLab issue

A feature I am waiting for was targeted for the next release milestone, but then the milestone was changed or removed. What happened?

The KiCad team changes our plans dynamically based on the availability of our volunteer developers and other factors. Sometimes this means that we decide to delay a feature in order to get the next stable release of KiCad out in a reasonable amount of time.

How can I make sure a certain feature I need makes it into the next release?

You can inquire with KiCad Services Corporation about contracted development work. They will be able to advise on the cost and timeline for your desired feature.