Stillwind
Stillwind turns plain-English electrical requirements into source-backed component search and validated BOMs, plus on-demand PCB footprints
The functional-search hook is the real draw: describing a part by behavior beats filter archaeology, and page-level datasheet citations make results auditable. Builder is the ambitious bet — idea-to-validated-BOM in minutes changes your early concept loop if the beta holds up on messy designs. The library service is the sleeper: fixing non-compliant footprints is a pain almost nobody sells into cleanly.
Verified 10h ago · liveness 66/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/stillwind
- Electrical engineers who can describe a part's function but not its MPN
- PCB designers needing source-backed specs and footprint-matching alternatives
- Hardware teams exploring early-stage BOM composition from a plain-English concept
- Engineering orgs with inherited or merged libraries full of non-compliant footprints
- Procurement teams needing live pricing and stock levels — Stillwind links out instead
- Anyone wanting to buy parts directly; it is a discovery and validation layer
- OrCAD, Allegro, PADS, Eagle or Xpedition users — KiCad and Altium only today
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Skip Stillwind if you need live distributor pricing and stock levels or a way to purchase parts — it links out to suppliers instead of quoting them, and the database covers electronics components only.
AI Librarian as a Service is quoted custom, so library size, part complexity and house-style rules all feed into the scope before you see a number
Compare Stillwind against free distributor search (Digi-Key, Mouser, Octopart), which costs nothing but gives you a supplier-shaped catalog rather than a datasheet-cited answer. Stillwind's value shows up in engineering hours: part discovery, footprint-matching cross-references, and prompt-to-BOM drafting. The AI Librarian service is quoted custom, so its economics depend on how many non-compliant footprints you are carrying.
In short
Stillwind — Stillwind turns plain-English electrical requirements into source-backed component search and validated BOMs, plus on-demand PCB footprints. Best for Electrical engineers who can describe a part's function but not its MPN, PCB designers needing source-backed specs and footprint-matching alternatives, Hardware teams exploring early-stage BOM composition from a plain-English concept. Free to use.
What's new in Stillwind
Checked 5 days agoAcross the latest 2 updates: 1 feature update and 1 launch.
Stillwind Builder - From Idea to BOM in the order of minutes
Stillwind Builder launched as a design copilot that generates validated BOMs from natural language prompts in the order of minutes, formalizing a functional spec into mathematical constraints and matching them to real parts.
Stillwind Search - High resolution component search for PCBs
Introduced high-resolution component search for PCBs, improving recall on dense board designs where generic part search tends to miss matches.
What people actually say about Stillwind — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
32 mentions across 3 sources (Hacker News, YouTube, Bluesky) · researched Jul 28, 2026.
Average across the 3 sources that answered — each source counts once, not each post.
- +Natural language search accepts complex spec constraints like voltage range and interface count.
- +Hybrid search combines semantic and parametric queries for more relevant part matches.
- +Indexes over 75 million parts from multiple suppliers in one place.
- +Stillwind Builder auto-generates BOM from a natural language project description.
- +Free to use with no credit card required.
- −No independent user reviews exist to verify real-world accuracy or reliability.
- −Lacks pricing and stock data, making it incomplete for procurement decisions.
- −Builder feature is beta and outputs may need manual correction.
- −No CAD or BOM tool integrations (Altium, KiCad, etc.) break workflow.
- −Community adoption seems extremely low after a year of availability.
- • No hidden costs identified — the tool is genuinely free at this stage.
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is Stillwind? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: October 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Natural language component search from functional descriptions
- Hybrid semantic + parametric querying in a single prompt
- Page-level datasheet references for spec validation
- Stillwind Builder: prompt a board concept and get a validated BOM (launched June 2026)
- Formalizes a functional spec into mathematical constraints
- High-resolution component search for dense PCB designs (June 2026)
- Footprint and symbol generation built to your library standard
- Most library parts delivered within an hour, all within 24 hours
- Pin-to-pad verification on every part before delivery
- KiCad and Altium output, with 3D models on request
- KiCad sync on macOS, Linux and Windows
- API and MCP server for pulling parts from your own scripts and agents
- Versioned library standard with naming, courtyard, silkscreen and pin conventions
- Web application with pre-built example queries (MCU, buck converter, SAW filter)
About Stillwind
Stillwind is an AI copilot for electronics part selection and PCB library work, aimed at electrical engineers, PCB designers, and hardware teams tired of digging through distributor filter trees. Send it a plain-English description of what a part needs to do — electrical behavior, constraints, package — and it resolves semantic and parametric requirements against its component database, returning matches with page-level datasheet references you can check rather than trust. The company reports millions of parts indexed across thousands of manufacturers. Three offerings sit under the stillwind.ai roof. Search handles functional part discovery. Stillwind Builder (launched June 30, 2026) takes a board concept, formalizes the functional spec into mathematical constraints, matches them to real components, and serves a semantically-validated BOM in the order of minutes. A June 11, 2026 update added high-resolution component search for dense PCB designs, improving recall where generic search misses matches. The third piece is a library service: send manufacturer part numbers, get KiCad or Altium footprints and symbols back built to your library rules. Most parts land within an hour, all within 24 hours, with every part checked pin-to-pad before shipping. You download from a portal, sync into KiCad on macOS, Linux and Windows, or pull parts through an API and MCP server; Altium files ship with every part. 3D models come on request. Stillwind doesn't sell parts. It sits as a discovery and validation layer above Digi-Key, Mouser and Octopart rather than replacing them — a positioning that matters when your procurement data still lives in the distributor's catalog.
Behind the Verdict
We'd reach for Stillwind when the bottleneck is the first hour of part selection — you know the function and the constraints but not the MPN, and a distributor's parametric filters keep returning the same ten obvious parts. Typing the requirement in English and getting cited matches back is a genuinely faster loop than building a filter tree. Builder is where the ambition lives. Turning a functional spec into mathematical constraints, then matching those to real components for a validated BOM, is the workflow that eats most of a week on a fresh board concept. Treat the beta as a drafting aid, though: an AI-assembled BOM still wants an engineer's eye on derating, availability and second sources before anyone signs off. The library service is the one I'd trial first if your feet hurt. Send three part numbers, get footprints built to your standard plus a report comparing them against what you use now. Most parts back within an hour, all within 24 hours, every one checked pin-to-pad. If your team already has a librarian, they stay in charge of the standard and Stillwind absorbs the volume of new parts. Watch the toolchain limits. KiCad and Altium are covered; OrCAD, Allegro, PADS, Eagle and Xpedition aren't, so Cadence and Mentor shops should confirm before committing. And Stillwind doesn't sell parts — it links out. You still pull live pricing and stock from Digi-Key or Mouser, so treat it as a front-end for discovery, not a procurement system. Compared with Octopart, which is a catalog with strong pricing data, Stillwind leans into semantic search and library generation. Compared with handing parts to a contract librarian, the pitch is speed and a versioned standard rather than a person you email. Different jobs, and for early-stage hardware teams the combination is
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Stillwind actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
You know the function but not the MPN — a buck converter needed at 12V to 3.3V, 3A, integrated FETs, and you do not want to click through distributor filter trees.
Outcome: One plain-English query against the proprietary database returns candidate parts with source-backed specs and page-level datasheet references, so you can check the numbers rather than trust a summary.
A chosen part is unavailable and you need a footprint-compatible alternative before the layout freezes.
Outcome: Footprint-matching alternative suggestions across suppliers compress the cross-reference work, and the high-resolution component search added in June 2026 helps recall hold up on a dense board.
The team has a plain-English concept — a BLE air-quality sensor board with charging — and needs an early BOM to sanity-check cost and feasibility.
Outcome: Stillwind Builder formalizes the system constraints into mathematical ones, matches them to real parts, and serves a semantically-validated BOM in the order of minutes, giving you a draft to critique.
Use Cases
- Find a microcontroller with JPEG encoder, CSI interface, and 8+ PWM channels
- Locate a buck converter that converts 12V to 3.3V at 3A with integrated FETs
- Discover SMD SAW filters for the 2.4 GHz ISM band
- Search for shielded power inductors with 4.7µH and 5A saturation current
- Identify an integrated heartbeat sensor chip for wearable designs
- Generate a BOM for a battery-powered GPS asset tracker from a prompt
- Design a BLE air-quality sensor board with charging using Builder beta
- Rebuild an inherited component library so every footprint is spec compliant
Limitations
- Stillwind's live site markets a PCB library service: you send manufacturer part numbers and receive KiCad or Altium footprints and symbols built to your library rules, with most parts returned within an hour and all within 24 hours.
- A free trial covers 3 part numbers.
- The site's own pages describe the library/footprint service, while Stillwind Search and Stillwind Builder (a BOM-generating design copilot) are documented only as blog launch announcements, so their current availability and limits are not verifiable from this evidence.
- No underlying AI model names appear anywhere in the scraped evidence.
as of 2026-10-04
Verification history
We have re-verified Stillwind 11 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Showing the 6 most recent of 11 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published Stillwind tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free trial
$0
Library service (custom)
Custom
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Stillwind's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Compare Stillwind against free distributor search (Digi-Key, Mouser, Octopart), which costs nothing but gives you a supplier-shaped catalog rather than a datasheet-cited answer. Stillwind's value shows up in engineering hours: part discovery, footprint-matching cross-references, and prompt-to-BOM drafting. The AI Librarian service is quoted custom, so its economics depend on how many non-compliant footprints you are carrying.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Stillwind — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Search: minutes — open the web app and type a functional description, or start from a pre-built example query for an MCU, buck converter, or SAW filter. Builder beta: minutes to a draft BOM from a prompt, plus your own review time. AI Librarian as a Service: send your library and footprints are returned as usable within 30 minutes per part, with library-wide scope depending on component count.
Switching to or from Stillwind
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From distributor filter search (Digi-Key, Mouser): start with a functional description instead of a filter tree, then use the returned datasheet page references to confirm specs
- →From Octopart: run the same part hunt as a semantic plus parametric query and use footprint-matching alternatives to widen the candidate set beyond one catalog
- →From a spreadsheet of candidate MPNs: rebuild the shortlist by describing the required electrical behavior and constraints rather than the part number
- →From an inherited or merged footprint library: hand it to AI Librarian as a Service for a datasheet-sourced rebuild with two-AI verification
- →From manual datasheet reading: use page-level references to jump straight to the spec you need to check
- ↗To a distributor (Digi-Key, Mouser): take your Stillwind shortlist with its source-backed specs and datasheet page references into the catalog to check live pricing and stock
- ↗To Octopart: use it when you need supplier-side availability alongside the functional search you already ran
- ↗To your PCB tool's footprint library: import the AI Librarian deliverables rebuilt from datasheets and manufacturer drawings
- ↗To your in-house library rules: keep the house-style and ERP metadata conventions Stillwind matched when maintaining footprints afterwards
- ↗To a manual review pass: verify Builder beta BOM output against datasheet pages before it goes into a release
Integrations
Resources & Guides
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “Stillwind”, and we withheld 6: 6 could not be judged, because “Stillwind” is a single word that other videos use for other things. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about Stillwind.
Official links
Tools that pair well with Stillwind
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Stillwind, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Featured Head-to-Head Comparisons
Stillwind vs Spider Cloud
These tools serve completely different purposes. Choose Stillwind if you need to find electronic components using natural language queries – it's free and purpose-built for engineers. Choose Spider Cloud if you need a high-performance web crawling and scraping API for AI agents, RAG pipelines, or LLMs – it's cost-effective with advanced features like AI extraction and unblocker.
Stillwind vs Screenplayiq
ScreenplayIQ and Stillwind serve completely different domains—one for film industry financial predictions, one for electronic component discovery. Let your profession decide: if you're a screenwriter or producer needing marketability analysis, ScreenplayIQ is the only relevant choice (though paid tiers may be costly). If you're an engineer sourcing parts, Stillwind is free and excels with its high-resolution PCB search launched June 2026. There's no direct competition, so pick based on your field.
Stillwind vs Temporal Ai
Both tools shine in completely separate domains. Temporal AI is the go-to for teams needing bulletproof workflow orchestration with automatic retries and human-in-the-loop, but it's overkill for simple tasks. Stillwind is a niche free tool that excels at finding electronic components from vague descriptions, though it lacks integrations and enterprise support. Choose based on your problem: reliability vs. component discovery.
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