What Flux is
Flux is an AI hardware engineer for your team. Give it a product requirement and it designs the electronics, mechanical parts, and firmware in one live project. Flux checks its work and provides manufacturing files for review.
Flux vs Gemini: Research and answers in chat. A complete device in one project.
Gemini helps teams work with information, uploaded documents, and generated content. Flux turns a hardware requirement into an electronics and mechanical design that the team can review in one live project.
What Flux and Gemini are
What Gemini is
Gemini is Google's AI assistant for web and mobile. It can summarize uploaded documents, help with coding and writing, and generate images.[1]
Google AI plans include Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems, and image generation. Deep Research can analyze hundreds of sources and prepare a report. Supported uploads can include documents up to 1,500 pages.[2]
What Gemini does
Research from many sources
Deep Research analyzes hundreds of sources and prepares a report for review.[2]
Work with long documents
Google AI Pro and Ultra include uploads of up to 1,500 pages.[2]
Use interactive assistant tools
Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems, and image generation support different ways to work with the assistant.[2]
Same models. Built-in tools for hardware design.
Gemini helps with research, writing, coding questions, and image generation. Flux also runs Gemini models from Google. It adds one project for the schematic, PCB, mechanical design, firmware, and manufacturing files. Flux checks the design with simulation and design rules before the team reviews it.
| Feature | Flux | Gemini |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements and specification | The AI engineer turns your idea into requirements and a product specification, and checks the design against them. | Summarizes documents and responds to prompts.[1] |
| What it is | AI hardware engineer with its own design tools | Google's AI assistant for web and mobile.[1] |
| Where it runs | In your web browser. Nothing to install. Your projects live in the cloud. | Gemini app on web and mobile.[1] |
| Who does the design work | The Flux agent. Your engineers review and edit. | People ask questions, request writing, or upload documents.[1] |
| Schematic and parts | Built in. Picks from 734,000+ public parts. | No built-in schematic design workspace.[1] |
| Board layout and routing | Built in | No built-in board layout and routing workspace.[1] |
| Placement and routing | The AI engineer places the parts and routes the board like an experienced designer. Your engineers review and edit. | No built-in PCB trace-routing tools.[1] |
| High-speed design | The AI engineer routes differential pairs, tunes lengths, and sets trace impedance from your stackup. Your engineers review and edit. | No built-in PCB signal-integrity analysis.[1] |
| Parts and sourcing | 734,000+ public parts, with live prices and stock from distributors | No built-in electronics parts library.[1] |
| Simulation and design rule checks | SPICE, electromagnetic, thermal, and mechanical simulation, plus design rule checks | No built-in hardware simulation workspace.[1] |
| Firmware | Writes firmware for the board it designed | Provides coding help in chat.[1] |
| Wiring harnesses | Built in. Flux designs the wiring harnesses between the boards: connectors, pinouts, and wires, in the same project. | No built-in wire-harness design workspace.[1] |
| Manufacturing files | Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, pick-and-place, and more | No built-in hardware manufacturing-file workflow.[1] |
| Quotes and orders | Quotes and orders for boards, 3D printing, CNC machining, and wire harnesses, from the project. | No built-in hardware quoting or ordering workflow.[1] |
| Import from other tools | Imports complete projects from Altium, OrCAD and Allegro, KiCad, PADS and Xpedition, CADSTAR, Eagle, Fusion Electronics, EasyEDA, DipTrace, and SOLIDWORKS PCB. Flux imports Labcenter Proteus SDF netlists with Specctra board exports. IPC-2581 revision B and C files become board projects with reusable footprint parts. | No built-in EDA project importer.[1] |
| Versions, branches, and merges | Full change history. The AI engineer forks a design into a second version, keeps both, and merges the changes that you pick. | No native hardware design version history.[1] |
| Who reviews the work | The whole team, in one live project in the browser: electrical, layout, mechanical, and firmware engineers | You prompt the assistant and review its responses.[1] |
| Product images, videos, and documents | Product images, product videos, datasheets, and regulatory documents, made from the design in the project. | Writing, image generation, and document summaries.[1] |
| Mechanical CAD | Built in, kernel agnostic. From an enclosure to a complete robot arm. | No built-in mechanical CAD design workspace.[1] |
| Mechanical simulation | Finite-element stress, thermal, and airflow simulation | No built-in mechanical simulation workspace.[1] |
| Mechanical manufacturing | STEP, STL, and 3MF files, plus quotes for 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal, and laser cutting | No built-in mechanical manufacturing workflow.[1] |
| CNC toolpaths and G-code | The AI engineer writes the toolpaths, the G-code, a toolpath preview, and a setup sheet for the parts that it designed. | No built-in CNC toolpath or G-code workflow.[1] |
| AI models | Frontier models from several providers, including Gemini, Claude, and OpenAI models | Gemini models[2] |
| Tool licenses | Included in your Flux plan: the editor, mechanical CAD, parts data, simulation, and manufacturing files. Nothing else to buy. | Free, Google AI Plus, Google AI Pro, and Google AI Ultra plans.[2] |
| Team knowledge and rules | Written once for the whole organization. Every AI engineer applies it on every project, and Flux checks every design against your rules. | Gems and uploads of up to 1,500 pages.[2] |
| Parallel work | A lead AI engineer splits a product into workstreams across projects, runs them at the same time, and reports back. Large changes wait for your approval. | Jules is an asynchronous coding agent on paid plans.[2] |
Orchestration
Keep the complete device on one brief.
Give Flux a product requirement. The electrical design, enclosure, and firmware stay connected while the team reviews progress.
One product requirement
Flux keeps the board and its mechanical parts aligned with the same design goal.
Parallel project work
Work on boards and physical parts can progress at the same time inside Flux.
Review from one place
Your team can inspect the design and its status in a shared live project.
Keep design decisions visible
Comments, revisions, and design context stay with the project.
A board and its enclosure
Flux keeps the board outline, mounting holes, connectors, and matching enclosure openings in one project. Your engineers can review the electrical and mechanical design together.
Built for teams
Give engineers one live hardware project.
Your team can work in Flux from a browser, with engineers and reviewers sharing the same project.
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Shared projects
Keep each design, revision, and comment in one cloud workspace.
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Shared engineering context
Keep team parts, design rules, and past decisions with the project.
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AI support across the team
Review the AI engineer's work and continue from a teammate's project.
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Browser-based access
Open a project link to start working without installing local CAD software.
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Talk to Flux
Speak with the AI hardware engineer from a computer or phone.
Customizable
Apply your team's engineering standards.
Give Flux your design rules and connect the services your engineering team uses.
Team knowledge
Record design guidance and approved parts so the team can use them across projects.
Your rules
Set layout requirements and fabricator limits, then check designs against them.
Connected services
Use MCP servers and web APIs to connect existing tools to Flux.
Protected keys
Admins can manage API keys for the organization while keeping them private from the AI engineer.
Interactive project pages
Build a live project page for a power budget, bring-up checklist, or 3D assembly.
Flux in AI tools
Use Flux through Claude Code, Cursor, or another MCP-compatible agent.
Connect the services your team already uses.
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Onshape -
Autodesk Fusion -
PTC Windchill -
Siemens Teamcenter -
Arena PLM -
OpenBOM -
Duro -
GitHub -
GitLab -
Memfault -
Golioth -
Particle -
Nordic nRF Cloud -
Edge Impulse -
NI SystemLink -
SimScale -
Octopart -
SiliconExpert
Turn research into a complete hardware design
Start with the product requirement
Flux carries a requirement into an electrical and mechanical design, then keeps the work in one project for your team.
Keep the design in one workspace
Schematic, PCB, enclosure, firmware, and manufacturing files stay together instead of moving across separate tools.
Use built-in engineering tools
Flux includes an editor, design checks, simulation, import support, and manufacturing outputs in the same product.
Choose from 734,000+ public parts
Flux parts data includes live distributor information, so your design work connects to current sourcing details.
Check the work before release
Flux uses simulation, design rule checks, and datasheet verification before your engineers review a design.
Review the same live project
Engineers and reviewers can collaborate in a shared project with organization access controls.
Model-agnostic AI
Use Gemini models for hardware design
Flux runs frontier models from several providers, including Gemini, Claude, and OpenAI models. Adaptive model selection chooses a capable model for each engineering task. This gives your team frontier performance at 30% lower cost.
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Google Gemini
- More as they ship
Frontier performance at 30% lower cost.
Flux selects a capable model for each engineering task while considering its cost. Your team works in one hardware project and can use frontier models from several providers.
Frontier AI models
- Reasoning
- Planning
- Language
Flux engineering harness
- CAD and EDA tools
- Project context
- Simulation
- Design rules
Working hardware
- Schematics
- Boards
- Enclosures
- Firmware
- Fab files
- Product videos
Use Gemini inside Flux
Bring Gemini models from Google into the same workspace as the schematic, board, enclosure, and firmware.
Keep engineering tools connected
Models work with Flux design tools, project context, and standard hardware flows.
Adopt newer models in place
Your team can use updated models without moving projects to a different design environment.
Keep provider choice open
Flux works with frontier models from multiple providers, so a design does not depend on one model vendor.
Match the model to the work
Adaptive model selection chooses a capable option for the engineering task and its cost.
One platform
One AI engineer for every part of the product.
Gemini can help teams research and write. Flux carries hardware requirements through the electrical and mechanical design in one project.
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Electrical engineering
Turn product requirements into component choices, schematics, and circuit simulation.
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PCB layout
Place and route components, set the layer stack, and check board rules.
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Mechanical design
Create enclosures, brackets, and mounts that fit board holes and connectors. Import STEP models and use the shared parts library for chips, screws, and standoffs.
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Firmware
Write firmware for the board, then build, analyze, and unit test it.
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Manufacturing
Source parts, request fabrication quotes, and produce files for boards, assemblies, and cables.
Verification lab
Check the design before manufacturing.
Flux checks its work with engineering simulation and design rules before it delivers manufacturing files.
Circuit simulation
Run and analyze SPICE simulations for analog, power, and mixed-signal circuits.
Electromagnetic simulation
Check the routed board for impedance, S-parameters, crosstalk, and antenna behavior.
Thermal simulation
Analyze heat and airflow across boards and enclosures before fabrication.
Fluid simulation
Study airflow and cooling within an enclosure before building a prototype.
Mechanical simulation
Evaluate stress in brackets, enclosures, and mounting parts.
Design rule checks
Check schematics and boards against electrical and manufacturing rules.
Datasheet verification
Check component choices against datasheet pinouts, ratings, and operating limits.
Sourcing
Source electronic and mechanical parts.
Flux checks live distributor data, compares supplier pricing, and supports parts selection for the complete device.
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Digi-Key -
LCSC -
Mouser -
Arrow -
Verical -
TME -
HQonline -
McMaster-Carr -
MISUMI -
JLCMC
Manufacturing
Prepare manufacturing outputs with the design.
Flux can request live quotes for board fabrication, assembly, cables, and mechanical processes as the design changes.
Circuit boards and assembly
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JLCPCB -
PCBWay -
OSH Park -
AISLER
Mechanical parts
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Craftcloud - JLC 3D printing
- PCBWay 3D printing
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Shapeways -
OSH Cut -
SendCutSend
Cables and wiring harnesses
-
MiniProto
Keep your designs under your control.
- SOC 2-aligned cloud infrastructure
- Single sign-on for your organization
- Project-level access permissions
- Design inputs and outputs remain your intellectual property
- Flux does not train on customer data
Flux pricing
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Explore
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
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Build
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
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Pro
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
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Teams
See current pricing
Teams subscriptions start paid.
Eligible individual plans include a free trial. Teams subscriptions start paid; trial and pricing terms depend on your current offer. See all plans
When to use which
Use Gemini for research, writing, and everyday AI assistance. Choose Flux when the deliverable is a complete device with electronics, mechanical parts, and manufacturing files. Flux's AI engineer does design work in hours; the same work without Flux takes days or weeks.
Questions
Yes. Flux runs Gemini models from Google. Adaptive model selection chooses a capable model for each engineering task and helps deliver frontier performance at 30% lower cost.
Flux connects schematic design, PCB layout, mechanical design, firmware, simulation, and manufacturing files in one live project.
Yes. Flux uses simulation, design rule checks, and datasheet verification to check its work before your team reviews it.
Yes. Flux operates in a browser with no installation. New capabilities and models become available automatically.
Yes. Open the project from a shared link and edit together. Single sign-on and project-level permissions control access.
No. Flux does not train on customer data. Your inputs and outputs remain your intellectual property.
Move from a Gemini conversation to a hardware project.
Review plan options for your team or schedule a demo with Flux.
Sources
- Gemini overview: https://gemini.google/overview/
- Google AI subscriptions: https://gemini.google/subscriptions/