What Flux is
Flux is an AI hardware engineer that keeps electronics and mechanical design connected. It designs the board, enclosure, and firmware in one project, checks the work, and prepares manufacturing outputs.
Flux vs Qwen: Search, research, and generated media. One hardware project in Flux.
Qwen Chat supports research, web development, artifacts, and image and video generation. Flux connects electronics and mechanical design in one live project, with checks and manufacturing files for your team.
What Flux and Qwen are
What Qwen is
Qwen Chat is a free AI assistant powered by Qwen models. Its features include Thinking, Search, Web Dev, Artifacts, Deep Research, image generation, and video generation.[1]
Qwen Chat is available in phone and desktop apps.[1]
Qwen Code is an open-source terminal coding agent that supports MCP.[2]
One project for the complete hardware design.
Qwen Chat supports research, web development, and media generation. Flux is designed for hardware engineering. It connects the schematic, PCB, mechanical parts, firmware, simulation, and manufacturing files in one live project.
| Feature | Flux | Qwen |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements and specification | The AI engineer turns your idea into requirements and a product specification, and checks the design against them. | Supports Thinking, Search, and Deep Research.[1] |
| What it is | AI hardware engineer for complete electronics and mechanical designs | Free AI assistant with chat, search, and research tools.[1] |
| Where it runs | Flux runs in your browser. No software install is needed, and your projects stay in the cloud. | Phone and desktop apps.[1] |
| Who does the design work | The Flux agent. Your engineers review and edit. | People use Qwen Chat for research and content creation.[1] |
| Schematic and parts | Built-in schematic design with 734,000+ public parts. | No built-in schematic design workspace.[1] |
| Board layout and routing | PCB layout and routing are 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 and length-matched buses such as DDR, tunes length and skew, fans out BGAs with blind, buried, and microvias, and sets trace impedance from your stackup. It checks the routed board with S-parameters, TDR, eye diagrams, and crosstalk analysis. 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 | Flux combines SPICE, power delivery network, full-wave electromagnetic, signal integrity, thermal, and mechanical simulation with design rule checks. | No built-in hardware simulation workspace.[1] |
| Firmware | Creates firmware for the board in the product design | Qwen Code is a separate terminal coding agent.[2] |
| 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 | Flux provides Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, pick-and-place, and other files. Flux can check the files before you order: copper gaps, silkscreen, board outline, BOM, and pick-and-place files. | 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 | Teams review electrical, layout, mechanical, and firmware work in one live browser project. | 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. | Web Dev, Artifacts, image generation, and video generation.[1] |
| Mechanical CAD | Kernel-agnostic mechanical CAD supports enclosures through robot arms. | 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 Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini models | Qwen models[1] |
| Tool licenses | A Flux subscription includes the editor, mechanical CAD, parts data, simulation, and manufacturing files. | Qwen Chat is free.[1] |
| Team knowledge and rules | Record team rules once. Flux uses them across projects and checks designs against the rules. | Qwen Code supports MCP and IDE plugins.[2] |
| Parallel work | Flux advances multiple projects in parallel and shares their status. Major changes require approval. | Qwen Code supports SubAgents and Agent Teams.[2] |
Orchestration
Keep electrical and mechanical design in step.
Flux links the board, enclosure, and firmware to one product requirement in a shared project.
Start with the product needs
Keep electrical and physical design linked to the same brief.
Match the mechanical interfaces
Align the enclosure with the board outline, mounting holes, and connectors.
Review changes as a team
See design updates in the live project without exchanging files.
Keep context visible
Store comments and decisions with the hardware design.
An assembled board and enclosure
Flux keeps board dimensions and connectors aligned with enclosure cutouts. The team can review the complete mechanical and electrical design in one project.
Built for teams
Give the whole team access to the design.
Flux runs in the browser, where engineers and reviewers can share one live hardware project.
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One live project
Keep the design, comments, and changes together.
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Shared engineering context
Make approved components and team standards available.
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Continue AI work
Review what the AI engineer built and continue from the same project.
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Browser-based workflow
Open a project without setting up local design software.
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Voice control
Speak with the Flux hardware engineer on a phone or computer.
Customizable
Make the workspace fit your team.
Set engineering rules and link Flux to services that support your existing process.
Team guidelines
Save engineering standards and approved parts for use across projects.
Layout and fabrication rules
Define the constraints Flux checks in a hardware design.
Connect MCP services
Integrate team tools through MCP servers and web APIs.
Admin-managed credentials
Admins control API keys without making them visible to the AI engineer.
Project-specific pages
Create a live power budget, bring-up checklist, or 3D model.
Use Flux from AI tools
Connect Claude Code, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible agents.
Connect the tools your team uses now.
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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 engineering requirements into a complete device
Bring a product requirement into Flux
Flux connects the brief to electrical and mechanical design work in one project.
Keep board and enclosure together
Schematics, PCB, mechanical parts, firmware, and production outputs remain connected.
Use engineering tools as you design
Flux includes a design environment, simulation, import tools, and manufacturing files.
Work with 734,000+ public parts
Flux includes live distributor data to support parts selection.
Check the work in the same product
Simulation, design rule checks, and datasheet verification help review the design.
Share project work with colleagues
Collaborate in the live project with access controls for your team.
Model-agnostic AI
Choose from multiple model providers
Flux is model agnostic. It runs frontier models from several providers, including Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini models. Adaptive model selection chooses a capable model for each engineering task and helps deliver frontier performance at 30% lower cost.
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Google Gemini
- More as they ship
Get frontier performance at 30% lower cost.
Flux selects a capable model for engineering tasks while considering the cost. The design work stays in the same connected hardware project.
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
Keep model providers flexible
Use frontier models from different providers as part of the Flux workspace.
Connect models to hardware tools
Flux brings design tools and project context into the engineering work.
Adopt model updates without migration
Your team stays in the existing design environment as models change.
Avoid model-vendor lock-in
Keep access to more than one provider for your hardware projects.
Choose a capable model for the job
Adaptive selection considers task needs and price when choosing a model.
One platform
One AI engineer for every part of the product.
Qwen Chat supports search, research, and media creation. Flux carries a hardware product through electrical and mechanical engineering.
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Electrical engineering
Capture product needs, choose components, build schematics, and simulate circuits.
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PCB layout
Place and route the board, set layers, and check it against design rules.
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Mechanical design
Create enclosures, brackets, and mounts that fit the PCB. Import STEP models and select electronic and mechanical parts from the shared library.
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Firmware
Write firmware for the target board, then build and test the code.
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Manufacturing
Use supplier data, request manufacturing quotes, and create files for production.
Verification lab
Check the board and physical design.
Flux can simulate and verify the work with engineering tools before your team manufactures the device.
Circuit simulation
Simulate analog, power, and mixed-signal circuits in SPICE.
Electromagnetic simulation
Analyze impedance, signal behavior, crosstalk, and antenna performance.
Thermal simulation
Check heat and airflow across boards and enclosures.
Fluid simulation
Study cooling airflow and thermal paths inside a product enclosure.
Mechanical simulation
Evaluate mechanical stress in brackets, mounts, and housings.
Design rule checks
Check electrical and manufacturing rules throughout the schematic and PCB.
Datasheet verification
Verify selected parts against pinouts, ratings, and operating limits.
Sourcing
Use live sourcing information.
Flux checks supplier availability and pricing as it selects electronic and mechanical parts.
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Digi-Key -
LCSC -
Mouser -
Arrow -
Verical -
TME -
HQonline -
McMaster-Carr -
MISUMI -
JLCMC
Manufacturing
Connect your project to production quotes.
Flux can request up-to-date quotes for boards, assembly, cables, and mechanical manufacturing.
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
Use Qwen and Flux together
Qwen Code supports MCP, and Flux has an MCP server. Connect them so Qwen Code can work with Flux projects and pass hardware design requests to Flux.[2]
Keep designs private and controlled.
- SOC 2-aligned cloud services
- SSO for your organization
- Access controls for each project
- Your inputs and outputs remain your IP
- Customer data is not used for model training
Flux pricing
-
Explore
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
-
Build
See current pricing
Trial terms depend on your current offer.
-
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 Qwen Chat for research, web development, and content creation. Choose Flux when your team needs an electronics and mechanical design that is ready for manufacturing. Flux's AI engineer does design work in hours; the same work without Flux takes days or weeks.
Questions
No. Flux is model agnostic and runs frontier models from several providers, including Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini models. Adaptive model selection chooses a capable model for each engineering task.
Yes. Qwen Code supports MCP, and Flux has an MCP server. Connect them so Qwen Code can work with Flux projects and pass hardware design requests to Flux.
Flux connects schematic design, PCB layout, mechanical design, firmware, simulation, and manufacturing files in one live project.
No. Flux works in the browser; there is no installation. New features and models become available automatically, with no manual update.
Yes. Share the live project link so multiple engineers can edit together. Single sign-on and project-level access controls manage access.
No. Flux does not train on customer data. Your inputs and outputs remain your intellectual property.
Bring your next design requirement to Flux.
Choose a plan for your team or ask Flux for a demo.
Sources
- Qwen: https://qwen.ai/home
- Qwen Code: https://github.com/QwenLM/qwen-code