What Flux is
Flux turns engineering requirements into a connected design for a complete device. Electrical, mechanical, and firmware work stay in one live project, with checks and manufacturing outputs.
Flux vs Grok: Live search and multi-agent research. A complete device in Flux.
Grok can search the web and X, analyze files, and return a cited answer from multiple agents. Flux turns a hardware requirement into a designed and checked device with electronics and mechanical parts in one project.
What Flux and Grok are
From a hardware requirement to a checked device.
Grok supports chat, live search, and multi-agent research. Flux applies an AI hardware engineering workflow to a product requirement. The schematic, PCB, mechanical design, firmware, and manufacturing files stay in one live project.
| Feature | Flux | Grok |
|---|---|---|
| Requirements and specification | The AI engineer turns your idea into requirements and a product specification, and checks the design against them. | Answers questions, searches live sources, and analyzes files.[1] |
| What it is | AI hardware engineer equipped with design tools for complete devices | AI assistant with chat, search, and multi-agent features.[1] |
| Where it runs | Run Flux in a browser. No installation is required, and projects stay in the cloud. | Web, iOS, and Android.[1] |
| Who does the design work | The Flux agent. Your engineers review and edit. | People use Grok for questions, research, and media creation.[1] |
| Schematic and parts | Built in, with access to 734,000+ public parts. | No built-in schematic design workspace.[1] |
| Board layout and routing | Integrated PCB layout and routing | 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 | Circuit SPICE, power delivery network simulation, full-wave electromagnetic simulation, signal integrity simulation, thermal and mechanical simulation, and design rule checks. | No built-in hardware simulation workspace.[1] |
| Firmware | Develop firmware for the board in the same project | Grok can generate code 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 | Export Gerber, ODB++, IPC-2581, bill of materials, pick-and-place, and more. Flux can check the files before you order, including copper gaps, silkscreen, the 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 | Electrical, layout, mechanical, and firmware engineers work together 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. | Canvas supports writing; Imagine generates images and video.[1] |
| Mechanical CAD | Mechanical CAD is kernel agnostic, from enclosures to 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 | Grok models[1] |
| Tool licenses | A Flux plan contains the editor, mechanical CAD, parts data, simulation, and manufacturing files. | SuperGrok offers higher limits and multi-agent features.[1] |
| Team knowledge and rules | Document organization rules once. Flux applies them across projects and checks the designs. | Memory and live search support ongoing conversations.[1] |
| Parallel work | Flux moves work across projects in parallel and shares status updates. Major changes pause for approval. | Multi-agent combines parallel work into a cited answer.[1] |
Orchestration
Design the board and enclosure together.
Flux keeps the electrical design, mechanical parts, and firmware connected as your team works on a device.
Carry the product brief forward
Use the same requirement as the board and enclosure design take shape.
Connect physical interfaces
Match board mounting points and connectors to the mechanical design.
Work in a shared project
Engineers and reviewers can see changes without copying files between tools.
Review progress in context
Keep comments and design decisions near the relevant work.
A board fitted inside its enclosure
Flux keeps the mounting holes and connectors aligned with the enclosure cutouts. Your team reviews the electrical and mechanical design as one product.
Built for teams
Keep the engineering team in one workspace.
Flux opens in a browser and lets engineers and reviewers work from the shared project.
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Project sharing
Share one live workspace for the complete device design.
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Common team standards
Keep design rules, parts, and lessons available across projects.
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Continue the work
Inspect the AI engineer's output and pick up from the same project.
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Browser access
Open the project without installing desktop design software.
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Voice support
Speak with Flux from your phone or computer.
Customizable
Connect Flux to your engineering practice.
Add your standards and services so Flux can work with the team's established design process.
Shared knowledge
Store team design rules and approved component choices.
Design constraints
Set layout requirements and manufacturing limits.
Connected APIs
Connect MCP services and web APIs for your workflow.
Managed credentials
Admins manage service keys without exposing them to the AI engineer.
Custom project pages
Create a budget calculator, bring-up tracker, or 3D assembly view.
Use Flux through assistants
Work with Flux through Claude Code, Cursor, and MCP-compatible agents.
Connect the services engineers already use.
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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
Take hardware work from idea to design
Design around the requirement
Flux uses a hardware brief to create a connected electrical and mechanical product design.
Keep all disciplines together
The schematic, board, enclosure, firmware, and manufacturing files are part of one project.
Use a complete engineering workspace
Flux includes CAD and EDA editors, import support, simulation, and design rule checks.
Find parts from a broad library
Flux includes over 734,000 public parts with live distributor data.
Review simulation and checks
Flux verifies designs with simulation, design rules, and component datasheets.
Collaborate on the live design
Your engineers can review the shared project without exchanging separate files.
Model-agnostic AI
Choose from multiple model providers
Flux runs frontier models from several providers, including Claude, OpenAI, and Gemini models. Adaptive model selection chooses a capable model for each engineering task. Your team gets frontier performance at 30% lower cost.
- OpenAI
- Anthropic
- Google Gemini
- More as they ship
Frontier performance with 30% lower cost.
Adaptive model selection considers engineering needs and cost when it chooses a capable model. Your team stays focused on the product design.
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
Frontier choices in Flux
Use frontier models from multiple providers inside the hardware project.
Design tools stay available
Flux brings models together with project data and engineering tools.
Update models in place
Your team can adopt model updates within the existing design environment.
Avoid a single model vendor
Keep provider choice open as models and engineering needs change.
Select by task and price
Flux adapts its model choice to the engineering task and its cost.
One platform
One AI engineer for every part of the product.
Grok can search live sources and combine agent research. Flux uses a shared hardware project to connect electrical and mechanical design.
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Electrical engineering
Translate requirements into parts, schematics, and circuit simulations.
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PCB layout
Place components, route traces, define board layers, and check design rules.
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Mechanical design
Create the enclosure, brackets, and mounts around the board. Import STEP models and use one library for electrical and mechanical parts.
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Firmware
Write and test firmware for the board in the same product project.
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Manufacturing
Check parts, obtain supplier quotes, and prepare data for production.
Verification lab
Check the design in Flux.
Flux can simulate the design and run engineering checks before your team prepares the product for manufacturing.
Circuit simulation
Simulate analog, power, and mixed-signal designs with SPICE.
Electromagnetic simulation
Evaluate impedance, S-parameters, crosstalk, and antenna behavior.
Thermal simulation
Model board and enclosure temperature and airflow.
Fluid simulation
Review airflow paths for fans, vents, and heat sinks.
Mechanical simulation
Check stress on enclosures, mounts, and brackets.
Design rule checks
Run electrical and manufacturing rule checks on the schematic and PCB.
Datasheet verification
Confirm component pinouts, ratings, and limits against datasheets.
Sourcing
Choose parts using live supply information.
Flux checks distributor availability and prices for electronic parts and mechanical hardware.
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Digi-Key -
LCSC -
Mouser -
Arrow -
Verical -
TME -
HQonline -
McMaster-Carr -
MISUMI -
JLCMC
Manufacturing
Request quotes as the product changes.
Flux can request current pricing for PCB work, assembly, cables, and mechanical fabrication.
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
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MiniProto
Keep project data in your control.
- SOC 2-aligned cloud infrastructure
- Organization-wide SSO
- Project access permissions
- All design inputs and outputs remain your IP
- Flux does not train on customer content
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 Grok for live search, research, and media creation. Choose Flux when your team needs to design and check a complete hardware product. 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.
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.
No. Flux runs in the browser; new tools and models deploy automatically without manual updates.
Yes. Send coworkers a project link so several people can edit at once. Single sign-on and project-level access controls protect project files.
No. Flux does not train on customer data. Your inputs and outputs remain your intellectual property.
Put your next hardware brief into Flux.
Review the team plans or arrange a demo with our engineers.
Sources
- Grok: https://x.ai/grok