AbstractThe harmonic balance method is a technique for the numerical solution of nonlinear analog circuits operating in a periodic, or quasi‐periodic, steady‐state regime. The method can be used to efficiently derive the continuous‐wave response of numerous nonlinear microwave components including amplifiers, mixers, and oscillators. Its efficiency derives from imposing a predetermined steady‐state form for the circuit response onto the nonlinear equations representing the network, and solving for the set of unknown coefficients in the response equation. Its attractiveness for nonlinear microwave applications results from its speed and ability to simply represent the dispersive, distributed elements that are common at high frequencies. The last decade has seen the development and application of harmonic balance techniques to model analog circuits, particularly microwave circuits. The first part of this paper reviews the fundamental achievements made during this time. The second part covers the extension of the method to quasi‐periodic regimes, optimization analysis, and practical application. A critical assessment of the various types of harmonic balance techniques is given. The different sampling and Fourier transform methods are compared, and numerical speed and precision results are given enabling a quantitative analysis of the merits of the major variants of the harmonic balance technique. Examples of designs which have been modeled using the harmonic balance technique and built both in hybrid and MMIC form are