This paper presents a design of a low-profile cavity-backed circular patch antenna for broadband applications. By using substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) based cavity and feeding mechanism, a planar cavity-backed patch antenna is realized. The proposed study demonstrates that a wide impedance bandwidth can be achieved by employing a rectangular SIW-based cavity underneath the conventional circular patch. Additionally, to generate circular polarization (CP), the patch has been reduced diagonally and shorted by a via-probe. Finally, a CP SIW-based antenna is designed and operating for a wide impedance bandwidth of 23.10% below −10 dB criteria, ranging from 9.09 GHz to 11.40 GHz and axial-ratio (AR) bandwidth of 270 MHz (10.30–10.57 GHz). The proposed design is fabricated by means of a printed circuit board (PCB) procedure. The simulated results are validated with the experimental one which agrees well with each other in the terms of S11, antenna gain, AR and radiation patterns. Moreover, the proposed design exhibits unidirectional radiation characteristics with the measured peak gain of 6.6 dBic while maintaining planar integration. © 2017 Elsevier GmbH