This paper presents a systematic evaluation approach of three-phase pulsewidth-modulated (PWM) AC-AC converter topologies for high-density applications. All major components and subsystems in a converter are considered and the interdependence of all the constraints and design parameters is systematically studied. The key design parameters, including switching frequency, modulation scheme, and passive values, are selected by considering their impacts on loss, harmonics, electromagnetic interference (EMI), control dynamics and stability, and protection. The component selection criteria as well as the physical design procedures are developed from the high-density standpoint. The concept of using the same inductor for harmonic suppression and EMI filtering is introduced in the design. With the proposed methodology, four converter topologies, a back-to-back voltage source converter (BTB-VSC), a nonregenerative three-level boost (Vienna-type) rectifier plus voltage source inverter (NTR-VSI), a back-to-back current source converter (BTB-CSC), and a 12-switch matrix converter, are analyzed and compared for high specific power using SiC devices. The evaluation results show that with the conditions specified in this paper, BTB-VSC and NTR-VSI have considerably lower loss, resulting in higher specific power than BTB-CSC and the matrix converter. The proposed methodology can be applied to other topologies with different comparison metrics and can be a useful tool for high-density topology selection.