October 27, 2024

KiCAD - where to get boards made

JLCPCB

A common recommendation is JLCPCB, with the caveat that you will pay more for DHL shipping than the boards themselves on most orders. They offer 2 layers, 100mm by 100mm for $2 and you get 5 copies.

They are of course in China. Good for low cost rapid prototypeing and hobby users.

PCBgogo

They are in China. Apparently another face for PCBway.
Better for custom or semicustom work with closer customer interaction.

My advisor Daniel recommends PCB Go Go. He says:

Don't design with vias under 0.3mm and trace widths less than 6 mil.

OSHpark

They are in the USA

More expensive and not necessarily faster. I read that 2 week turnaround is common.

They have different grades, but "prototype" is $5 per square inch and you get 3 copies of your board.

I ask my friend Andrew, who has been a long time user of KiCAD and he says

We keep the shops American, but they change names/owners a lot. PCB Way is of course awesome, but you're feeding the monster if you go there. There are US shops like PCB way, but a lot of them are fly-by-night. I look for places that do batch jobs. Turn around might be as bad a month.
Some of them just outsource to PCB Way. Ancient Chinese secret!!!!

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Electronics pages / tom@mmto.org