Printed circuit boards prove pivotal to the functioning of any electronic device. It can include your digital watch, smartphone, or large and complex industrial electronic devices. A PCB helps a device’s components communicate through electronic and electrical signals to serve their intended purpose. But regardless of the type of device, information on the type, make, and functionality of a PCB becomes instrumental in informing your purchasing choices. Otherwise, you can end up buying the wrong printed circuit board.

Are you an electronics enthusiast interested in buying PCB elements? Well, you might think that you have it figured out until you get to the market. But, unfortunately, PCBs can confuse you, especially when it comes to the right fit for your intended function. Therefore, the best buy PCB needs to have the crucial components and prove equally suitable to the intended device’s purpose. So what goes into shopping for a suitable printed circuit board?

Buying a Printed Circuit Board

Sometimes, the best way to shop for a PCB entails first understanding the type of PCB you want before shopping. Different types of PCBs exist, and each has its advantages when it comes to usage. For instance, an Eagle PCB can prove markedly from a Breadboard PCB. Secondly, you need to know the best place to get such a printed circuit board. Plenty of organizations produce PCBs with fluctuating quality, customization options, and prices. Therefore, you have to understand the available options, pricing, and other aftersales activities to get the best buying PCB experience. Finally, you have to understand the avenues available to you regarding the PCB ordering process. Companies differ in their approaches as some prefer you to order PCB online while others have alternative in-person arrangements.

Considerations to Make While Buying PCB

• Suitability of the PCB to your circuit needs
• You will be amazed by the numerous PCB types available in the market. PCB types include the single-layer PCB, double-layer PCB, multi-layer PCB, rigid PCB, flexible PCB, and rigid-flex PCB. Therefore, if you aim to use your PCB order for industrial, medical, aerospace applications, then a multi-layer PCB might prove more suitable. For other uses such as cameras, calculators, etc., a single-layer PCB can suffice. Additionally, the technology used to manufacture these printed circuit boards also differ, and you have a likelihood of finding them with names such as Eagle, Kicard, etc. It becomes instrumental that in such situations, you do not get confused. Further, for testing and troubleshooting purposes, you should buy a breadboard PCB.

The bottom line for all this entails knowing all the available PBCs and what type suits your intended application the best before buying.

• Pricing of the printed circuit boards
• Make a decision to buy PCB board based on the pricing of that specific board. It can include a single-layer, multi-layer, or double-layer. Please note that all PCB products or services providing companies such as the RayMing PCB and Assembly use a cost-related model to attach price tags on diverse PCB products. For instance, a multi-layer printed circuit will cost more than a double-layer and single-layer PCB due to the technicality involved in the manufacturing process and more materials for the components. Additionally, companies charge more when it comes to customization services. Therefore you will have to use more money to buy these PCBs that align with your specific and unique attributes.
• Manufacturing company. Plenty of companies produce printed circuit boards, but the quality and type of service differ from one company to the other. For example, some companies will provide manufacturing, fabrication, and assembly services, while some can only fabricate and assemble. Therefore, it becomes crucial to canvass and find the best company that will provide the required PCB at an affordable price and quality and excellent customer care service. The type of company and their product distribution services will also impact whether you can conveniently buy from them or not. For instance, if a company only provides PCB products within a specific territory or if it can allow you to place an order and buy online, complete with shipping services. Therefore, examine this crucial factor when buying a PCB to reduce potential disappointments.

Additionally, can the company produce your customized PCB design? The company you opt to procure a PCB from should have the capacity to customize the unique features you want to incorporate into your printed circuit board.

How to Order for Printed Circuit Board

Once you figure out what kind of printed circuit board you want and consider earlier stipulated, it becomes instrumental in placing an order of the PCB from your preferred PCB Company. But, before you order, try and gauge whether the manufacturing company you have settled on only produces standard sizes or short runs as well. It will assist you in buying an inexpensive set without any need to pay upfront for a large custom PCB batch, especially when you only want a single or two pieces.  

Steps.

• Develop a circuit schematic and design. The two components become crucial for any printed circuit board, as you would not require a PCB board without a circuit. A variety of tools exist that you can use in creating a schematic. However, use a tool that will not only allow you to simulate the circuit’s behavior but test it as well. It should also allow you to develop at least a single working prototype and ensure functionality as designed before making the order.
• Design your PCB. It is the next step after making the schematic and can prove tasking and a bit time-consuming. Here, you must demonstrate the technical know-how to route the tracks and how their outlay affects your circuit’s performance. However, provided it’s a simple one for the initial circuit, the process can become less tasking. In addition, a lot of manufacturers have specific design software solutions for your use in this process. Thus, it becomes critical to search for these, complete with instructions on using them in their respective websites.

Additionally, note that you will have to set your project dimensions based on the customary sized board the company offers, as you will likely get these from your order. Otherwise, the manufacturer may decline to build your PCB at the specified price.

An excellent benefit of using such design software entails the standardization of the output files into the Gerber format. It is a file format that gets used for plotters when the actual track-printing occurs on the board. Therefore, any tool you choose to deploy needs to have the export option that will allow you to export your design in the Gerber format.

• Double-check your design. Cross-checking and ensuring everything is in order becomes critical at this stage. Therefore, ensure the prototype, design, and board layout have no mistakes to avoid the costly replacement, especially after procurement of the boards. Once you have ascertained that everything is in order, you can upload the Gerber files, pick the board you want, and pay.
• Once you receive the board from the manufacturer, check for any shipping damage and manufacturing defects like broken boards, defective and incomplete tracks, and undrilled holes. The process becomes vital before embarking on the soldering process of parts. It will allow you to replace parts quickly if you spot defects besides saving your costs on the replacement parts.

How Printed Circuit Board Get Priced

PCBs have a diverse range of reliability, complexity, price, and quality points. However, the typical circuit board can cost as low as fifty cents to about three hundred dollars based on your requirements. But the cost of PCB gets influenced by many factors, including the following.

• Assembly type. The type of assembly can drive the cost of a printed circuit board up or down. For instance, SMA, which entails assembling components on the surface, proves less expensive and with a faster manufacturing process compared to through-hole soldering. However, the latter has a sturdier connection concerning components than the latter. It thus proves the preferred tech by many, despite its steep price.
• Component placement. The components placement within the board can increase or reduce the PCB price. Therefore, re-evaluate how you want them placed to reduce the manufacturing price.
• The components number. The number of components within your circuit board will impact its price. It is because it arises from the procurement of these parts besides the cost of manufacturing. Therefore, try hard to ensure that your circuit proves as efficient as possible to reduce the PCB price.
• Component’s package size. Industry size component package sizes lead to more affordable PCBs. Therefore, try and ensure you stick to these.
• Component package besides the required process
• Every component package needs to get attached using a particular process. Therefore, whenever you opt for delicate, complicated, and hefty component packages, the price also increases.  
• Batch size and quantity. The number of PCBs you order besides the batch size will influence the overall cost of the PCB. Larger quantities of PCB fetch a lesser cost compared to smaller quantities. However, the batch size also dives the cost, something that gets overlooked often. Therefore, consult with your PCB manufacturer to understand what works best and will cost less.
• Special component or parts preparation needs can also increase the cost of PCB. Therefore, if you can, use standard processing and size requirements.
• Coating, potting, material and layers, and BoM also influence the cost of PCB; therefore, pick options that can reduce the cost of PCB.

How much does it cost to buy a PCB?

Introduction

Printed circuit boards (PCBs) provide the foundation for almost every electronic device. But what factors determine the cost of procuring custom PCBs?

This comprehensive guide examines the key considerations impacting PCB pricing including design complexity, board materials, manufacturing volumes, lead times, testing requirements, and more.

By understanding the drivers of PCB costs, electrical engineers can budget appropriately and make informed design tradeoffs. We’ll provide example quotes across hobbyist, prototype, and production scenarios to illustrate how widely prices can vary depending on application requirements.

Let’s dive in to understand what makes some PCBs cheap while others become quite costly!

PCB Cost Dependencies

Below are some of the main factors that influence the pricing when sourcing custom PCB manufacturing:

Manufacturing Volume – Small prototyping quantities cost much more per board than high-volume production runs.

Board Size – Larger boards require more materials and cost more than smaller boards.

Layer Count – Base 2-layer boards are cheaper; each additional layer adds expense.

Board Thickness – Thinner PCBs use less material than thicker boards.

Board Shape – Rectangular boards are most cost effective. Irregular board outlines increase cost.

Materials – FR-4 glass epoxy is standard. Higher performance materials cost more.

Trace/Space – Tighter trace spacing and thinner traces increase fabrication difficulty and price.

Finishes – Immersion silver or gold cost more than standard HASL, OSP or ENIG.

Coatings – Conformal coatings add additional process steps and cost.

Hole Sizes/Counts – Many small holes and vias increase drilling time and tooling complexity versus fewer large holes.

Tolerances – Tighter fabrication and assembly tolerances require more attention and expense to fulfill.

Testing – Electrical testing, AOI inspection, x-rays, and other testing add cost but reduce escapes.

Lead Time – Faster turnaround requirements may command a premium to expedite the order.

Order Quantity – Due to setup costs, ordering many small panels costs more than fewer large panel batches.

Location – Local vs. overseas manufacturing involves tradeoffs of cost, lead time, communication, quality, and IP risk.

We’ll now explore how these factors contribute to overall board fabrication and assembly pricing across various use cases.

PCB Cost Case Studies

To better understand how the dependencies above impact cost, let’s look at PCB price examples for hobbyist, prototype, mid-volume, and high-volume production scenarios:

Hobbyist PCB Costs

For hobby designers making boards at home in very low quantities, costs may be as little as $5-$10 per board in single unit batches.

Key characteristics:

• Typically 2 layer FR-4 boards under 50mm x 50mm in size
• Limited number of large through-hole parts
• Traces and spacing around 8-10 mil resolution
• Simple rectangular board outlines
• Purple PLA solder mask and silkscreen
• No special films or finishes beyond basic tin-lead HASL
• Panels supplied to hobbyist shops like OSH Park, JLCPCB, PCBWay, etc.

At these vendors, customers upload Gerber design files which get panelized and batch processed together to amortize setup costs. The turnaround time is typically 1-2 weeks.

For hobbyists, attributes like lead time, minimum order quantity, and convenience often take priority over lowest cost per board. But unit costs up to $10 are attainable.

Prototype PCB Costs

For professional engineers making 10-100 quantity prototypes in a lab, prices typically range from $50-$300 per board.

Characteristics include:

• Often 4-6 layer designs up to 200mm x 200mm size
• Higher mix of SMT and fine pitch components
• Minimum trace/space around 4-5 mil with 6/6 mil being common
• May require non-rectangular outlines, cutouts, etc.
• Solder mask and silkscreen for branding
• ENIG finish preferred for unassembled boards
• Electrical testing
• 2 week target turnaround time

In this range, full-service domestic or regional prototyping shops are best suited to provide quick-turn fabrication with testing and engineering support.

Medium Volume PCB Cost

For bridge manufacturing runs from 100-5000 boards, pricing averages $10-$50 per board.

Attributes include:

• Often 4+ layers and may use thicker substrates
• HDI technology with microvias
• High mix of component types
• 2-3 mil trace/space tolerances
• Tight assembly tolerances required
• Lead-free HASL or ENIG finish
• UL mark requirements
• Functional testing needed
• 8 week acceptable lead time

Chinese manufacturers offer cost advantages at this volume through high automation, purchasing scale, and labor efficiencies.

High Volume Production PCB Cost

For mass production quantities above 5000 units, costs drop below $10 per board, sometimes below $1.

Characteristics:

• High layer counts typical to maximize density
• Fine line traces and spacing below 2 mil
• demanding tolerances for auto assembly
• Gold immersion finish
• 100% automated optical inspection
• Full functional circuit testing required
• 12+ week production lead time acceptable

At this scale, overseas assembly allows drastic cost reduction through extreme economies of scale and highly mature automation.

As shown by these examples, PCB cost varies tremendously based on the design requirements, order quantities, lead times, and quality needs of the application. Let’s now examine the cost structure further.

PCB Cost Breakdown

A PCB’s total price consists of a combination of direct fabrication costs, engineering support expenses, and profit margin for the manufacturer.

Direct Fabrication Costs

This includes the raw materials, labor, and equipment usage required to produce the boards:

• Substrate laminates
• Photoresists and chemicals
• Copper and other metal platings
• Tooling for processes like drilling
• Machine depreciation
• Operator labor for production steps
• Overhead like facilities and utilities

More complex boards require more processing steps and expense.

Engineering and Support Costs

Additional services wrapped into board pricing often include:

• Design for Manufacturing analysis and recommendations
• Testing setup and program development
• Quality assurance oversight
• Prototyping and new product introduction
• Quoting services
• Project management and production engineering
• Documentation and certification

These value-added elements increase with order complexity.

Profit Margin

On top of base costs, manufacturers typically apply a profit margin from 10-30%. More competitive pricing requires minimizing this margin.

By understanding the underlying cost structure, engineers can identify opportunities to reduce pricing through design modifications, vendor negotiation, or fabrication process improvements.

Optimizing PCB Cost During Design

Several design-stage choices influence PCB pricing. Below are techniques designers can apply to minimize fabrication and assembly costs:

• Standardize on fewer board sizes and materials for volume aggregation
• Minimize layer counts whenever feasible
• Use smaller board sizes fitting within panel arrays
• Reduce fine features like trace/space only where required
• Standardize on common hole sizes to minimize tooling
• Specify tolerances only where functionally required
• Leverage prudent design rules avoiding unneeded complexity
• Re-spin only for critical issues to avoid added iterations

While these guidelines help reduce cost, performance and reliability should not be sacrificed solely to lower price. Like any engineering decision, design tradeoffs should aim to balance technical needs and cost impacts.

Getting PCB Cost Estimates

When budgeting for a new board project, how can accurate cost estimates be obtained? Here are some tips:

Leverage Experience

Use intuition from past boards of similar specifications to gauge initial expectations for pricing.

Request Quotes

Reach out to potential manufacturers with key project details to receive formal quotations.

Use Cost Calculators

Many fabricators provide web forms allowing input of basic project parameters to estimate price ranges. These help set expectations.

Seek Manufacturing Input

Engage potential vendors early in the design phase to get guidance around cost optimization opportunities.

Compare Multiple Vendors

Collect several quotes to benefit from competition and get a sense for pricing distributions.

Analyze Bill of Materials (BOM)

Review material, component, and processing line items making up cost structure.

While the lowest bid may be tempting, quality should not be sacrificed solely for lower cost. Vet manufacturing partners carefully based on technical capabilities.

Additional PCB Cost Considerations

Beyond base fabrication and assembly pricing, a few additional factors influence overall budgeting:

NRE Charges

Upfront non-recurring engineering fees are common to cover DFMs, testing development, stencils, etc. This adds cost prior to volume production.

IP Protection

For sensitive designs, steps like exclusively working with trusted domestic vendors, securing SBIR data rights, or even producing in-house may be warranted to protect intellectual property. These steps can increase costs.

Expediting Fees

Aggressive delivery demands requiring manufacturers to rearrange production planning often incur premium charges. Timelines should provide reasonable scheduling flexibility.

Component Supply

Long lead times and shortages of certain components adds delays and cost. Vet component availability/lead times upfront.

Shipping/Logistics

Budget for shipping costs, customs clearance, duties, and taxes when using overseas production. These expenses can accumulate.

While focusing first on base manufacturing pricing, engineers should incorporate these additional contributors into total project cost estimates as well.

Conclusion

This guide provided a comprehensive overview of the factors impacting PCB cost and how widely pricing can vary across hobbyist, prototype, medium volume, and high volume production use cases – from under $10 per board into the thousands.

Key takeaways include:

• Cost depends greatly on volume, complexity, tolerances, materials, and lead time
• Understanding cost drivers allows designers to optimize tradeoffs
• Quoting early helps inform feasibility and prevents surprises
• Vetting potential vendors on technical ability as well as cost is critical

Of course, sourcing boards is about far more than just price – quality, reliability, scalability, and manufacturability ultimately provide the value proposition. By using the knowledge provided here, engineers can make informed design and sourcing decisions optimizing all these vital factors.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are typical PCB costs for small prototype batches?

For prototypes making 10 PCBs, expect costs around $200-$500 per design. Making 50 units may reduce this to $100-$300 per board. Costs drop sharply above 100+ quantity.

How much does PCB testing and inspection add to cost?

Basic testing like in-circuit test and flying probe can add $500 per design. Full ICT plus automated optical inspection may add $2,000-$5,000 for programming, setup, and execution.

What are some common ways PCB cost reductions are achieved?

Using cheaper substrate materials, reducing layer counts, optimizing panel utilization, standardizing processes, eliminating unnecessary requirements, leveraging supplier relationships, and qualifying alternate component vendors are key tactics.

How can I estimate PCB costs during early design?

Rules of thumb for initial estimating: $10/in2 for 2 layers, add $3-$5/in2 per additional layer. Add $5K-$10K for initial DFM and NRE. Reduce cost by 30-40% above 1,000 boards. Confirm with quotes.

What is a reasonable margin to expect PCB vendors to mark up fabrication costs?

For small volumes, total markup approaching 100% including margin is common. At higher volumes above 1,000 boards, expect more competitive pricing with margin reduced to 30% or below.

Conclusion

Estimating PCB prototyping and production costs involves assessing numerous design, manufacturing, and fulfillment factors. But by leveraging the guidance provided in this guide, engineers can forecast expenses accurately throughout the development lifecycle. With greater visibility into PCB sourcing budgets, projects can achieve the best tradeoffs between capability, quality, reliability, and meeting critical time and cost targets.