CircuitHub
Ranked 8 of 8 pcb manufacturing services by recommenders
Self-serve online PCB assembly service people use for turnkey prototypes, with quick quoting. Critics cite unfavorable legal terms, sign-up walls and strict file requirements.
Self-serve online PCB assembly service people use for turnkey prototypes, with quick quoting. Critics cite unfavorable legal terms, sign-up walls and strict file requirements.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Serviceable for turnkey prototype assembly
“I've enjoyed working with CircuitHub for turnkey prototypes.”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Designing and assembling my first PCB” “circuithub is serviceable for turnkey assembly”
Comment from 1 Nov 2025 on Hacker News
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Unfavorable legal terms for customers
“Their legal agreements are a lot more detailed and favorable than what's currently on circuithub.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand” “your legal terms are very unfavorable to customers”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand” Sign-up required for quotes and NDA
“To make it worse, you can't even read what their NDA says without signing up with your email address on a third party site.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand” “Dude, absolutely get rid of the requirement to make an account to get a quote.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand” Strict file requirements, rejects Gerber
“Other vendors don't require this. They just need the gerbers, BOM, and CPL files.”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand” “however not accepting gerber? seems like a strange choice”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand” Expensive for uploaded boards
“Circuithub[0] came to $654.66 for the boards I uploaded”
Comment from 29 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand” “I'd rather pay $1400 for five boards from Circuithub”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand”
Other pcb manufacturing services people recommend
The four most recommended other pcb manufacturing services, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JLCPCB | 83 | 13 | 86% | 12 | 6.5 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| PCBWay PCB fabrication | 32 | 6 | 84% | 10 | — | Approved |
| OSH Park | 17 | 7 | 71% | 7 | — | Approved |
| The Grid by CircuitHub | 15 | 15 | 50% | 3 | — | — |
| CircuitHubThis page | 6 | 6 | 50% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Circuithub[0] came to $654.66 for the boards I uploaded”
“I like that you're planning the expansion in the USA/Europe and are actually leveraging latest advancements in AI and robotics.”
“however not accepting gerber? seems like a strange choice”
“Love that it's fully self-serve and not "please call sales"”
“To make it worse, you can't even read what their NDA says without signing up with your email address on a third party site.”
“Other vendors don't require this. They just need the gerbers, BOM, and CPL files.”
“Their legal agreements are a lot more detailed and favorable than what's currently on circuithub.”
“we founded CircuitHub to fix that”
“I'd rather pay $1400 for five boards from Circuithub”
“Shenzhen doesn't have this issue and neither does circuithub.”
“your legal terms are very unfavorable to customers”
“Dude, absolutely get rid of the requirement to make an account to get a quote.”
“The app feels very vibe-coded, and gives impression it's not well tested and polished”
“pretty stoked how quick it is”
“circuit hub isn’t terrible”
“I've enjoyed working with CircuitHub for turnkey prototypes.”
“circuithub is serviceable for turnkey assembly”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.