JLCPCB

What hackers pick instead

• PCBWay PCB fabricationVery cheap custom PCB fabrication and small-batch assembly that people use for hobby and company boards. Payment options for some countries are the most common complaint.32recommend
• OSH ParkUS-based PCB prototype maker people pick for high board quality, local service and small runs. Main caveat: it costs more than overseas fabs and doesn't do assembly.17recommend
• The Grid by CircuitHubShort lead times for boards within its Proto Board spec, comparable to JLCPCB on those boards; critics say it costs more and its requirements and sign-up are strict.15recommend
• ProvenMetalPeople recommend it for circuit boards delivered in days, domestic production and component traceability; critics say it costs more when cost is the main constraint.15recommend
• Aisler PCB manufacturing servicePeople recommend Aisler for high-quality PCB printing and tight-tolerance layouts. The most common caveat is that assembly and board prices run well above JLCPCB, with longer production lead times.11recommend

Every quote

The 40 most detailed of 106 comments. Each links to the original.

1. Board was ordered with PCBA (they did assembly of the stock components) and I did SMD for just the oddball module/ICs they don't stock. Works exactly to design.

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Can AI design circuit boards yet?”

2. being able to order basically any type of PCB (and increasingly more than just PCBs) from a single vendor is a pretty significant value-add

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Designing and assembling my first PCB”

3. I can pay for DHL overnight from JLC and still come in from uploading my design to holding it in my hand ~7 business days or less.

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand”

4. jlcpcb can deliver you 10 boards for anything a hobbyist will likely need for 10$ including shipping, and it ships in 24 hours

   Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Designing and assembling my first PCB”

5. I would not have been able to do it without companies like JLC. It made an entire industry approachable

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “PCBWay sponsorship: full-size SD module for Arduino projects”

6. ordering a board with full PCBA from PCBWay/JLCPCB/Aisler and printing the case yourself is pretty easy

   Recommends · May 2026 · in “I Built My Own Hair Electrolysis Machine”

7. Getting production quality, one-off, multi layer PCBs done as a hobbyist is dirt cheap these days

   Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “Computer-generated dream world: Virtual reality for a 286 processor”

8. I can get 4 layer boards for like $8 from JLC and it just makes everything much more easily

   Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Show HN: I designed my own 3D printer motherboard”

9. If you stay within their component library it is dead easy, just upload your gerber and BOM

   Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Show HN: Copperhead – Cursor for circuit boards”

10. PCB manufacturing is reasonably cheap. YMMV, but JLCPCB was ~$20 for a set of 5 boards

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Sherline Tools Is Going Out of Business”

11. JLCPCB's scale lets them make money on orders that would be too small for most fabs.

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Making 1,750 programmable PCB badges for Canada's biggest hackathon”

12. The marketing of companies like JLC or pcbway whenever I post a hardware project

    Mixed · Jul 2026 · in “Designing and assembling my first PCB”

13. it's just so cheap and fast that it makes no financial sense to buy locally

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Designing and assembling my first PCB”

14. the integrated JLCPCB assembly flow solved all these problems good enough

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “OSHW: Small tablet based on RK3568 and AMOLED screen”

15. It is literally a one-stop-shop for all your hardware prototype needs.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “39c3: In-house electronics manufacturing from scratch: How hard can it be? [video]”

16. I felt confused by a lot compared to JLCPCB

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand”

17. it can be a headache to get designs back from PCBWay / JLC between customers, tariffs, shipping

    Criticizes · Mar 2026 · in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (March 2026)”

18. Even the $5 orders from JLCPCB become infeasible for hobbyists here due to all the roadblocks.

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “A 3rd World Embedded Engineer Responds to "RISC-V They Should Have Known Better"”

19. the tariffs when ordering from JLCPCB from the U.S. this year have been astronomical

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “Designing and assembling my first PCB”

20. It's a pity JLCPCB always wants to nudge me towards their own EDA tools.

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “AI-assisted PCB design for KiCad 10”

21. illegible DFM-tool screenshots with no color legend for the layers

    Criticizes · Oct 2026 · in “The Grid, a factory-scale robot in Massachusetts that builds PCBs on demand”

22. But tariffs/taxes were 55% of merchandise cost.

    Criticizes · Nov 2025 · in “Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (Nov 2025)”

23. it was way too expensive on a smaller scale

    Criticizes · Jul 2026 · in “The Age of Personalized Hardware Is Coming”

24. JLCPCB somehow made this process seem so seamless and easy for PCBs but also for other random components one might want.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “39c3: In-house electronics manufacturing from scratch: How hard can it be? [video]”

25. they seem redundant at this point. Both companies are well known to the target audience to the point of saturation

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “PCBWay sponsorship: full-size SD module for Arduino projects”

26. The offer from JLC for 1500 pieces (without the modem module) was 2000€ + Tax + Shipping, so way less than 3000€.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “39c3: In-house electronics manufacturing from scratch: How hard can it be? [video]”

27. I've been ordering from JLCPCB, in the $500 range per order so not too big, and have never had to give a SSN

    Recommends · Oct 2026

28. You can't beat JLC because the model from JLC is that they lose money on all order less than 100 boards

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “39c3: In-house electronics manufacturing from scratch: How hard can it be? [video]”

29. I don't have to make many boards before JLC becomes cheaper than firing up the heated bubble etch tank.

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Designing and assembling my first PCB”

30. I want a JLCPCB-like instant quote and click-to-order for my dime-a-dozen 4-layer 10x10cm prototype!

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “39c3: In-house electronics manufacturing from scratch: How hard can it be? [video]”

31. where I can just get the part I want without any hassle really killed the value proposition for me

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Sherline Tools Is Going Out of Business”

32. I've had good results with jlcpcb and I push their manufacturing limits a little bit now and then

    Recommends · Nov 2025

33. it would be cheaper to generate a keyboard PCB, plate and case, then manufacture it with JLCPCB

    Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “Show HN: A Truly Modular Keyboard”

34. For cheap hobby-grade boards just the job fee is more than 10 boards delivered is from JLCPCB.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “39c3: In-house electronics manufacturing from scratch: How hard can it be? [video]”

35. send your designs to a place like PCBWay or JLCPCB and get the aluminum parts reasonably cheap

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “Ask HN: How to get started with robotics as a hobbyist?”

36. I only ordered blank PCBs from JLCPCB because cost of PCBA was too high for this project

    Mixed · Oct 2026 · in “AI-assisted PCB design for KiCad 10”

37. they are - for what they are, but you aren't using JLC boards in your $100mm satellite

    Recommends · Jul 2026 · in “Designing and assembling my first PCB”

38. there isn't really any serious competition (in terms of capabilities, speed and price)

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “PCBWay sponsorship: full-size SD module for Arduino projects”

39. Otherwise it's JLCPCB every time, even if it's just a small debug interface board.

    Recommends · Feb 2026 · in “In the Lab – Soldering Prototypes with Enamel Magnet Wire”

40. their quality was impressive and the price was a little over half the PCBWay quote

    Recommends · Mar 2026 · in “My DIY FPGA board can run Quake II”