Parameter	InstaPCB	JLCPCB (standard process)	InstaPCB advantage
Headline — turnaround & MOQ
Turnaround (fab + assembly)	4 hoursauthoritative	3–5 days standard 24–48 h expressjlcpcb.com	~30× faster end-to-end than JLCPCB express, ~30× faster than standard. Boards land in your cloud workcell within an afternoon.
Minimum order quantity	1 boardauthoritative	5 boardsjlcpcb.com	Single-board ordering. No "burning" four extra boards every iteration — respin one, eat lunch, the next revision lands.
Component sourcing	Drone delivery from Mouser DFW (~40 min)authoritative	JLCPCB / LCSC stock (in-house)jlcpcb.com	Mouser carries ~10× more SKUs than LCSC at any given time. Drone delivery means you don't pre-order parts; the line orders them when your job hits the queue.
Mechanical
Board thickness	1.6 mm onlyauthoritative	0.4 / 0.6 / 0.8 / 1.0 / 1.2 / 1.6 / 2.0 / 3.2 mmjlcpcb.com	JLCPCB wins on thickness flexibility. InstaPCB ships only the standard 1.6 mm FR4 stack today.
Layer count	1, 2, 4, 6authoritative	1–20 (32 on advanced)jlcpcb.com	JLCPCB goes deeper for HDI / backplane work. InstaPCB targets the prototyping sweet spot at 1L–6L.
Min board size	5 × 5 mmderived	5 × 5 mmjlcpcb.com	Tie at the bottom end.
Max board size	304.8 × 381 mm (12" × 15")authoritative	400 × 500 mmjlcpcb.com	JLCPCB's bed is ~30% larger in each dimension, but InstaPCB's 12" × 15" envelope handles every standard PCB form factor (Eurocard, Mini-ITX, half-size SBC, motherboards up to ATX).
Panelization	Native single-board (depanel laser)authoritative	V-cut / mouse-bite panelization required for <10 cm² boardsjlcpcb.com	No panel-design overhead. The laser cuts the final outline as the last step (per aci-instapcb-process steps 23–25).
Selective V-scoring	Yes — any 2D curve with designer-placed trace bridges (0.5 mm top / 0.5 mm bottom ablation, 0.6 mm FR4 web)authoritative	Not offered — straight V-cut only, no trace bridgesjlcpcb.com	Adom invented this. Snap off curved daughtercards, test-fixture wings, irregular sub-modules with hand pressure. Mark segments as "no-ablate" bridges and traces stay live across the score — run programming + tests on the assembled board, then snap the wing off when you're done. Replaces mousebites entirely; resulting edge is clean and finished, no nibble residue.
Tooling holes / fiducials	Auto-burned at fab timeauthoritative	Auto-added if omittedjlcpcb.com	InstaPCB step 2 burns 3–4 fiducials per board before any other process. Designer never has to add them.
Castellated pads	Supported (≥ 0.6 mm)derived	Supportedjlcpcb.com	Both support castellation. InstaPCB's spec is laser-cut after via plating.
Edge plating	Supported on any edgeauthoritative	Supported (per-job add-on)jlcpcb.com	Free side-effect of the InstaPCB process: interior slots are laser-cut at the same step as the via drills, so their walls get electroplated alongside the barrels. Depanel cuts the remaining web and the plated slot interior becomes the finished board edge — no extra step, no add-on fee.
Conductor (copper)
Min trace width	0.08 mm (3 mil)authoritative	0.127 mm (5 mil) on 2L 0.09 mm (3.5 mil) on 6L+jlcpcb.com	~36% finer trace than JLCPCB's standard 2-layer process. UV-fiber-laser ablation has a much tighter kerf than chemical etching.
Min trace spacing	0.08 mm (3 mil)authoritative	0.127 mm (5 mil) on 2Ljlcpcb.com	Same advantage as trace width — laser-direct removes the etch-undercut margin.
Trace-to-edge clearance	0.05 mm (2 mil)authoritative	0.3 mm (12 mil)jlcpcb.com	6× tighter to the board edge. Mechanical routing leaves ragged FR4; laser depanel is glass-clean.
Copper weight	0.5 oz (17.5 µm)authoritative	0.5 / 1 / 2 / 3 ozjlcpcb.com	JLCPCB wins for high-current / power-board work. InstaPCB's 0.5 oz is optimized for fine-pitch signal.
Plating thickness inside via barrel	≈ 17.5 µmderived	≈ 25 µmjlcpcb.com	JLCPCB plates a slightly thicker barrel; InstaPCB's electrolytic step matches the foil weight (0.5 oz).
Drilled features
Min drill diameter (plated via)	0.20 mm (8 mil)authoritative	0.30 mm (12 mil) on 2L 0.20 mm on 4L+jlcpcb.com	InstaPCB hits the JLCPCB-multilayer drill spec on a 2-layer board. UV laser drills don't bend or wear like mechanical drills.
Min annular ring (per side)	0.125 mm (5 mil)authoritative	0.15 mm (6 mil)jlcpcb.com	25 µm tighter ring. Smaller via pad → more routing channels per chip.
Min outer pad on min drill	0.45 mm (drill + 0.25)authoritative	0.60 mm (drill + 0.30) on 2L 0.45 mm on 4L+jlcpcb.com	Direct consequence of the smaller drill + tighter annular ring.
Min hole-to-hole spacing	0.25 mmauthoritative	0.25 mmjlcpcb.com	Tied at the standard floor.
Min hole-to-edge clearance	0.30 mmauthoritative	0.30 mmjlcpcb.com	Tied.
Max aspect ratio	8 : 1derived	10 : 1jlcpcb.com	JLCPCB wins on deep-via work; InstaPCB's 1.6 mm × 0.2 mm minimum drill caps at 8:1.
Blind / buried vias	Not offeredauthoritative	Not offered (standard process)jlcpcb.com	Tied — both require advanced multi-step process not on either standard tier.
Solder mask + silkscreen
Solder mask color	Green onlyauthoritative	Green / Blue / Red / Black / White / Purple / Yellowjlcpcb.com	JLCPCB wins on color choice. Adom's vacuum-laminated mask process is single-color today.
Solder mask web (sliver)	0.10 mmauthoritative	0.10 mmjlcpcb.com	Tied — mask sliver is the same physical floor on both processes.
Solder mask expansion (per side)	0.05 mmderived	0.05 mmjlcpcb.com	Tied.
Mask vs paste registration	±0.05 mmderived	±0.075 mm typ.jlcpcb.com	UV laser positional accuracy beats stencil-aligned process at fine pitch.
Silkscreen process	Laser-etched into mask (no ink)authoritative	White / black ink, screen-printedjlcpcb.com	Trade-off — InstaPCB silk is matte etch (legible at zoom, lower contrast at distance). JLCPCB silk is high-contrast white-on-green ink.
Min silkscreen text height	0.10 mm (4 mil)authoritative	1.0 mm (40 mil)jlcpcb.com	10× smaller text. Laser etch resolves much finer than printed silk — readable refdes on 0402 packages.
Min silkscreen stroke width	0.05 mm (2 mil)derived	0.15 mm (6 mil)jlcpcb.com	3× tighter stroke. Same laser-kerf advantage as text height.
Silkscreen-to-pad clearance	0.15 mmauthoritative	0.15 mmjlcpcb.com	Tied.
Surface finish + plating
Surface finish	Bare-Cu / as-platedderived	HASL (Pb / Pb-free) / ENIG / OSP / immersion silver / tinjlcpcb.com	JLCPCB wins on finish flexibility. InstaPCB's bare-Cu is fine because boards go from line → workcell within hours; oxidation isn't yet a problem.
Lead-free RoHS	Yes (no leaded solder on line)authoritative	Yes (lead-free options)jlcpcb.com	Tied.
Stackup + impedance
Default 2L stackup	Cu / FR4 1.6 mm / Cuauthoritative	Cu / FR4 1.6 mm / Cujlcpcb.com	Tied.
4L / 6L dielectric stack	Symmetric FR4 + prepreg (specifics TBD)derived	Symmetric FR4 + prepreg, multiple stacks publishedjlcpcb.com	Tied at this level of detail. Authoritative InstaPCB 4L/6L stack docs forthcoming.
Impedance control	Not offered at this tierderived	±10% (microstrip / coplanar / diff-pair)jlcpcb.com	JLCPCB wins for controlled-impedance work. InstaPCB's prototyping focus doesn't yet include impedance certification.
Assembly DFM
Solder application	Stencil-free piezo solder-jet (300 µm dome)authoritative	Stainless steel laser-cut stencil + reflowjlcpcb.com	No stencil to design, manufacture, or store. Per-pad dispense means dot count scales with pad geometry, not stencil aperture rules.
Min pad-edge to pad-edge spacing	0.30 mm (300 µm dot oversplatter rule)authoritative	0.20 mm (stencil aperture)jlcpcb.com	JLCPCB stencils can target tighter pad gaps; InstaPCB's solder-jet has alternating-dot fallback below the 300 µm rule.
BGA min pitch	0.40 mm (alt-dot below)authoritative	0.40 mm (standard)jlcpcb.com	Tied at standard tier.
Min pad width for clean joint	0.35 mm (350 µm)authoritative	0.30 mmjlcpcb.com	Roughly tied — InstaPCB's floor is set by the 300 µm dot + ±25 µm placement margin.
Adom-default passive size	0402authoritative	0603 (recommended) / 0402 supportedjlcpcb.com	4-hour respin replaces hand-rework — kills the traditional argument for 0603. See electrical-engineering §4a.
DNP / placement-skip handling	Excluded from BOM + dispenseauthoritative	Excluded via DNP column in CPLjlcpcb.com	Tied.
In-line electrical test	Per-net probe (top + bottom layer, 26-step process steps 11 + 13)authoritative	Visual + AOI standard; flying-probe optional add-onjlcpcb.com	Every net probed before mask + silk. Catches shorts / opens before they leave the line.