app
InstaPCB vs JLCPCB
UnreviewedSide-by-side capability comparison: 4 h vs 5 d, 1-board MOQ, 0.08 mm traces, selective v-scoring, edge plating included.
{
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"type": "app",
"slug": "instapcb-vs-jlcpcb",
"title": "InstaPCB vs JLCPCB",
"brief": "Side-by-side capability comparison: 4 h vs 5 d, 1-board MOQ, 0.08 mm traces, selective v-scoring, edge plating included.",
"version": "1.0.0",
"tags": [],
"license": "MIT",
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"minimum trace width",
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"discovery_pitch": "Side-by-side InstaPCB vs JLCPCB capability matrix — turnaround, MOQ, traces, drills, mask, selective v-scoring, edge plating. Color-coded advantage column, sticky header, last verified 2026-05-07.",
"install": {
"binary_name": "instapcb-vs-jlcpcb",
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"readme": "# InstaPCB vs JLCPCB\n\nSide-by-side capability comparison for Adom's in-house **InstaPCB** fab + assembly line vs **JLCPCB**, the high-volume Chinese prototype house most engineers benchmark against.\n\nInstaPCB is Adom's UV-fiber-laser fab + stencil-free solder-jet assembly line in Fort Worth, TX. Drone-delivered components from Mouser DFW (~40 min) keep the line stocked. Boards land in your cloud workcell within 4 hours of submitting gerbers.\n\nThe interactive comparison tab below covers every spec a customer or DFM tool needs at quote time — turnaround, MOQ, mechanical envelope, conductor specs, drilled features, solder mask + silkscreen, surface finish, stackup + impedance, and assembly DFM.\n\n## Where InstaPCB wins\n\n- **Turnaround** — 4 hours fab + assembly vs JLCPCB's 3-5 day standard / 24-48 h express\n- **MOQ** — 1 board vs JLCPCB's 5-board minimum\n- **Min trace width** — 0.08 mm (3 mil) vs JLCPCB's 0.127 mm (5 mil) on 2-layer\n- **Min annular ring** — 0.125 mm vs JLCPCB's 0.15 mm\n- **Min via drill** — 0.20 mm on every layer count vs JLCPCB's 0.30 mm on 2L\n- **Trace-to-edge clearance** — 0.05 mm vs JLCPCB's 0.30 mm (laser depanel is glass-clean)\n- **Min silkscreen text** — 0.10 mm vs JLCPCB's 1.0 mm (laser etch resolves much finer than printed silk)\n- **Selective V-scoring** — Adom-invented: any 2D curve with designer-placed trace bridges, replaces mousebites entirely\n- **Edge plating** — free side-effect of the laser-cut + electroplate sequence; no add-on fee\n- **Native single-board ordering** — depanel laser cuts the final outline as the last process step\n- **In-line per-net electrical test** — every net probed before mask + silk\n\n## Where JLCPCB wins\n\n- **Layer count** — 1-20 (32 advanced) vs InstaPCB's 1, 2, 4, 6\n- **Board thickness flexibility** — 0.4 / 0.6 / 0.8 / 1.0 / 1.2 / 1.6 / 2.0 / 3.2 mm vs InstaPCB's 1.6 mm only\n- **Solder mask color** — 7 colors vs InstaPCB's green only\n- **Surface finish options** — HASL / ENIG / OSP / immersion silver / tin vs InstaPCB's bare-Cu / as-plated\n- **Copper weight options** — 0.5 / 1 / 2 / 3 oz vs InstaPCB's 0.5 oz\n- **Impedance control** — ±10% controlled-impedance certification (microstrip / coplanar / diff-pair) vs not offered on InstaPCB today\n- **Max aspect ratio** — 10:1 vs InstaPCB's 8:1\n- **Max board size** — 400 × 500 mm vs InstaPCB's 304.8 × 381 mm (12\" × 15\")\n\n## Open the interactive comparison\n\nClick the **InstaPCB vs JLCPCB** sample tab below to view the full matrix. The table has a sticky header so the column titles stay visible while scrolling, and every cell is color-coded:\n\n- **Teal** — InstaPCB advantage\n- **Yellow** — tie / parity\n- **Red** — JLCPCB advantage\n- **Dashed underline** — value derived from process physics (replaceable with an authoritative number once published)\n\n## Sources\n\nJLCPCB capability values cross-referenced against [jlcpcb.com/capabilities/pcb-capabilities](https://jlcpcb.com/capabilities/pcb-capabilities), [jlcpcb.com/pcb-fabrication/fr4-pcb](https://jlcpcb.com/pcb-fabrication/fr4-pcb), and [Schemalyzer's late-2025 JLCPCB design rules guide](https://www.schemalyzer.com/en/blog/manufacturing/jlcpcb/jlcpcb-design-rules). InstaPCB values are pulled from the canonical `gallia/skills/instapcb/SKILL.md` skill.\n\n## See also\n\n- The full **instapcb** skill — DFM rules + design-rule defaults read by `aci-drc`, chipsmith, and the InstaPCB quote form\n- The **aci-instapcb-process** skill — the 26-step manufacturing build animation\n- The **solder-jetting** skill — Adom's stencil-free 300 µm dome dispense rules\n",
"author": {
"id": "695820315b5f1e4db2fcf602",
"name": "Kyle Bergstedt",
"email": "[email protected]"
},
"visibility": {
"public": true
},
"hero": null,
"sample_prompts": [],
"metadata": {},
"created_at": "2026-05-28T05:29:05.233Z",
"updated_at": "2026-05-28T05:29:05.233Z",
"skills": []
}