In autumn 2025 JLCPCB started carpet blocking accounts due to their compliance policy, presumably due to the US export control regulations. My main account was blocked in the first wave, I made a new one, and used it until autumn 2026, when I was unfortunately greeted with the same notification![1]. I decided to stop playing catch-up with JLCPCB and try another PCB manufacturer, PCBway.

Here are my first impressions of PCBway compared to JLCPCB, based on my first order with them.

  • It’s simply more expensive.

    • "Economy" option is $5 instead of $2. And this option only coveres most simple PCBs (2 layers, 0.8-1.6mm and only limited number of silkscreen colors). Purple, matte black or matte green silkscreen raises price by ~$30, as does 4 layer PCB. Compare to JLCPCB’s economy offer that includes 4 layer PCBs and almost all colors of silkscreens, and 0.6mm thick PCBs and flex PCBs as well.

    • Cheapest shipping uses the same company (Global Direct Shipping), but costs more, due to lack of JLC’s economy shipping offer that reduces shipping cost to $2.

    • Non-economy options cost more. For example, full-color silkscreen adds $20 for a 50x50mm PCB.

    • Removal of order number from PCB is paid. JLCPCB is doing it for free for more than a year.

  • Newly registered users get a one-time $5 discount on orders of more than $5. I combined 2 $5 PCBs in one order to benefit from this discount.

    • Even though my PCB cost was $5, total order reached $20, due to shipping (~$7), import fees (~4) and new 3 EUR EU tarif.

  • Coupon program and other discounts. I’m not very informed on it yet, but it seems it’s nowhere near as beneficial as JLCPCB’s. For a year or so, JLCPCB has been offering full-colored PCBs coupons that converted 1 point into $1, One published project on oshwlab.com gave 50 points, which converted into $50 worth of full-color PCBs, and a post on their forum was worth 2 points, as was a daily login, making full-color PCBs practially free. They also gave out coupons for watching their youtube streams and as rewards for participating in contests and events. Even without fullcolor PCB offering, these easy coupons could sustain PCB orders for a small hobby.

    I am yet to find anything remotely as attractive on PCBway.

    • There are "PCBway beans" (can be used to buy stuff in their shop, like soldering irons),

    • there is a "creator program" (i.e. for youtubers and like),

    • there is a referral program (invite friends and get coupons when they make orders. Relevant if you have friends or followers who regularly order PCBs and haven’t registered yet),

    • there is a sharing program (when people order manufacturing of your PCBs, you get 10%. Only relevant if you have a lot of followers who want to buy your PCBs).

    • Currently there is a design contest that lasts for half a year and gives rewards to 6 projects with awards starting from $800. Realistically, the chance of winning anything is 0.

    At the moment, out of these options, nothing can sustainably reduce price of PCB orders.

  • Default black soldermask is shiny and collects fingerprints like crazy. JLCPCB has one that’s matte and not as prone to getting dirty. PCBway offers matte black soldermask too, but it raises price by around $30. So, I don’t recommend glossy black soldermask. + + +

  • Feature-wise, PCBway is quite similar to JLCPCB. They have mostly the same advanced PCB options: full-color PCBs, thin and flex PCB, aluminum PCBs, etc. These are, however, order of magnitude more expensive than at JLCPCB.

  • Quality is also comparable. I haven’t had any quality issues with either.

  • There isn’t an alternative to EasyEDA (JLCPCB’s in-browser EDA) and related to that, there isn’t oshwlab.com alternative where electronics projects can be shared. The constests have project pages, but they lack schematics or PCB layouts for others to study.

  • There isn’t an alternative to LCSC (EE components shop like Digikey or Mouser), but PCBway’s assembly can source parts from other shops, presumably at a higher price, I don’t intend to try it yet.

  • I’ve read somewhere that PCBway’s support is much better. Didn’t have the need for it yet.

All in all, it’s worse in a lot of points that are relevant to me (mostly by being more expensive), but better in one critical point, i.e. it hasn’t blocked my account.

1. Presumably, my last account got blocked because I used it from the same machine as the previous one, paid with same PayPal account and used the same shipping address. Or maybe they track projects developed in one EasyEDA account uploaded into another. If I change residental address, I’ll try to create a new account.