A printed circuit board can be very small, yet very expensive. In as much as size may determine the cost of a board, manufacturing complexity plays a crucial role. Therefore, there are several factors that determine the cost of printed circuit boards.

Type of PCB material

PCB manufacturers use various materials like solder and fiberglass among others to fabricate a circuit board. Also, flex-Rigid PCB manufacturing involves the use of several materials. However, some materials are more expensive than others. The conductive layers of PCB can comprise silver, copper, or gold.

The type of material you use will contribute to the manufacturing cost. For instance, gold is very expensive. Therefore, when gold is used as the conductive layer of a PCB, it will result in high cost boards. Sometimes, flex-Rigid PCBs need higher-grade materials since they need to have higher frequencies. The material of a printed circuit board will affect its performance.

PCB assembly type

There are three different techniques of assembling printed circuit boards. These techniques include through-hole assembly, surface mount assembly, and the combination of both. Surface mount assembly is less expensive and faster. Therefore, surface mount boards are less expensive than through-hole boards.

Through-hole assembly is more expensive because it requires drilling a bare PCB. Also, this technique may require hand soldering. Through-hole technology helps to achieve a strong physical connection. However, some PCB manufacturers opt for the combination of SMT and THT.

PCB size and layers

Printed circuit boards are available in different numbers of layers and sizes. Circuit boards used in high-tech electronics usually feature several layers. Boards that feature a single layer are less expensive than those that feature more than one layer. Multilayer boards will result in a complex manufacturing process. Also, the manufacturing process will require the use of more materials. In the long run, this will affect overall manufacturing cost.

PCBs used in high performance applications require several components. Therefore, they require several layers stacked on each other. Also, bigger boards are more expensive than smaller ones. The space consumed by these components increases price. The increase in price is a result of the time it takes to manufacture boards with several layers.