12 Difference Between PCB and PCBA | Comparison

“Are PCB and PCBA the same?”- Most of us have this confusion.

In short, the answer is “No”.

The PCB (printed circuit board) and PCBA (printed circuit board assembly) are two different things. But, both are very essential for manufacturing and designing a complete circuit board.

Let’s study, what is the difference between PCB and PCBA.

PCB vs PCBA [in Tabular form]

#	Content	PCB	PCBA
01	[Definition] What is PCB & PCBA?	The bare board which consists of alternating layers of conductive and insulating materials to make a complete electric circuit (in the form of circuit tracks) is known as ‘PCB’.	The process which assembles the different electronic components on the blank PCB board is known as ‘PCBA’.
02	[Full form] What does PCB & PCBA stand for?	The PCB stands for the ‘Printed Circuit Board’.	The PCBA stands for the ‘Printed Circuit Board Assembly’. Sometimes, it is known as a ‘Printed Circuit Assembly (PCA)’, or ‘PCB Assembly (PCBA)’.
03	What are PCB & PCBA in electrical?	It is a blank board that does not contain electronic components.	It is a functional board that contains or attaches different electronic components.
04	Manufacturing	The simple process is occurred for the manufacturing PCB as compared to the PCBA.	There are more processes and components required for the manufacturing PCBA.
05	Requirements for connection	It requires less wiring.	It requires more wiring.
06	Insulation Requirements	Less insulation is needed.	More insulation is needed.
07	Uses of PCB & PCBA	The PCBs are primarily used for circuit design, but not used directly in electronic devices.	The PCBAs can be directly used in electronic devices or systems.
08	Cost	The PCB is cheap and easily available in the market.	The PCBA is costlier than the PCB.
09	Maintainance	It requires less maintenance.	It requires more maintenance for the assembling and designing.
10	Transportation	For transportation, PCBs need typically packaging such as vacuum packaging.	For secure transportation, the PCBAs need compartmental or anti-static packaging.
11	Manufacturing Process	The etching process is very harmful which has taken manufacturing of PCB.	The etching process does not happen.
12	Assembly	Soldering does not require in PCB.	Soldering is required for mounting the different electronic components on PCB.

Further, read the advantages and disadvantages of PCB over PCBA. You will find a few more differences.

13. Circuit board images

• Printed circuit board (PCB)

The PCB board is referred to as a blank board or bare board or unstuff board or unsoldered board. You can see the below PCB image.

• Printed circuit board assembly (PCBA)

In PCBA, all the electronic components (such as resistor, capacitor, inductor, relay, etc.) are mounted through the soldering on the PCB board. The circuitry diagram is shown below.

This is the basic comparison of PCB and PCBA. Both are dependent on each other. And they are very needed to make a circuit for electronic devices and for EEE projects. Students and engineers should be familiar with PCB and PCBA.

Hope you have understood all the basic concepts and differences between both. If you have any queries about PCB and PCBA differences, you can ask the comment below.

Some related other comparisons:

• Electrical vs Electronics
• Anode vs Cathode
• Alternating current vs Direct current
• Active component vs Passive component
• Series circuit vs Parallel circuit
• Open circuit vs Closed circuit
• Single phase vs Three phases
• Analog signal vs Digital signal
• Electrical circuit vs Magnetic circuit
• Analog multimeter vs Digital multimeter

Thanks for Reading!