When you are designing a product that has an electrical element, you need to include a circuit board of some kind. Two of the most popular types of circuit boards include printed circuit boards and breadboards.

Here, we are going to look at the difference between the two of these and figure out when it is best to use them. Keep reading to find out more.

What Is A Printed Circuit Board?

A printed circuit board is also known as a PCB and it is a small circuit board that has connections etched on. There are no wires on a PCB and they are usually designed using circuit board design software which is then sent on as guidance for a manufacturer.

What Is A Breadboard?

Breadboards have been around for a very long time and they started when manufacturers would mount sockets to pieces of wood. This is how they got their name initially. A breadboard is essentially another type of circuit board which comes with two rows and five holes. This type of circuit board usually comes with power busses, chis and pins and much more.

Advantages of PCBs

PCBs come with many advantages to the user including the fact that they have a better current carrying capacity than you’ll find in a breadboard. On top of this, they are permanent to run on an electronic device and they can be made to be rigid. PCBs can also have terminals added to them and they tend to look a lot cleaner in their design.

Advantages Of Breadboards

In comparison, breadboards are easier and quicker to assemble than PCBs as they don’t have any sort of permanent solder connections. These connections can also be changed depending on the situation and components can also be changed on a breadboard. Another advantage of using a breadboard is that they can be reused to make different circuit depending on your needs.

When To Use Them

One of the most common uses for breadboard is in the experimenting stage of circuit design. This is because of the lack of permanency and the fact that things can be changed. It is often best to use a breadboard in the steps before creating a PCB as there is only a small current capacity on these types of circuit boards.

When it comes to when you should use a PCB, we suggest that you use them for the actual electronic device that you are making. PCBs are for more permanent devices and you’ll find them in a variety of different tech products that you might own.

Final Verdict

There are many advantages to using both breadboards and PCBs for your circuit board project but it is clear that the more permanent solution is definitely PCBs. Of course, you can always use both in order to test out your circuit board design on a breadboard and then use the PCB for the final product when it comes to it.