Guides / JLCPCB extended part fees · Data from 19 October 2026
How much JLCPCB extended part fees really cost
JLCPCB charges a setup fee for every extended part in an assembly order. On a small run that fee can cost more than the parts. Here is what it came to for the open-source OpenFC-Lite flight controller, priced on 19 October 2026, and what you can do about it.
The numbers
| 5 boards | 100 boards | |
|---|---|---|
| BOM lines | 48 | 48 |
| Lines that are JLCPCB extended parts | 43 | 42 |
| Extended part fees ($3 each) | $129 | $126 |
| Parts cost | $68.19 | $994.13 |
| Fees per board | $25.80 | $1.26 |
| Parts per board | $13.64 | $9.94 |
For 5 boards the extended part fees were almost twice the cost of the parts themselves. For 100 boards the same fees are a rounding error per board. The fee is charged per unique part per order, not per board or per placement, so it hurts prototypes and small batches most.
Only 2 of the 48 lines were basic parts with no fee: the 4.7 µF and 1 µF 0402 capacitors (C23733 and C52923). Three more lines were not in JLCPCB's stock at all (an Abracon inductor, a YAGEO 7.5 kΩ resistor and a JST connector) and were priced from Mouser instead. At 100 boards one more resistor moved to Mouser because JLCPCB had only 12 in stock, which is why the 100-board run has 42 extended lines.
Basic, preferred and extended parts
- Basic parts are kept loaded on JLCPCB's pick-and-place machines: common resistors, capacitors, diodes and a few ICs. No setup fee.
- Preferred extended parts are extended parts JLCPCB treats like basic ones for its Economic assembly: no setup fee.
- Extended parts are everything else in the parts library. Each one has to be loaded onto a feeder for your job, and JLCPCB charges a one-time $3 fee for every unique extended part in the order.
Fee rules are JLCPCB's and can change; check their assembly pricing page before you order.
Why this BOM is almost all extended parts
Two reasons. The ICs, connectors, crystal and inductors (an RP2354B microcontroller, BMI270 IMU, TI regulators, JST SH connectors) are extended parts on almost any board, and there is little to gain there.
The bigger one is size: 20 of the 48 lines are 0201 passives, and we found no basic or preferred parts in 0201 at all: a search of the JLCPCB library for no-fee 0201 resistors and capacitors returned nothing. 19 of those lines pay the fee in this quote (the twentieth comes from Mouser), which is $57 per order, whatever the order size. OpenFC-Lite is a small flight controller, so 0201 is a deliberate choice; on a board with more room it would be an expensive one.
How to cut the fees
1. Use 0402 where the board allows it
We searched for no-fee 0402 equivalents of every 0201 value on the board. They exist for 11 of the 16 resistor values and for 3 of the 4 capacitor values:
| Value | No-fee 0402 part | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 100 nF | CL05B104KO5NNNC (C1525) | basic |
| 470 pF | 0402B471K500NT (C1537) | preferred |
| 20 pF | 0402CG200J500NT (C1554) | basic |
| 1 kΩ, 10 kΩ, 12 kΩ, 100 kΩ, 5.1 kΩ, 510 Ω | UNI-ROYAL 0402WGF series | basic |
| 75 Ω, 680 Ω, 2.4 kΩ, 3.9 kΩ, 7.5 kΩ | UNI-ROYAL 0402WGF series | preferred |
| 30 Ω, 1.4 kΩ, 6.49 kΩ, 8.87 kΩ, 19.1 kΩ | none found | extended |
That covers 15 BOM lines (two of them are 100 nF). Fourteen of them pay the fee today (the 7.5 kΩ resistor comes from Mouser, so it does not). Moving them to no-fee 0402 parts would take the 5-board fees from $129 to $87. It needs a layout change and more board area, so it is a decision for the next revision, not a last-minute BOM edit. Check voltage ratings too: some no-fee capacitors are rated 16 V where the original was 25 V.
2. Merge near-duplicates
The BOM has two different 100 nF 0201 capacitors (a 25 V and a 6.3 V Murata part) and two different 22 µF 0402 capacitors (one Samsung, one Murata). Each is a separate extended part. Using one part number for each value, where the ratings allow it, saves $6 per order without touching the layout.
3. Pick resistor values from the no-fee list
Values like 8.87 kΩ or 19.1 kΩ usually set a regulator's output voltage or a filter, so they cannot always change. When a value is only a pull-up or a current limit, choosing one that exists as a basic part saves $3 each time.
4. Order more boards at once
Because the fee is per order, two orders of 5 boards pay it twice. If you know you will need 20 boards, one order of 20 costs the same fees as one order of 5.
5. Search with the fee in mind
In the JLCPCB parts library, filter by "Basic" before picking a part. If you search from an AI assistant with Next Everything, find_parts and find_alternatives take no_assembly_fee: true to return only basic and preferred parts, and check_bom with assembly: true adds the $3 fees to the quote and suggests no-fee alternatives for each extended line. Check every suggestion's package and ratings before you swap it in.
What the fees do not include
The totals above are parts and extended part fees only. JLCPCB's assembly setup, stencil, per-joint and PCB costs come on top, and so does handling for parts JLCPCB does not stock (the three Mouser lines here would need JLCPCB's global sourcing or to be sent in by you). Stock and prices are from 19 October 2026 and change daily.
Related
- Mouser vs DigiKey: price comparison on a real 48-line BOM
- JLCPCB and LCSC parts MCP server
- Find alternative electronic parts with AI
- AI BOM checker
About the data
The numbers in this article come from Next Everything, an MCP server we build that lets AI assistants such as Claude, Cursor and Codex check a BOM against the JLCPCB/LCSC catalog and live Mouser and DigiKey prices. If you want to run the same check on your own BOM, the setup guides show how to connect it.
Next Everything is not affiliated with Mouser, DigiKey, JLCPCB or LCSC. Prices are list prices in USD at the time stated and change daily.