Guides / Mouser vs DigiKey · Data from 19 October 2026
Mouser vs DigiKey: a price comparison on a real BOM
Which is cheaper, Mouser or DigiKey? Instead of comparing a handful of popular parts, we priced every line of the open-source OpenFC-Lite flight controller (rev 3.3, 48 BOM lines, 106 parts per board, exported from its KiCad schematics) at both distributors, for 5 boards and for 100 boards, on 19 October 2026.
Short answer
- On the parts both sell, the prices are almost the same. For most ICs the price breaks are within a cent: the BMI270 IMU was $3.1715 at DigiKey and $3.18 at Mouser at 100 pieces, the LMR51635 buck converter $1.5393 vs $1.54.
- DigiKey was cheaper on more lines (15 of 20 at 100 boards), but by small amounts, except for two Samsung capacitors where Mouser was about twice the price.
- Mouser was cheaper on every YAGEO part we could compare (four resistors and one capacitor).
- Stock decided more than price. Many lines were listed at one or both distributors with zero stock, and some parts were only sold as full reels of 5,000 to 15,000 pieces.
How we compared
We ran the BOM through the check_bom tool of the Next Everything MCP server, which matches every line to an orderable part and prices it at the quantity the build needs, with each distributor's price breaks and minimum order quantity applied. Mouser and DigiKey prices are their public list prices in USD as returned on 19 October 2026 (around 04:50 UTC). Quantities are per build: a part used 4 times per board is priced at 400 pieces for 100 boards.
We only compare lines where both distributors returned a normal offer for the exact part number. We left out lines sold only as full reels, and two resistor lines where the match was by value rather than by part number.
The 20 lines both distributors priced, at 100 boards
Line totals for 100 boards. "0 stock" means the part is listed but there was nothing to ship that day; a number in brackets is stock below what the build needs.
| Part | Qty | DigiKey | Mouser |
|---|---|---|---|
GRM033R61E104KE14D 100 nF 0201 | 2,200 | $22.88 | $24.20, 0 stock |
CL05A475MP5NRNC 4.7 µF 0402 | 500 | $13.22, 0 stock | $19.00, 0 stock |
CL21A475KBQNNNE 4.7 µF 0805 | 200 | $21.60 (159) | $40.00 |
CL10A226MO7JZNC 22 µF 0603 | 200 | $64.86, 0 stock | $134.20, 0 stock |
CC0201JRX7R9BB471 470 pF 0201 | 100 | $6.08 | $6.00 |
GRM033R60J104KE19D 100 nF 0201 | 300 | $2.34 | $2.40 |
CL05A105KA5NQNC 1 µF 0402 | 100 | $6.75 | $8.00 |
GRM0335C1H200JA01D 20 pF 0201 | 200 | $1.68 | $1.80 |
GRM155R60J226ME11D 22 µF 0402 | 100 | $11.59, 0 stock | $12.10, 0 stock |
SDM02U30LP3-7B Schottky diode | 100 | $19.41 | $20.60 |
AOTA-B201610S3R3-101-T 3.3 µH inductor | 100 | $14.52 | $14.60 |
RC0201FR-0775RL 75 Ω | 400 | $5.26, 0 stock | $4.00 |
RC0201FR-0710KL 10 kΩ | 400 | $5.26 | $4.80 |
RC0201FR-077K5L 7.5 kΩ | 100 | $1.68, 0 stock | $1.20, 0 stock |
RC0201FR-07510RL 510 Ω | 300 | $3.95 (126) | $3.60 |
SN74LVC1G3157DTBR analog switch | 100 | $11.40 | $11.50, 0 stock |
TLV7031DPWR comparator | 100 | $49.81 | $51.70 |
LP5912-1.8DRVR LDO | 100 | $70.14, 0 stock | $70.20 |
LMR51635YDDCR buck converter | 200 | $307.86, 0 stock | $308.00, 0 stock |
BMI270 IMU | 100 | $317.15 | $318.00 |
| Total, 20 lines | $957.44 | $1,055.90 |
DigiKey comes out about 9% cheaper on these 20 lines, but almost all of that gap is two Samsung capacitors (CL21A475KBQNNNE and CL10A226MO7JZNC), where Mouser's price was roughly double. Without those two lines the totals are $870.98 at DigiKey and $881.70 at Mouser, a difference of about 1%.
At 5 boards the picture is the same
For a 5-board prototype run the same 20 lines came to $68.24 at DigiKey and $75.30 at Mouser. DigiKey was cheaper on 10 lines, Mouser on 6, and 4 were the same price to the cent. Again, one capacitor (CL10A226MO7JZNC: $4.69 vs $10.00) accounts for most of the difference.
Stock mattered more than price
Prices only matter for parts you can actually buy. For 100 boards, counting only offers with enough stock and a normal minimum order:
- Mouser could supply 17 of the 48 lines in full.
- DigiKey could supply 13 of the 48 lines in full.
- Either of them covered 21 of 48 lines.
- On 5 of the 20 lines in the table, neither had stock that day, including the board's buck converter (
LMR51635YDDCR) and both 22 µF capacitors.
This BOM was designed for JLCPCB assembly and uses several parts from Chinese manufacturers (XINGLIGHT LEDs, UNI-ROYAL and RALEC resistors, SHOU HAN connectors) that the US distributors list rarely or not at all. A BOM built from Western catalog parts would look better for both. The JLCPCB/LCSC side of the same BOM is in our article on JLCPCB extended part fees.
Watch the minimum order quantity
The cheapest-looking unit price is sometimes for a full reel:
- DigiKey listed the
XL-1005UBCandXL-1005UGC0402 LEDs only as 5,000-piece reels: $62.50 per line when a 5-board build needs 5 or 20 LEDs. - Mouser listed the UNI-ROYAL 0201 resistors only as 15,000-piece reels, at $15 to $30 per value, mostly with zero stock.
- DigiKey listed
AF0201FR-076K49Lwith a 10,000-piece minimum: $202.90 for a part the build needs 5 of.
If you compare prices by hand, check the minimum order next to the unit price, not after you have filled the cart.
Where our data is incomplete
DigiKey returned an offer for 25 of the 48 lines and Mouser for 35; 9 lines had neither. Some of DigiKey's gaps are real (parts it does not carry), but some are not: DigiKey normally sells the JST SH connectors on this board (SM04B-SRSS-TB and its 3, 6 and 8-pin versions), and our lookup returned no DigiKey offer for them. Treat those lines as missing data, not as "DigiKey does not sell this". The comparison above only uses lines where both distributors returned an offer.
Prices and stock change daily. These numbers are a snapshot from 19 October 2026.
So which one should you use?
For this BOM, neither was clearly cheaper on the parts both sell. The practical differences were stock on the day, minimum order quantities and which manufacturers each one carries. If you want to order everything from one place, check stock for your exact quantity first; if you are price-sensitive, compare per line, because the cheaper distributor changes from part to part (DigiKey for the Samsung capacitors here, Mouser for YAGEO).
Related
- How much JLCPCB extended part fees really cost: a 48-line BOM example
- Mouser MCP server
- DigiKey MCP server
- 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.