What is the difference between a PCB and PCBA?

A PCBA is a complete package; it has been fitted with all the necessary components and is ready for deployment for its desired purpose.

The components that are mounted into a PCB assembly can include capacitors inductors, resistors, diodes, triodes, modules, and BGA’s and many more.

As it is produced by printing the required image on the substrate, it is called a “printed” circuit board. It’s most commonly manufactured using copper clad epoxy resin / glass cloth compound.

The PCB is often made up of multiple layers with 4 and 6 being the most commonly used, dependant on the required number of signal layers.

PCBA therefore is the complete electronic assembly , whereas a PCB is purely the bare electronic circuitry.