Buying electronic components is easier said than done. Specialists have to deal with multiple steps starting with identifying the parts required to selecting vendors and deciding on different aspects like price, quality and range of the product. To make things easier, we have assembled a list of the ten best websites to purchase electronic components. Whether you are a DIYer or an electronic engineer, you can fulfill your dream of creating the perfect electronic equipment into reality with our top recommendations.
10 Best Websites to Buy Electronic Components
1. Octopart
Finding electronic components becomes easy at Octopart which has catered to the requirement of more than 15 million users till date. Octopart sources its product details from more than 400 manufacturers and distributors for offering greater variety at your fingertips. You can filter parts according to category, distributor & manufacturer. Pricing of the products are updated regularly to deliver highest level of accuracy.
Popular Brands: Panasonic, Molex, Honeywell, Texas Instruments, Visha, etc.
Types Of Products: Integrated Circuits, Passive Components, Discrete Semiconductors, Test Equipment, Sensors, Machining, Industrial Control, Cables & Wire, Power Products, etc.
Pricing: Users can benefit from bulk purchase discounts at Octopart.
Type Of Audience: Professionals & engineers
2. OnlineComponents.com
OnlineComponents.com has been serving users as the authorized distributor of electronic components since 1999. This website was created to make shopping easier for customers. You can choose among 400000 items offered by 300 partner brands. Irrespective of your geographical location, OnlineComponents can offer you with affordable shipping choices.
Popular Brands: Hubbell, Microchip Technology, Metcal, Keystone Electronics, Hoffman, etc.
Types Of Products: Power supplies, sensors & transducers, switches, capacitors, connectors, resistors and relays
Pricing: It offers competitive pricing directly from the website of different manufacturers. Buyers can also contact them for special quotes on bulk orders.
Type Of Audience: Electrical engineers
3. Sparkfun Electronics
SparkFun has been helping hobbyists transform their electronic dreams into reality since 2003. Irrespective of your skill level, you can easily find your pick among multiple open source products and even seek the assistance of its online tutorials. Sparkfun Electronics offers free domestic shipping on orders above $100 in USA. You can expect delivery within 2-8 days and enjoy returns within 30 days.
Popular Brands: Raspberry Pi, PJRC, NVIDIA, Silicon, Sensirion, Septentrio, Espressif, Bosch, etc.
Types Of Products: Environmental Sensors, Kits, Displays, RFID, Bluetooth, Audio, Biometrics, Data Logging and more.
Pricing: Sparkfun is reasonably priced with individual pricing varying according to function & complexity.
Type Of Audience: Educators, hobbyists & electrical engineers.
4. Digikey
As an American distributor of electronic components, Digikey has been catering to the requirements of users since 1972. You can browse its extensive catalogue with more than 11 million items, most of which are shipped on the same day.
Popular Brands: MPS, Sanyodenki, Cincon, Siemens, Nexperia, 3Peak, etc
Types Of Products: Integrated Circuits, Cables, Wires, Networking Solutions, Semiconductors, Electromechanical, etc.
Pricing: It offers comparatively cheaper real-time pricing of electronic components which can be checked using the PandA tool.
Type Of Audience: Design engineers & hobbyists
5. Jameco
Jameco is an US based distributor which has been in business for more than 50 years. You can browse through a catalogue rich in 50000 products of popular electronic components. Products can be filtered according to price, title, manufacturer, and category & part number. All its branded products come with a year-long warranty and 30-day money back guarantee.
Popular Brands: Weller, Arduino, Cincon, Citel, Siglent, Velleman, etc.
Types Of Products: Power Supplies & Wall, Interconnectors, Electronic Design, Batteries, Electromechanical, ICs & Semiconductors, etc.
Pricing: Branded products at Jameco come with a 60% less expensive price tag compared to its peers.
Type Of Audience: DIY enthusiasts
6. Adafruit
Adafruit has been serving users with electronic products since its incorporation in 2005. Designed by an MIT engineer, Adafruit is specially engineered for creators of all skill levels. Special discounts are given on the ‘Product of the week’ every Tuesday at 4PM ET. You can search for products directly or browse through gift ideas for your loved ones.
Popular Brands: Arduino, Raspberry Pi, NeoPixel, CircuitPython, Pico, Stemma
Types Of Products: Cables, Development Boards, Breakout Boards, Sensors, LEDs, Batteries, etc.
Pricing: Relatively cheap pricing
Type Of Audience: Hobbyists & students
7. Mouser Electronics
Mouser Electronics offers a rich collection of electronic components to users around the globe that is backed by a 30-day return period. There is no minimum number of order at Mouser which partners with 1200 authorized manufacturers to offer users with the latest products and technologies. Mousers meets ISO 9001:2015 standard with its products to guarantee complete peace of mind to its users.
Popular Brands: 3M, AAElectronics, Alpha Wire, BJB Electric, Caddock, Deltron, Elprotronic Inc, etc.
Types Of Products: Fuses, Power Outlet Strips, Thermistors, EV Connectors, Circuit Breakers, Sesnor Modules, etc.
Pricing: An affordable price range which can be checked with Mouser’s price & availability assistant.
Type Of Audience: Students & Engineers
8. Futurlec
Futurlec is a global stockist and supplier of electronic component across the globe which doesn’t have any minimum order value. With a wide selection of inventory, you can place your order for hard to find components and get them delivered at your doorstep in record time.
Popular Brands: Texas Instruments, Atmel, Motorola, Intersil, etc.
Types Of Products: Integrated Circuit, Diode, Switch, Resistor, Connector, LCD & LED
Pricing: It offers competitive pricing
Type Of Audience: Hobbyists
9. Alltronics
This Silicon Valley based company has been supplying electro-mechanical, electric and test equipment since 1978. You can choose among a wide range of electronic components and more. The company offers a 30 days return window for unwanted and unused products.
Popular Brands: Milwaukee, Parrot Invent, Peak Electronics, Anatek, CES, Multimeter, etc.
Types Of Products: Cable, Connector, Display, Digital Oscilloscopes, etc.
Pricing: You can get discounts on bulk orders by emailing their sales team separately.
Type Of Audience: Electronic Hobbyists
10. Findchips
You can save your valuable time and money by getting latest data on price and availability of inventory with the biggest distributors of electronic components around the globe at Findchips. Products can be browsed according to category & manufacturers. Alerts can also be set for inventory availability and price fluctuation for specific components. Its USP is the Part Comparison feature which allows making a detailed breakdown of differences and similarities between two parts.
Popular Brands: Farnell, Newark, Element 14, Avnet, Digikey, Verical, Renesas, Rochester Electronics, etc.
Types Of Products: Connector, Capacitor, Power Circuit, Diode, Resistor, Inductor, Optoelectronic, Amplifier Circuit, Microcontroller, etc.
Pricing: Offers up-to-date pricing from different manufacturers that can be compared to grab the best deal.
Type Of Audience: Procurement specialists & electronic design engineers
Conclusion
Electronic components are the building blocks of any electronic device. Be it super-fast computers or smartphones, electronic components are crucial for their functioning. Every component have a different function to perform like storing data, amplifying signals and even controlling the flow of electricity. The different websites collated above offers a wide variety of components from the most popular manufacturers around the world and at the most competitive rates.