A key to understanding the difference between a mobile home vs. a manufactured home and a modular home lies in their construction.
Although they all are built off-site in a facility designed for home-building, modular homes tend to be built with the highest quality materials. Manufactured homes are usually less energy efficient than modular and built of less expensive construction materials.
Mobile homes are typically mounted above-grade, where they rest on blocks without a connection to a foundation wall below, like their modular counterparts.