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If you want to see more about how specific mechanical switches perform, we've recently launched reviews of keyboard switches!

The 5 Best Budget Mechanical Keyboards - Winter 2024 Reviews

Updated
Best Budget Mechanical Keyboards

Many mechanical keyboards carry a premium price tag, but this isn't always the case. While the best budget or cheap mechanical keyboard models may not have all the high-end features, some are just as sturdy and perform similarly to their more expensive counterparts. Many of the keyboards below come in a variety of switches, while others have hot-swappable PCBs, allowing you to easily change out the stock switches for those of your choosing.

If you're new to mechanical keyboards, we recommend checking out our article Mechanical Switches: How to Choose. Alternatively, if you already know your way around the world of switches and are ready to buy a new set, you may want to see our recommendations for the best mechanical switches.

We've bought and tested over 215 keyboards, and below is a list of our top recommendations for the best budget mechanical keyboards. If you're looking for more gaming keyboards, check out the best gaming keyboards under $100. Likewise, if you want something cheaper, check out the picks for the best cheap keyboards. Or, if you'd rather look at a wider range of keyboards, see our list of the best mechanical keyboards.


  1. Best Budget Mechanical Keyboard

    The Keychron K10 is the best budget mechanical keyboard that we've tested. It offers a fully wireless experience, connecting with up to three devices using Bluetooth. With an outstanding battery life of up to 70 hours with backlighting on or up to 240 hours with it off, you won't have to worry about charging it frequently. The K10 offers a typing experience that feels and sounds good right out of the box, with the stock Gateron G Pro switches offering good tactile feedback. That said, you can also purchase a hot-swappable version of this board, allowing you to easily change out the switches if you want a different tying experience.

    Though it's made of ABS plastic, the keycaps feel great on the fingertips, and the keys are very stable. Like all other keyboards in Keychron's K-series, it has a compatibility toggle to switch operating systems and includes extra system-specific keycaps. While we recommend the full-sized K10 here, Keychron's K-series has a range of sizes and configurations available, and all of these boards come at a budget-friendly price point, so it's worth checking out their website to see what configuration works best for you.

    See our review

  2. Best Cheap Mechanical Keyboard

    If you're interested in a cheaper model, we recommend the ROYAL KLUDGE RK61. It's a compact, lightweight, and portable wireless model that makes it well-suited for smaller desks, and it's a great option if you're often taking your keyboard on the go to use remotely or even just jumping between hot desks. Just note that its compact design means it lacks a function row, a numpad, and dedicated arrow keys (although it does have plenty of pre-programmed hotkeys to stand in for these missing keys, including hotkeys that act like arrow keys when you hold down the Fn button).

    In addition to its good overall build quality, this keyboard offers excellent connectivity options. You can pair it with up to three devices using Bluetooth, use it wired, or get a variant with a USB receiver to use the keyboard anywhere and with any device with a USB-A port. Other variants of this board are also available, including a hot-swappable version that allows you to change out the stock switches to customize the keyboard for the typing experience you want.

    See our review

  3. Best Budget Mechanical Keyboard For Gaming

    While our top pick, the Keychron K10, is an outstanding out-of-the-box option for general use, you might be looking for something geared toward gaming. If so, we recommend the Razer Huntsman Mini thanks to its exceptionally low latency and highly responsive Clicky Optical switches, though quieter Linear Optical switches are also available. These features are normally on boards with much higher price tags. However, this keyboard is best suited as a dedicated gaming unit since you might find the optical switches cause you to make more typos during regular use due to their sensitivity. Its compact size allows for dynamic mouse movements, but it isn't a good fit for general productivity work, like data entry or spreadsheets, due to the lack of arrow keys, a function row, and a Numpad.

    In addition to its high-performance gaming features, this keyboard offers good build quality, with a hard plastic frame, an aluminum top plate, and durable double-shot PBT keycaps that aren't prone to fading or becoming slippery over time, though they're a little wobbly. There's a detachable cable that's easy to replace if it gets damaged.

    See our review

  4. Best Budget Mechanical Keyboard For Programming

    The Keychron V Series keyboards are a programmer's dream. While they aren't wireless like our top pick, their major selling point is that you can personalize them to your liking, with various available switches, stabilizers, and other internal components to best suit your needs. They also come at a budget price point, meaning you don't need to spend a small fortune to get a bespoke unit. That said, you can also opt for a pre-built unit. V Series keyboards offer an excellent typing experience with all the stock components, which include PBT keycaps, a layer of sound-dampening foam, and a retro-style transparent plastic frame.

    In addition to its physical customizability, V Series boards offer a suite of software customization options. The VIA companion software is available on all major desktop operating systems, including Linux. It lets you program macros to any key, remap key assignments, create layers and profiles, and adjust the RGB lighting effects and colors. You can also save these custom settings to the keyboard's onboard memory for easy access. These keyboards are fully compatible with QMK, an open-source tool that allows you to build personalized firmware for your board.

    See our review

  5. Best Budget Mechanical Keyboard For Mobile Use

    If you're using a mobile device and want a mechanical keyboard, consider the Obinslab Anne Pro 2. It can be hard to find in stock from some online retailers recently. Still, it's a good idea also to check the manufacturer's website here or smaller retailers like mechanicalkeyboards.com, which typically have more reliable stock. This keyboard offers unparalleled wireless connectivity options at this low price point, allowing you to pair with up to four devices using Bluetooth. This makes it an excellent choice for multi-device setups or use on the go. The whole body of the keyboard is plastic, but it still feels sturdy and high quality, and this plastic construction makes it much lighter to carry around than a keyboard with a mainly metal construction. Its compact form makes it easy to slip into backpacks and use in tight workspaces. Just note that there aren't any dedicated arrow keys (although the WASD keys function like arrow keys when you hold down the Fn key). Also, this keyboard has a fairly small battery compared to some wireless models, so you can expect about eight hours of wireless usage, meaning a few days of regular use between charges.

    While this unit isn't hot-swappable, like other recommendations on this list, including the Keychron V Series or ROYAL KLUDGE RK61, it's available with a variety of different switch types from various manufacturers, so you'll find a switch type that works for you. It also has a handful of brightly colored extra keycaps to add visual flair.

    See our review

Notable Mentions

  • Epomaker TH80 Pro: The Epomaker TH80 Pro is a great alternative to the ROYAL KLUDGE RK61 if you want something larger with dedicated arrow keys and a function row. It also offers better gaming performance and a slightly better typing experience with higher-quality PBT keycaps. The downside is that it's typically quite a bit more expensive, and its PBT keycaps don't have shine-through legends. See our review
  • Keychron C1 Pro/C2 Pro: The Keychron C1 Pro/C2 Pro is a family of mechanical keyboards for general or productivity use. However, unlike the Keychron K10, they're wired-only keyboards, which can be limiting if you work on many devices. See our review
  • HyperX Alloy Origins 60: The HyperX Alloy Origins 60 is a compact gaming keyboard often available at a lower price than the Razer Huntsman Mini, but its latency performance isn't quite as good. See our review

Recent Updates

  1. Feb 02, 2024: We've audited all our recommendations for relevance, price, and availability. We aren't changing our lineup with this update, but we've added a new link to our newly updated Mechanical Switches: How to Choose article in the introduction.

  2. Dec 07, 2023: We've changed the name of our 'Best Mechanical Keyboard For Typing' category to 'Best Cheap Mechanical Keyboard', but this new category retains the same pick, the Royal Kludge RK61.

  3. Sep 19, 2023: We've confirmed the pricing and availability of all our picks. We haven't made any changes to our primary lineup of recommendations with this update, but we've added the Epomaker TH80 Pro to our list of Notable Mentions.

  4. Jul 18, 2023: Minor adjustments to improve the clarity of information. Replaced Keychron C2 with the Keychron C1/C2 Pro within the Notable Mentions section.

  5. May 19, 2023: Replaced Razer Huntsman Tournament Edition with Razer Huntsman Mini as 'Best Budget Mechanical Keyboard For Gaming' pick due to current availability.

All Reviews

Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best budget mechanical keyboards for most people. We factor in the price, feedback from our visitors, and availability.

If you would like to do the work of choosing yourself, here is the list of all our mechanical keyboard reviews. Be careful not to get too caught up in the details. While no keyboard is perfect for every use, most are good enough to please almost everyone, and the differences are often not noticeable unless you really look for them.