The ZSA Moonlander is a hot-swappable mechanical keyboard with a fully split ergonomic design. You can place the two halves at a distance and angle that feels most comfortable to you, or you can just plug in the left side for FPS games. It's a highly customizable board, letting you set macros to any key you want; however, there's a limit of five key sequences allowed per command. The board is available with a variety of Cherry MX and Kailh switches, and since it's hot-swappable, you can easily change them for whichever ones you want. Note that at the time of writing, you can only buy this keyboard directly from the ZSA website.
Our Verdict
The ZSA Moonlander is excellent for gaming. It has low and consistent latency and is fully customizable, allowing you to program macros, adjust backlighting, or even swap out the switches. It's very comfortable to use thanks to its wrist rest, multiple incline possibilities, and fully split design. You can even plug in only the left half while gaming, giving you more space to move your mouse. However, there's a learning curve if you're used to typical keyboard layouts. Also, the secondary functions aren't labeled, so it can take some time to memorize where certain functions are. Unfortunately, macros are limited to five key sequences, which may be annoying if you need more.
- Exceptional ergonomic design.
- All keys are macro-programmable.
- RGB backlighting.
- Feels very well-built.
- Can use just one half of the board.
- Low and consistent latency.
- Five character limit on macros.
- Split, columnar staggered design may take time to get used to.
The ZSA Moonlander is fantastic for office use. Its split design allows you to align each half with your shoulders, and it forces you to use the touch typing method, which should cause less fatigue, although we don't test this. It has rotating incline feet, so you can adjust the halves to a positive or negative angle. Many other aspects are also customizable; you can adjust the backlighting, set macros, and easily swap out the switches. It feels very well-built, and it's also fully compatible with Windows and macOS. However, there's a learning curve due to the board's unconventional layout and unlabeled keys.
- Exceptional ergonomic design.
- RGB backlighting.
- Fully compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Feels very well-built.
- Split, columnar staggered design may take time to get used to.
The ZSA Moonlander is a wired keyboard and isn't designed for mobile devices or tablets.
The ZSA Moonlander is great for programming, as it feels very well-built and it's extremely customizable. You can set macros, adjust backlighting, and, because it's hot-swappable, even change the switches. It's also fully compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux. However, there is a learning curve due to the board's split, columnar-staggered layout and unlabeled keys, but typing should still feel very comfortable. It comes with a detachable wrist rest and multiple incline angles. Unfortunately, macros are limited to five key sequences, which may be annoying to you if you need more than that.
- Exceptional ergonomic design.
- All keys are macro-programmable.
- RGB backlighting.
- Fully compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux.
- Feels very well-built.
- Five character limit on macros.
- Wired-only design.
- Split, columnar staggered design may take time to get used to.
The ZSA Moonlander is inadequate for a home theater PC setup. It's a wired keyboard, and it lacks a trackpad, meaning you need a mouse on the side to navigate the menu. Also, since the board is split, it may be hard to use on your lap unless you have a lapboard. On the plus side, it does have RGB backlighting and media keys.
- RGB backlighting.
- Feels very well-built.
- Wired-only design.
- No trackpad.
- Split design may be cumbersome.
The ZSA Moonlander offers impressive raw performance, with great single-key and very good multi-key latency. It also has full N-Key rollover and can take full effective advantage of its 1000Hz polling rate without bottlenecking.
- Feels very well-built.
Changelog
- Updated Jan 22, 2026: Our Test Bench 1.4.3 update adds clearer terminology and new measurements to our Keystrokes test group. For more details, see the full changelog.
- Updated Jan 09, 2026: Our 1.4.2 Test Bench Update makes changes to the Hardware Customizability test group. We've created a new Magnetic Switch Compatibility test and renamed our previous PCB Socket test to Mechanical Switch Compatibility. See our full changelog.
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Updated Apr 18, 2025:
We've added a link to the Dygma Raise 2 to the Dimensions section.
- Updated Nov 29, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.3.1, which adds a new estimated PCB latency test to the Single-Key Latency section and a new Analog test to the Switches section of this review. You can see the full changelog here.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the ZSA Moonlander in white, but it's also available in black. The unit we tested had Cherry MX Brown switches, but it's also available with Cherry MX Blue and a variety of Kailh switches, including Bronze, Gold, Silver, Copper, Box Brown, Box Red, Box White, and Box Black. We expect our review to apply to all variants; however, the typing experience and typing noise will differ depending on the switch you choose. You can see the label of our unit here.
Popular Keyboard Comparisons
The ZSA Moonlander is a hot-swappable fully split keyboard with a columnar-staggered key layout. It's exceptionally customizable and lets you change the backlighting, adjust incline settings, and set macros. It's also hot-swappable, so you can even change the switches. While it may take significantly some time to get used to the design and the customization software compared to other keyboards, it should very comfortable to use once you get the hang of it. Its incredible range of ergonomic features should help reduce wrist and finger strain, although we don't test this. It's very similar to the ErgoDox EZ, but it has fewer keys, and its thumb clusters are adjustable.
For other options, see our recommendations for the best ergonomic keyboards, the best keyboards for writers, and the best mechanical keyboards.
The ErgoDox EZ and the ZSA Moonlander are both fully split mechanical keyboards. Built by the same maker, both boards are designed with ergonomics in mind. You can place each half in a position that feels most comfortable for you. There are also many different incline configurations thanks to the rotating incline feet. Also, both boards are hot-swappable, extremely customizable through their configurator software, and you can set macros to any key; however, the ZSA has a five-character limit, which may be annoying if you need longer strings. While our ErgoDox unit doesn't have RGB backlighting like the ZSA, there are variants that do. The biggest differences are that the ZSA's thumb clusters are moveable, which provides more incline options, and it has fewer keys. Also, the ZSA's latency is much higher, so it isn't as good of a choice for gaming.
The ZSA Moonlander and the MoErgo Glove80 are ergonomic split mechanical keyboards with columnar key layouts. The ZSA is a wired-only keyboard with a hot-swappable PCB, allowing you to change out stock switches without soldering. On the other hand, the MoErgo is a wireless model that connects via Bluetooth and can be paired with up to four devices simultaneously. It also has concave key wells designed to minimize the distance your fingers travel while typing. Additionally, the MoErgo also has considerably lower latency, and it's significantly more lightweight.
The Dygma Raise 2 and the ZSA Moonlander are both high-end, ergonomic mechanical keyboards with split designs and heavy customization support. The Raise 2 uses a more traditional staggered 60% layout, making it easier to adapt to if you're coming from a standard keyboard. In contrast, the Moonlander uses a columnar layout and has a relatively more complex thumb cluster design. The Raise 2 can support wireless connectivity (2.4GHz and Bluetooth) with an add-on purchase, while the Moonlander is wired-only. Both use powerful open-source software, but Dygma's Bazecor is a downloadable app that runs locally, whereas ZSA's Oryx software is browser-based.
The Durgod Taurus K320 and the ZSA Moonlander are keyboards with very different designs. The ZSA is a fully split, mechanical keyboard with an ergonomic design. It's an outstanding option for office use thanks to its multiple incline settings, wrist rest, and outstanding keybinding customization options. On the other hand, the Durgod is a straight, TKL mechanical keyboard made for gaming. While our Durgod unit we tested didn't have backlighting, it has variants that do.
Test Results
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