Keyboard Builders' Digest / Switch trends

Best-selling keyboard switches of February 2026

Here are February’s top mechanical switches, the community’s favorites based on vendor sales data.

KBD.news
Published March 6, 2026

(Cover: Keygeek SU Color V2 switches. Photo by Monacokeys.)

Let’s keep the series rolling by highlighting the community’s most loved switch models and diving into February’s best-selling switches! Discussion over at r/mk if you'd like to share your experiences or opinion.

Summary: 18 contributors from all around the globe, representing slightly less than 1 million switches sold, with 104 switch models mentioned and 14 new switch models appearing first in the top lists.

The article is quite long, feel free to jump to the list of contributors, to my quick market overview, the aggregated top10 list, the shooting stars, newly added switches, the detailed results by shops, or to the disclaimer, aggregation rules used by the algorithm, and my closing thoughts with new features and developments. Finally, search and filter the mechanical switch database for your favorite switch types or specific models.

PSA

New feature: Top brands. All the sales aggregated by brand. A request by plydauk in the comments, and it makes a lot of sense actually. I'm going to include this new part in the monthly articles from now on.

New feature: Switch Quiz – Answer some questions to narrow down the full range of models and find the best switches for yourself, according to your preferences. The Quiz has been updated with the February numbers as well, so it recommends the most popular models of the individual categories now.

Sound is in the works, and tactile force data is sparse, but otherwise this should be usable.

Feel free to report any issues, I'm sure there are some wrongly tagged switches in the database.

General market trends

Thanks to this compilation getting more and more representative — we have data coming from the US to China, Japan to France, Germany to India, and Australia to the UK –, and based on the sales volumes reported by all the participating shops, I can usually spot some interesting trends.

While the February numbers are quite mixed, I'd say this was definitely a slow month with only 7 out of 18 shops reporting gains at various levels, and with 10 reporting a clear decrease in sales. (I don't have January data for Ikasaya.)

Part of this may be the calendar effect, February being simple shorter, but also the Chinese New Year holidays.

The linear vs tactile ratio is 60:40 in the top 10 this time, and similarly 61:33 in the top 100 (with five models representing clickies). The current top tactiles, the Gateron's Type R and the Baby Kangarro (regaining strenght at multiple shops) made it to the top spots though. However, keep in mind that the smaller variety and greater concentration of tactiles compared to linears may result in their over-representation.

In addition, silent switches now account for 20% of the top 10 (an increase compared to the previous month but still lower than 40% in December) and 18% of the top 100. This latter ratio indicating a stable presence.

Just like in January, looking into the per-shop lists may reveal the effect of stock clearances: Some older switch models appear in the individual Top 10 lists as customers snap them temporarily at discounts. Keep this in mind as well while evaluating the rankings.

For first-hand insights, shared by shop runners, check out the detailed lists below.

Contributors

Many thanks to all the shops that are contributing their detailed statistics to this series. Exact sales volumes (rather than mere rankings) make the aggregated list more accurate. Thank you for your trust on behalf of the community – we all know how sensitive this data is.

Clicking the links takes you to the individual top lists:

MonacoKeys (DE), Lume Keebs (US), Delta Key Co. (FR), DiviniKey (US), The Thocc Exchange (UK), BeaverKeys (CA), UniKeys (CN), Clackify (US), SerpentKeys (UK), Mechboards (UK), Keebz N Cables (AU), Gateron (CN), Coffeekeys (IT), Ikasaya (US), Yusha Kobo (JP), StacksKB (IN), Mechanical Keyboards (US), AKKO EU (CN).

Switch testers

Many of you asked for switch testers. While I'm not a merchant myself, Clackify (US) specializes in exactly that – custom switch testers. Give them a shot. Or there's also Monacokeys (DE) and CoffeeKeys (IT) in the EU, Thocc Exchange and SerpentKeys in the UK, while Unikeys (CN) is revamping their tester page. Other shops offer more specific switch testers too, e.g. Beaverkeys (CA) or Keebz N Cables (AU).

Novelties & Database updates

14 new switch models have recently been added to the database as a result of the incoming top lists – most of these are indeed new, the list dominated by Keygeek and HMX.

• Keygeek Intro – a linear with PBT bottom housing and some glass fiber.
• Keygeek SU Color V2 (45g). Linear. An improved Y2? With some updates and sexy glitter.
• Keygeek Roxy – another one with glitter. More than clacky: almost metally.
• Keygeek Full Nylon – actually, with 50% fiber glass.
• Keygeek MZ Z1 – a marbly linear appearing at Coffeekeys.
• Keygeek Cera X – an upgrade to the original Cera? Brand new molds and ceramic infused POM materials for a smooth type feel and crisp sound profile.

• HMX Lanikai – XLLAB's customized molds, intentionally grainy texture, Calligraphy-like scratchyness with bigger grains.
• HMX Cthulhu – loud, ultra-clacky linear with high-fiberglass P7 bottom housing.
• HMX Yogurt S – sharper, more aggressive evolution of the Yogurt series. Said to be brighter and louder than the Yogurt V2.

Plus a WingTree model:

• WingTree x Lichicx Pink Pink – or sometimes written as PinkPink. According to SerpentKeys, Wingtree acquired Lichicx's patent and mold sets for the classic silent linear switches. So the PinkPink switches are manufactured just like the Lichicx silent switches, such as the XCJZ Lucy.

As always, there were some rather old models "hacked" into the top lists as well, most likely because clearance sales. E.g. Gazzew U4Tx, Invyr Holy Panda, Greetech Blue, Click Inc OF.

Some contributors mark this situation clearly, and I can remove these entries, especially when the stock has already gone and it wouldn't make any sense to list an old and out-of-stock model anyway. In other cases I can't exclude suspicious debuts, so they get into the list. That said, this is part of the game and shouldn't really impact the very top of the list.

Top switch brands

These are the top 10 brands of February, in order of all the monthly sales aggregated:

This is a new part, requested last time in the comments by plydauk: a top list by manufacturers. Well, sort of. To say "by brand" is more appropriate, as there are some cases when the manufacturer is unknown or may even change over time.

So to be fully transparent, I used the manufacturer attribute of the database for this when possible, but also had to implement a separate "brand" column when I had no proper manufacturer data.

In addition, some inconsistent naming still remains, potentially affecting the ranking (not this month though).

Finally: this list is based on the top10 switches by vendors. That's what I get the exact sales numbers for. I also have total sums, but no manufacturer data for the total sales volume.

Results

February's Top 10 – aggregated

Beside this Top10 feel free to check out the Top 400+ list too. (About the ranking: switch models appearing in multiple shop lists are prioritized over high sales in a single shop.)

As you'll see, there's not much overlapping in the individual shop lists, because of the relatively few repetitions. It's no surprise that the well-known, widely available, recurring models made it into the aggregated list above.

Anyway, here is a more interesting list: the shooting stars.

Shooting stars

These are the switches with the highest gain in rank from January to February:

And now let's take a look at the individual lists.

MonacoKeys (Germany)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Here is the collection of Monaco's best sellers so you can find them all at once.

Keygeek Y2 have been out of stock for February due to Chinese New Year – they would also be on that list otherwise. For new switches in March we've added Gateron Grape Smoothie and Neo Cloud as new silent tactile options! – Michael.

Lume Keebs (US)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Mechanical keyboard switches continue to evolve rapidly, with newer brands like Keygeek and HMX introducing a wide range of innovative switches. These manufacturers are bringing more variety to the market, focusing on smoother stock performance, unique materials, and different spring weights to suit different preferences. The growing number of options allows enthusiasts to experiment more and find switches that perfectly match their typing feel and sound preferences – Emily.

Delta Key Co. (France)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

A production of Gateron Lanes just started! We should restock them in April – Guillome.

DiviniKey (US)

Several familiar favorites made their way back onto the list last month, including Cherry MX2A Black, Cherry MX1A Hyperglide, and Gateron Oil King. These have been consistent performers for us and likely will continue to be. Owlab Ti HE had just restocked in the middle of February and ranked pretty high for us despite only arriving halfway through the month. So far the Owlab Ti HE has been one of our best performing HE offerings (when available). These rankings may be skewed because popular switches are out of stock and are expected in mid-March.

The rest of the list leaned more heavily toward relatively newer releases from Keygeek, HMX, and BSUN. Switches like the Keygeek Y3X, Keygeek Cera X, and BSUN Golden Apple continue to see strong interest, while HMX options such as Firecracker and Black Cat have also been gaining traction since their release in January.

Overall, our sales continue to be a mix of tried-and-true favorites alongside newer switches currently catching the community’s attention. We still have a few more upcoming releases on the way, so we’re looking forward to seeing what climbs the rankings next and what manages to stick around!

For those of you that have been around our back in 2022, we are currently developing Saru V2! Our latest prototype is fantastic so far. We are excited to see how these will affect our switch rankings when they release – Carl.

The Thocc Exchange (UK)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Keygeek Y2 continue to be our top performer, very closely followed by Blue Cheese. Thocky is definitely the sound profile people are chasing at the moment. Silent switches also continue to do really well rounding out most of the remaining top ten. Strong growth in switch sales so far this year shows that enthusiast interest is expanding as new studios contribute to innovation in the category – Matty.

BeaverKeys (Canada)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Keygeek Y2 comfortably claimed first place again this month, lets see if they can get three in a row. I added ten new switches to the store including Keygeek (MZ Studio) Y3X, Gateron Harmonic, and TTC Frozen V2 silent, let's see if any one of them can take the crown from the Y2 =) – Peter.

UniKeys (China)
[7% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Clackify (US)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

They won't show up in this list because I just added them, but be sure to check out the HMX Black Cat and the Gateron Harmonics – Calvin.

SerpentKeys (UK)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

We received a big switch shipment at the start of the month, which included restocks of popular switches like the Gateron Type R and HMX Hydra, as well as a bunch of newcomers—such as the Keygeek Blue Cheese V2 and HMX Cthulhu, both of which have instantly joined the top 10. Silent switches are still proving really popular, with the WingTree x Lichicx PinkPink becoming a favourite for those who love the Lichicx silencing mechanism – Ollie.

Mechboards (UK)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

We added some TTC switches into our lineup, and the Bluish White Silents finally broke into the top 10. Will be interesting to see if they can challenge Oil Kings for the number 1 MX switch on our store – Ben.

Keebz N Cables (Australia)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

February was an interesting month; we saw a resurgence of old favourites such as HMX Cheese V1, KTT Strawberry V2 and KTT Rose – Jason.

Gateron (China)
[10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Coffeekeys (Italy)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

February reflected a more stable and catalog-driven performance compared to January’s launch-focused momentum. With no major new releases during the month, demand concentrated on proven best-sellers, highlighting consistent interest in core Gateron models and sustained engagement with the Keygeek lineup – Tommaso.

Ikasaya (US)
[10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

We’ve lowered prices even more as we close the store. Everything must go! – Ivan.

Yusha Kobo (Japan)

Silent switches popular as always. Roller V2 switches were selling great from the very start and sold out pretty fast. Also personally very happy to see that the Gateron Lanes made it into the ranking. A great switch – Sabrina.

StacksKB (India)

February effect on sales – no new stuff/restock due to Chinese New Year + shorter month – Aditya.

Mechanical Keyboards (US)
[5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

AKKO EU (China)
[10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

Disclaimer

Keep in mind that most of the time I'm not in a position to verify the validity and accuracy of the data provided by shop runners. Some of these lists come automatically from their databases, with screenshots, however, some were put together manually. I asked for the numbers of the previous month, but some shops may query the past 30 days, etc.

That said, take everything with a grain of salt, but I hope this compilation will still hold some value, highlighting trends, giving you some tips, and as a snapshot of the zeitgeist it will be also interesting to look back at on the long run.

About the algorithm

While contributors provide exact numbers, standardization, normalization, and other techniques remain essential to come up with a ranked list due to some remaining inconsistencies, unfortunately.

The current system:

• incorporates sales volume as a percentage – to mitigate the dominance of a single huge vendor
• rewards switches present in multiple lists – to compensate the effect of some switches being offered in a single shop only, thus reflecting availability
• incorporates the previous month to break ties.

As with all such statistical methods, if we were to tamper with the algorithm, it would produce completely different results.

Another source of confusion and inconsistency is the arrival of belated lists. When such datasets come in, I may update the database but often not the already published article. While I add the specific list to the database, I don’t update the overall rankings in the write-up.

Final thoughts & Developments

Hey, I hope this write-up was useful to some of you because it took me a lot of time to complete it again, despite the heavy automation wherever possible. Thankfully, this time I'm closer to 7-8 hours again, instead of the painful 15-20 hours I spent with the early write-ups. This is only partly the result of my efficiency, less new switches influence this number a lot – less time spent with looking for missing data, proper photos, and including new models into the database.

Feel free to use and reference this post and the switch database. Spread the word so it makes sense for me to invest all this time and effort.

• Check out the switch database – with 470 switch models – with specs, photos, vendors, prices, typing tests.
• Some features: Search by keyword, filter by tags. You can order the list by price and release date now, as well as filter switches by color. Use permalinks to custom lists like silent tactiles or light, lubed linears with dust-proof stem and light diffuser. ;)
• Try the Switch Quiz to narrow down the full range of switches according to your preferences.
• Finally, the archive of all the monthly switch compilations is available too, e.g. the previous, January top list as a reference.

Thanks for reading this far, see you next month!

Published on Fri 6th Mar 2026. Featured in KBD #207.

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