Keyboard Builders' Digest / Switch trends
Best-selling keyboard switches of July, 2024
A monthly overview of community favorite mechanical switches, based on real sales data provided by vendors and manufacturers.
Published August 2, 2024

Hey fellow switch addicts enthusiasts! Inspired by a recent conversation and request, I decided to resurrect this series featuring the actual community favorite switches for mechanical keyboards – hopefully with a growing number of vendors and manufacturers joining.
The data for these write-ups, listing the best-selling switches of a given month, come from popular online shops. Many thanks for the feedback to:
AKKO EU, Ashkeebs (CA), BeaverKeys (CA), CandyKeys (DE), Coffeekeys (IT), Gateron (CN), Kailh (CN), Keebz N Cables (AU), Loobed Switches (US), Mechboards (UK), Milktooth (US), NovelKeys (US), pkkeyboards (US), Swagkeys (KR)
Previous episodes of the series published in collab with Milktooth can be found here, but I'm trying to extend these overviews to more and more vendors in the future. This means that you can find multiple top lists below, featuring different switch models in different orders just to confuse you to represent more regions and niches.
Disclaimer & Method
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, however, some were put together manually. I specifically asked for the numbers of the last 30 days, but whether they reflect the past month, week or any other time-frame may vary and is often a mystery to me. ;) Standardization is in progress.
As always, 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.
Results
Akko EU [10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
Akko EU is one of the most responsive shops out there so I went with the EU branch this time, but you can find the same switches in other Akko stores (5% off) too, of course. By the way, Akko is releasing 2 to 3 new switches every month, so this list is really just a snapshot, evolving continuously:
1 | Akko Cream Yellow Pro V3 | linear | €0.24 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Akko Cream Blue Pro V3 | tactile | €0.24 | buy |
3 | Akko Penguin Silent | tactile | €0.37 | buy |
4 | Akko Fairy (silent) | linear | €0.37 | buy |
5 | Akko Lavender Purple Pro V3 | tactile | €0.26 | buy |
6 | Akko Creamy Purple Pro V3 | tactile | €0.26 | buy |
7 | Akko Piano Pro | linear | €0.37 | buy |
8 | Akko Rosewood | linear | €0.37 | buy |
The above 8 models are our main products on sale. Additionally, it should be noted that Lavender Purple may gradually be discontinued and replaced by Cream Purple – Akko EU.
It's also worth mentioning that the Akko Rosewood is a new linear switch designed specifically to deliver a rich, low-pitched typing experience for the MU01 wooden keyboard I reviewed earlier.
Ashkeebs (CA) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
Best-selling thorough the month sometimes also means out of stock at the moment, like in some of these cases. ;)
1 | HMX Xinhai (heavy) | linear | $0.35 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | HMX Swift Linear | linear | $0.35 | buy |
3 | Tecsee Zaku | linear | $0.55 | buy |
4 | Tecsee Amethyst | tactile | $0.55 | buy |
5 | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro | linear | $0.25 | buy |
6 | Prevail Epsilon | linear | $0.65 | buy |
7 | Geonworks HG Clear 3.5mm | linear | $0.33 | buy |
8 | AEBoards Naevy R1.5 | tactile | $0.58 | buy |
9 | Gateron CJ | linear | $0.60 | buy |
10 | Emogogo Linear | linear | $0.65 | buy |
BeaverKeys (CA) [5% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]
BeaverKeys, shipping to Canada and the US, is growing fast. That said, they don't sell crazy amounts of switches so a top 5 might be most representative for this month:
1 | HMX Xinhai (light) | linear | 0.45CAD | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | KTT Kang White V3 | linear | 0.37CAD | buy |
3 | Gateron Oil King | linear | 0.87CAD | buy |
4 | HMX | Sillyworks Hyacinth V2U | linear | 0.45CAD | buy |
5 | KTT Vanilla Ice Cream | linear | 0.70CAD | buy |
Peter's comment:
My top sellers are pretty stable at the moment as I haven't added many new switches in the past couple months.
CandyKeys (DE)
There is a new KBDDIGEST discount code (5%) beside the good old KBDNEWS one (0-4%). Merging in progress. You may try both:
1 | HMX Game 1989 | linear | €0.43 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Gateron Oil King | linear | €0.65 | buy |
3 | HMX Retro KD200 | linear | €0.42 | buy |
4 | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro | linear | €0.34 | buy |
5 | Cherry MX Orange | linear | €0.62 | buy |
6 | HMX Macchiato | linear | €0.39 | buy |
7 | HMX Cloud (42g) | linear | €0.42 | buy |
8 | Cherry Nixie | linear | €0.44 | buy |
Currently we are looking into expanding further with our already 140+ available switches with our in depth filter system, which allows customers to filter with very detailed attributes of a switch. Top sellers are being replaced by switches with hype, depending on the season – David.
The HMX sell very quick due to their nature of marketing and hype. Especially the Game1989 were a pretty good hype-switch also because of the novelty box. They won't really be the same next month, while Gaterons and Cherrys here are more like an everygreen of switches with more stability in sales. Especially the Milky Yellow and Oil Kings are a good example of a slow and steady popular switch. We think the new EF Curry Switch could also become such a good long living switch – Fabian.
CoffeeKeys (IT)
1 | Wuque Studio WS Morandi | linear | €0.39 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Gateron Oil King | linear | €0.69 | buy |
3 | Gateron Quinn | tactile | €0.57 | buy |
4 | Wuque Studio WS Silent Tactile | tactile | €0.34 | buy |
5 | Wuque Studio WS Heavy | tactile | €0.34 | buy |
6 | Wuque Studio WS Brown | tactile | €0.34 | buy |
7 | Wuque Studio WS Dash | Hall-effect | €0.78 | buy |
8 | Wuque Studio WS Silent Linear | linear | €0.34 | buy |
Gateron (CN)
1 | Gateron Magnetic Jade | Hall-effect | $0.80 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro | linear | $0.26 | buy |
3 | Gateron G Pro 3.0 Yellow | linear | $0.28 | buy |
4 | Gateron Baby Kangaroo (V2) | tactile | $0.60 | buy |
5 | Gateron Smoothie | linear | $0.30 | buy |
6 | Gateron Melodic | clicky | $0.65 | buy |
7 | Gateron Lunar Probe | linear | $0.59 | buy |
8 | Gateron Oil King | linear | $0.64 | buy |
9 | Gateron Quinn | tactile | $0.60 | buy |
10 | Gateron KS-33 Low Profile 2.0 Chocolate | tactile | $0.35 | buy |
Kailh (CN)
The list I received from Kailh contains mostly switch series/families, rather than individual switch models. Eg. the all-POM element series and the Kailh@Lofree shadow series, right at the top, come in linear, tactile and clicky flavors. Not sure handling these as one item makes much sense, but Kailh being one of the giant manufacturers out there, it's an interesting insight anyway:
Low-profile switches in the top spots of the list.
Keebz N Cables (AU)
Jason's comment on the community and industry trends he perceives:
The current trend seems to be the move back to rail bottom out switches. HMX has spoilt the market with their budget friendly switches that are completely usable stock without the need to lube in many cases – Jason.
1 | Keebz N Cables x BSUN Taro N Sweet Potato | linear | $0.50 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Keebz N Cables Ice Kachang V2 | tactile | $0.63 | buy |
3 | HMX Cheese | linear | $0.50 | buy |
4 | HMX Ice Cendol | linear | $0.37 | buy |
5 | Gateron Snow Rabbit | linear | $0.30 | buy |
6 | LICHICX XCJZ / JKDK Crimson Red Silent | tactile | $0.33 | buy |
7 | HMX Xinhai (heavy) | linear | $0.37 | buy |
8 | Keebz N Cables Mountain King | tactile | $0.43 | buy |
9 | Invokeys Matcha Latte V2 | linear | $0.67 | buy |
10 | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro | linear | $0.23 | buy |
Loobed Switches (US) [All switches 15% off!]
Chris added a remark to the Ghost Dragons at the top of his best-seller list: "by far". A report by another shop, with exact sales numbers, seems to lead to the same conclusion: just a few models leading these lists may be responsible for most of the sales, so top10 lists may be misleading.
1 | SW X Captain Sterling SWK Dragon Ghost | linear | $0.45 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Kailh BCP Black Cherry Pie | linear | $0.50 | buy |
3 | Loobed Oak | tactile | $0.50 | buy |
4 | Prevail Nebula V2 | linear | $0.53 | buy |
Mechboards (UK)
1 | lowprokb Choc (V1) Ambients Twilight | silent linear | £0.95 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | lowprokb Choc (V1) Sunset | tactile | £0.85 | buy |
3 | lowprokb Choc (V1) Ambients Nocturnal | silent linear | £0.95 | buy |
4 | Gateron Oil King | linear | £0.65 | buy |
5 | Kailh Choc (V1) White | clicky | £0.55 | buy |
6 | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro | linear | £0.25 | buy |
7 | Silent Alpaca V2 | silent linear | £0.70 | buy |
8 | Kailh Choc (V1) Red | linear | £0.55 | buy |
9 | Kailh Choc (V1) Brown | tactile | £0.55 | buy |
10 | Kailh Choc (V1) Pro Pink | linear | £0.55 | buy |
Obviously, our Choc switches sell a lot as we sell a lot of Choc kits. Sales aren’t fully reflective of what is most popular, as the most popular switches tend to sell out quickly and are difficult to get back in stock, so end up being OOS for a long time. The one thing that’s clear is that there is definitely demand for higher quality Choc switches! – Ben.
Milktooth (US)
Kevin's list is was always special because of his try-at-home approach: After testing a sample of keyswitches you could buy what you like the most, so it was possible to separate hype from conscious switch choice based on real experiences of customers. His recent list below reflects these educated purchases is a more usual top list now:
1 | TTC Venus | linear | $0.51 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Wuque Studio WS Morandi | linear | $0.39 | buy |
3 | TCC Frozen (V2) Silent | linear | $0.53 | buy |
4 | TCC Bluish White (V2) Silent | tactile | $0.46 | buy |
5 | Everglide Aqua King (V3) 62g | linear | $0.54 | buy |
6 | Cherry Nixie | linear | $0.42 | buy |
7 | KTT Matcha | tactile | $0.49 | buy |
8 | Gateron Baby Kangaroo (V2) | tactile | $0.55 | buy |
9 | Gateron Quinn | tactile | $0.55 | buy |
10 | Gateron Milky Yellow Pro | linear | $0.23 | buy |
NovelKeys
Here is what I received from Mike:
Our best selling switch is still our Cream switch, and now currently followed by our Cream+ switch.
pkkeyboards
Can confirm HMX are moving for us pretty well, especially the Sunset Gleams – Kevin.
SwagKeys (KR)
1 | SwagKeys SWK Catmint | linear | $0.35 | buy |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | SW X Captain Sterling SWK Dragon Ghost | linear | $0.38 | buy |
3 | HMX DuckDuck (Sunset Gleam) | linear | $0.28 | buy |
4 | Vertex V1 | linear | $0.30 | buy |
Final thoughts
Hey, did you really read this far? Impressive. :) I hope this write-up made at least some sense.
I don't know about you but I discovered some switch models I wasn't aware of and was quite surprised by some of the results and order of lists above.
Anyway, let me know how you'd improve this series (e.g. on reddit or here), the format, what vendors would you like to see here next time, etc. (Obviously, there are some big names missing here. To say the truth, I contacted many more vendors but haven't received feedback from some.)
See you next month!
Published on Fri 2nd Aug 2024. Featured in KBD #171.