Keyboard Builders' Digest / Switch trends

Best-selling keyboard switches of April 2026

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

KBD.news
Published May 7, 2026

(Cover: Keygeek T2 switches. Photo by Unikeys.)

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

Summary: 18 contributors from all around the globe, representing a bit less than 1 million switches sold, with 112 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.

General market trends

Thanks to this compilation being fairly 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 April numbers are quite mixed, I’d say this was another slow month, with only 7 of 18 shops reporting gains at varying levels and 11 reporting a clear decrease in sales.

Part of this may be, as explicitly mentioned by StacksKB (India), the continued US-Israeli war against Iran. High fuel prices turned the small-batch import model unfeasible.

The linear vs tactile ratio is 8:2 in the top 10 this time, and slightly differently 58:35 in the top 100 (with seven models representing clickies). The current top tactile (Gateron's Type R) and silent tactile (TTC Bluish White V2 Silent) made it to the very top spots. That said, keep in mind that the smaller variety and greater concentration of tactiles compared to linears may result in their over-representation.

Silent switches still account for 20% of the top 10 (same as the previous month but still lower than the 40% peak in December) and exactly 20% of the top 100 as well.

Just like in earlier months, 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), InputGear (DE), Lume Keebs (US), DiviniKey (US), The Thocc Exchange (UK), BeaverKeys (CA), Mechboards (UK), RGBKeys (NL), Delta Key Co. (FR), Clackify (US), SerpentKeys (UK), Keebz N Cables (AU), Coffeekeys (IT), UniKeys (CN), AKKO EU (CN), Yusha Kobo (JP), StacksKB (IN), Mechanical Keyboards (US).

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

While 14 switch models have recently been added to the database as a result of the incoming top lists, the majority of these are rather old, some even ancient – from 2021. :) But there were some interesting new mentions as well:

• The medium toned thocky tactile Wingtree Golden Apple V2 – successor to the BSUN Golden Apple switch. PEI bottom housing with a vibrant golden color. The first time that Wingtree uses the LY stem on a switch.
• A lound and clacky linear: Keygeek T2 designed by MZ Studio. "Scratchiness, BUT still feels smooth (?)". Keygeek's first switch that uses the POM+Kevlar blend. The N1 top housing comes with a sandy surface texture.

• Gateron Grape Smoothie.
• Akko Botany, the mid-pitched version of Rosewood, finally made it to one top 10 so it's been added to the database as well.
• Just like the HMX Butter Silent Tactile. The linear version has been around in the top lists for ages.
• Another silent tactile: Outemu Kitty.
• SWK Jieum V2.
• And a magnetic one: Haimu Snow Silent HE – a transparent HE switch.

Again, "hacking" rather old models into the top lists is a known issue. Some contributors mark clearance sales 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 make it to the final list. That said, this is part of the game and shouldn't really impact the very top of the rankings:

• Greetech Red, the non-silent TTC Bluish White, BuiltByNim (BBN) Tactile, Wuque Studio WS Yellow, Kailh Speed Silver, the tactile CMM.Studio X Gateron Limbo.

Top switch brands

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

Disclaimer: This list is based on the top10 switches (not the full catalog) 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

April's Top 10 – aggregated

Beside this Top10 feel free to check out the Top 500+ 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 March to April:

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 Y3 made a good entrance and based on our toplist, you notice that Keygeek Y2 have finally been restocked! – Michael.

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

Let us hope the new Oil King switch variants work just as well as the OG version! – David.

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

The mechanical keyboard market is shifting toward smoother, factory-tuned switches and better out-of-the-box quality, so people don’t need to mod as much anymore. At the same time, gaming features like Hall-effect switches and quieter tactile options are growing fast, especially for both competitive players and office users – Emily.

DiviniKey (US)

This month’s rankings were notably top heavy, with nearly two thirds of the top ten concentrated within just four switches: Y2, Cherry MX2A Black, Type R, and Y3X. Linear switches continue to lead that group, reinforcing their dominance at the top of the list. The latter half of the rankings saw a stronger presence from tactiles, helping round out the list and balance the overall distribution. On that note, the first batch of HMX Saru V2 has now been completed and is in the hands of our shipping partners. More updates should follow in the coming weeks – Veasna.

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

Absolutely humbled by the response to our Switch Madness 2 Year Anniversary Sale this month. Customers bought a total of 225 different varieties of switch. Blue Cheese and Y2 are still Gladiators even with much of the rest of the range on sale. Thrilled to add Keygeek Color, PA and TTC PT Blacks this month. Unlubed Cherry incoming. New custom switch design in the works too - Matty.

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

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

The LowProKB Choc switches are heavily outperforming everything else on our store right now, with Sunsets coming back in stock this month and taking the top spot. Nice to see the old legend Milky Yellow switches still punching high though! – Ben.

RGBKeys (The Netherlands)
[10% off with the KBDNEWS coupon code]

We had a slow month, running out of stock on a few popular switches affected the rankings. Dutch sales slowed down while European orders increased. With a fresh restock coming up this month, I'm not expecting much this month either due to the good weather ahead – Rien.

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

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

Gateron Grape Smoothies seem to be getting quite a bit of traction this month for good reason. Stay tuned, I plan to add quite a few switches to the store soon! – Calvin.

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

HMX were dominant this month, making up 6 of our top 10. That doesn’t look like it’ll change anytime soon either, with more on the way — including a V2 of the popular HMX Macchiato – Ollie.

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

Keygeek Blue Cheese V2 continues to be a crowd favourite. We are also starting to see an uptick in Taro N Sweet Potato V2 sales as another thock chaser alternative. Icey Ice Mango Berry Tactiles are growing in popularity as tactile enjoyers around the world are searching for unique tactile offerings. In the 2nd half of the year, we'll be focused on bringing new tactiles on the market which utilise exclusive custom moulds designed by our brand subsidiary F-ROW – Jason.

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

April confirmed the recovery trend started in March, with total units sold growing by approximately 8% month-over-month. The most relevant development of the month was the sharp rise of Neo Oat. Additionally, Keygeek Y2 switches returned to stock after selling out within the first two weeks of their initial availability — their restock is expected to generate renewed demand in the coming weeks – Tommaso.

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

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

Yusha Kobo (Japan)

Silent switches are dominating the ranking as our top 10 is almost fully silent this month. HMX Blackberry was added to our lineup quite recently and is doing pretty well – Sabrina.

StacksKB (India)

We recently celebrated our 5th anniversary! But on the business front - non-Akko stuff is running out, as evidenced by the rankings, but elevated airfreights make restocks impossible – Aditya.

Mechanical Keyboards (US)
[5% 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 10 hours again – at least not the painful and unsustainable 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 500 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, March top list as a reference.

Thanks for reading this far, see you next month!

Published on Thu 7th May 2026. Featured in KBD #211.

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