Think of your dream mechanical keyboard - perhaps it's a Razer Blackwidow, a Logitech G915, or if you're a little fancy, a Ducky One 2. How much do they cost? Usually in the range of 100 - 300 USD. Let me show you my not-so-impressive custom keyboard: can you guess how much it cost?
Nearly 400 USD, and that's considered cheap in the realm of custom mechanical keyboards. That's not all there is to this ridiculous world. Want to find out more? Let's dig deeper together.
Custom vs Prebuilt
If you've built custom PCs before it's common knowledge that DIY-ing your own set-up is often cheaper compared to buying a prebuilt since you're assembling the pieces together yourself. It makes sense that building it yourself should be cheaper, right? The reverse is true in the custom mechanical keyboard world. Pre-built keyboards are often way cheaper compared to custom keyboards - the most expensive ones cost thousands of dollars.
What could then be the reason for the difference in price? From my knowledge, most big keyboard manufacturers like Razer or Logitech are able to procure large amounts of keyboard parts at a cheaper rate due to economies of scale. When you are building your own custom keyboard, chances are that you'll want to modify your keyboard in a certain way that suits you - that's why you decided on a custom mechanical keyboard in the first place! These modifications usually result in having to buy more obscure parts that are produced in small quantities. Being produced in small quantities also naturally means that they'll cost more.
What's in a Mechanical Keyboard
Generally, most mechanical keyboards require:
- A case: to house the keyboard
- Switches: so your keystrokes can register
- PCB: the "brain" of your keyboard responsible for converting keystrokes into signals for your computer
- Plate: sandwiched between the PCB and the switches to prevent your PCB from bending
- Stabilizers: so your wider keys like "Shift" and "Enter" can be pressed down without wobbling
- Keycaps: together with the case, forms most of the aesthetic for your keyboard
- Wire: to connect to your PC. These days, cables that have the aviator connector are trending.
For most people, the bulk of the cost of custom mechanical keyboards comes from the keycaps and the case. It's not the case that the other parts aren't costly, but these two are the biggest culprits for why custom keyboards are so expensive.
Buying Keyboard Parts
There are many mechanical keyboard part vendors around the world. KBDFans, 1UP Keyboards, and CandyKeys are but just a few of these vendors. These online stores usually have many in-stock parts that you can buy just like any other item. However, for many keyboard enthusiasts, this isn't enough - they enter group buys for limited runs of cases and keycaps.
Group Buys
Let's take a look at a current running group buy on geekhack, the most popular forum for keyboard enthusiasts. I just took one off the front page - the MDA Future Suzuri.
This set of keycaps alone (no case, nothing else included), costs a whopping 135 USD. Let's say you really like this design and decide to get it - you pay 135 USD up front and sit back in your chair. Guess when the estimated date of shipping is? Q4 2022. After paying this amount upfront, you are also subject to nearly a year of waiting.
And from my limited knowledge, a year of waiting isn't considered long in the enthusiast mechanical keyboard world. Delays can happen, especially since manufacturers can't keep up with demand. It could take years for your group buy order to arrive - just ask the people who entered the group buy for the Model F. The group buy started in 2016 and only started shipping at the end of 2019. What a long time to be waiting!
Even though this system of up-front payment and long waiting times is ridiculous in most other consumer industries, it's accepted and part of the norm in the enthusiast keyboard market. Popular group buys sell out in seconds.
One of the community's most coveted makers came up with a group buy for a case costing 550 USD each that sold out in just 2 seconds! Insane, isn't it?
Is it worth it?
In my opinion, it really depends. I initially decided to go with a custom keyboard because I wanted a keyboard that supported QMK, a keyboard firmware that allowed you to completely customize all keybindings of the keyboard. I use the Dvorak layout on a daily basis for faster typing, but I still need access to the QWERTY layout when I play my games. With QMK, I could switch layouts with the tap of a button.
Whether a keyboard supported this firmware was dependent on what PCB was inside the keyboard. Naturally, most consumer keyboards don't have such support, so I went with a custom mechanical keyboard. For me, I felt that it was worth it.
There's nothing wrong with getting a pre-built - for most people, it's likely the right choice. There's less area to mess up while building your keyboard, and most people are perfectly happy with a pre-built. More recently, keyboard manufacturers have started manufacturing pre-builts that feel like they are custom, like the GMMK Pro and the Keychron Q1. These tend to be cheaper than building from scratch and are a good place to start for many people.
However, if you spend hours on your computer every day and want the perfect typing experience, a completely custom keyboard might be something that you want to look into. Just don't say I didn't warn you that the rabbit hole goes deep, really deep. 😉
I hope this quick little introduction to custom mechanical keyboards managed to pique your interest. If you're curious what kind of keyboards other people have built, do drop by in the r/MechanicalKeyboards subreddit - some of them are really awe-inspiring. If you have built your own custom mechanical keyboard, do show me in the comments section below! I'd love to see them.