The 6 Best Budget And Cheap Keyboards of 2025

The Logitech Signature K650 is our recommendation for the best budget keyboard for most people. You can connect this wireless keyboard via Bluetooth or with the included USB receiver. Depending on your daily usage, a pair of AA batteries can power this board for up to 36 months. This keyboard uses quiet rubber dome switches, making it a great choice that won't bother others in shared workspaces, dorm rooms, and home offices.

It has a sturdy plastic body, and unlike more expensive mechanical options, there aren't any exposed moving parts, which means it's more resistant to minor spills or food crumbs if you often find yourself eating or drinking in front of your computer. It also offers good built-in ergonomic features, including a built-in palm rest, low-profile keycaps, and feet that provide two incline settings. These features ensure you can type on this keyboard without angling your wrists too sharply, which can help keep you comfortable, especially when typing for long stretches.

It's a full-size keyboard board, so not only does it have all the keys you need, including a numpad, but there's plenty of space between keys. The keycaps also have rounded tops, making it easier to differentiate between keys by feel, which can help you type faster and avoid typos.

If you're looking for the best budget gaming keyboard, the Corsair K70 RGB TKL stands out for its exceptional performance and solid build quality. Its compact TKL (TenKeyLess) layout removes the numpad to provide more space for mouse movement while keeping essential keys like the function row and arrow keys. The keyboard features a robust, hard plastic chassis, durable PBT keycaps, and incline feet that open sideways, which helps ensure you don't accidentally collapse them if you nudge your keyboard. Its raw performance is outstanding. It offers a really low latency and supports an 8000Hz polling rate, with an effective update rate of up to 4000Hz. You won't be able to notice the benefit of these higher polling rates or update rates, but they do help produce slightly lower and much more consistent latency, which can still make a marginal but measurable difference if you play at a very high competitive level.

Switch options include Cherry MX Red and Cherry MX Speed mechanical switches. Both are smooth and linear, but the Speed switches have a shorter pre-travel distance, making them slightly better suited for fast-paced, reaction-based gameplay. A Champion Series variant with Corsair's OPX optical switches is also available. These optical switches don't significantly improve performance compared to the Cherry Speeds, but they are more durable due to their contactless design. Although this keyboard is getting harder to find overall, this variant seems to be more widely available right now.

If you prefer a full-size keyboard, the Corsair K70 CORE is a more affordable alternative. It's quieter, thanks to added sound-dampening materials, but it doesn't match the TKL model's raw performance and is limited to a standard 1000Hz polling rate.

The best cheap wireless option available is the Logitech Pebble Keys 2 K380s. This wireless keyboard's standout advantage is its slim, compact design, making it easy to slip into bags or laptop cases for use on the go. It's also a great fit for smaller workspaces, leaving more space for your mouse and anything else you need on your desk. This keyboard uses AAA batteries and connects via Bluetooth, allowing you to pair up to three devices simultaneously and switch between devices using hotkeys. Using the configuration software, you can create custom profiles, remap shortcuts, and even create macros.

That said, the somewhat unusual circular-shaped keycaps and tighter key spacing can take a bit of getting used to at first. Also, this keyboard's compact layout means it gives up some of the keys found on standard full-size boards, including dedicated arrow keys and a numpad.

Many gaming keyboards come with steep price tags, so finding a great unit at a lower price can take time and effort. For a cheaper option, we recommend the SteelSeries Apex 3 TKL. This keyboard has a compact TenKeyLess form factor, which means it lacks a traditional numpad but still has dedicated arrow keys and a function row. While our best budget gaming pick, the Corsair K70 RGB TKL, uses mechanical or optical switches, this keyboard uses rubber dome switches. Rubber dome switches are significantly quieter, and they're a bit more resistant to minor spills and debris. That said, they don't quite offer the same high-end performance.

Speaking of which, the overall latency performance on this keyboard is higher than on more premium options, so it isn't a great fit for high-level competitive play. Still, it's more than suitable for casual gaming in any genre. It also has some surprising extra features normally found on more expensive options, including a volume wheel and the ability to set macros to any key. It also has RGB lighting with eight separate zones you can customize using the companion software. If you're interested in a full-size alternative with a numpad, there's a full-size version of this board called the SteelSeries Apex 3. The full-size version is typically a bit more expensive; however, it includes a wrist rest for added comfort.

If you're looking for an even cheaper office option, we recommend the Dell KB216. This is a straightforward, wired-only keyboard, and while its feature set is about as basic as you get, that's also its strength. It has a conventional full-size layout with good spacing between keys and key clusters. Like the more expensive options above, it also has a low-profile design, which means you don't have to angle your hands too sharply to reach all the keys and likely don't have to rely on using a wrist rest, even if you type for long stretches at a time. Best of all, it's very quiet, making it a great choice for a home or bullpen office setting where you may be sensitive to bothering those around you.

As a wired-only model, you also never have to worry about replacing batteries or recharging, though it does mean you have less freedom for positioning it around your desktop, and you can't connect it to multiple devices at once. Also, its materials feel cheaper compared to other options on this list, and the typing experience is on the mushier side. Even so, if you're on the hunt for an inexpensive keyboard that doesn't have features you won't use, this covers all your bases.

If you work off iPads, tablets, or even your mobile phone, we recommend the Logitech K585. It's a low-profile unit with a built-in device tray so you can prop your mobile devices up at a nice viewing angle. While its price can vary, it offers great value when it's around $35 USD. The K585 connects via Bluetooth or the included USB receiver, supports pairing with up to two devices, and lets you switch between them easily using keys on the F-row. It's powered by two AAA batteries that can last up to two years before needing replacement.

The keyboard uses scissor switches, offering a laptop-like typing experience. These switches are also extremely quiet, making the keyboard ideal for shared spaces. However, like many budget keyboards, it has some drawbacks. The switches feel slightly mushy, the keycaps are made of lower-quality ABS plastic, and there's no adjustable incline. The compact arrow key layout may feel cramped if you rely on it heavily for your workflow. Lastly, while it's quite slim, the full-size layout gives it a larger footprint than many keyboards designed for mobile devices. This can be a benefit if you need a numpad, but it also makes the K585 less portable than smaller options, like our 'Best Cheap' pick, the Logitech Pebble Keys 2 K380s. Still, it's a reliable and affordable choice, making it a great companion for your mobile devices.