40%
Build quality
Materials and construction. Heavier, more moddable boards pick up more points here.
- Case material
- Mount style
- QMK, VIA, VIAL
- Hot-swap
- Screw-in stabilizers
- Screen
Scores
How keyboard scores work
The number on a keyboard card runs from 0 to 100. It mixes four categories, then adds a popularity bonus of up to 8 points. Boards are judged against others at a similar price, so a cheaper keyboard can outscore a more expensive one.
Switch scores use a separate comparison.
Score sheet
74
The badge on the card
Rounded to a whole number. Hidden when the score is under 60.
- Build quality40%
- Customizability30%
- Productivity20%
- Performance10%
- PortabilityNo weight
Popularity, from the Recommended ranking. Added after the weights.
up to +8
Build 80, customizability 70, productivity 75, performance 60. Not a real keyboard.
- Build80 × 0.4032
- Custom70 × 0.3021
- Productivity75 × 0.2015
- Performance60 × 0.106
Before popularity74
Categories
Five readings. Four of them count.
Portability is still scored. It stays off the overall number so a compact travel board and a full-size work board can both do well at what they are for.
30%
Customizability
How much you can change after the board arrives. Firmware, sockets, and lighting live here.
- Barebones kit
- Hot-swap
- QMK, VIA, VIAL
- RGB
- Knob
- Screen
20%
Productivity
Layouts and features that hold up for a full day of typing, including split and Alice boards.
- Sound dampening
- 75% and larger
- Split, Alice, ortho
- Mac and Windows
- Screw-in stabilizers
10%
Performance
Specs aimed at competitive play. High polling rates and adjustable actuation count the most.
- Polling rate
- Rapid trigger
- Hall effect
- N-key rollover
- Wired
0%
Portability
Size, wireless, and battery. Shown on the product page and in the badge tooltip, with no weight in the overall score. A travel board and a desk board are built for opposite jobs.
- 40% to 68%
- Wireless
- Battery 5000 mAh and up
- USB-C
- Mac and Windows
The scale
From a spec sheet to a number between 40 and 100.
A category score never starts at zero. The floor is 40, even for the lowest board in a tier. The ceiling is 100.
- 01
Specs earn points
Each category starts from the spec sheet. Materials, mounts, firmware, polling rate, layout, battery, and connectivity add points only in the categories they belong to.
- 02
Some combinations add extra
A few feature sets score a bonus when they show up together. QMK with VIA and hot-swap is one. Rapid trigger with Hall effect is another. The full list is below.
- 03
Raw points are rescaled
The points are not the number on the card. Each category is placed on a scale from 40 to 100, mostly by rank inside the same price tier.
- 04
Weights, then popularity
The four category scores are multiplied by their weights and added. A popularity bonus of up to 8 points comes from the Recommended ranking. The total stops at 100.
60% is rank among keyboards in the same price tier. First in that group sits at the top of this share.
40% is the raw points compared with the highest raw score in the whole catalog.
Price tiers
Same score, different peer group.
Tiers use the lowest listed price in USD. A price on the upper edge starts the next tier, so $100 is mid, $200 is premium, and $400 is enthusiast.
Budget
Entry
Mid
Premium
Enthusiast
Two boards can both show a build score of 82. One earned it against keyboards under $100. The other earned it against keyboards from $200 to $400. Same number, different neighbors.
Combos
A bonus when the right features show up together.
These are added to the raw points, before the 40 to 100 rescale. They are small on purpose.
- QMK+VIA+Hot-swap
+3 to Customizability
- Rapid trigger+Hall effect
+3 to Performance
- Hot-swap+Screw-in stabilizers+Sound dampening
+2 to Build quality
- Mac and Windows+USB-C
+2 to Productivity
FAQ
Common questions.
Each category is ranked inside a price tier, then blended with a comparison against the whole catalog. A $90 board with a gasket mount, an aluminum case, and QMK can land above a $400 board that is ordinary next to other boards at that price.
A 40% wireless board and a full-size work board are solving different jobs. Portability stays on the product page and in the badge tooltip, with no weight in the overall number, so a desk keyboard is not punished for staying on the desk.
It is the overall score, rounded to a whole number. On a desktop, hover the badge for each category to one decimal. The badge is hidden when the overall score is under 60.
No. Specifications, prices, and scores are not changed for commercial reasons. Recommended order is a separate sort, described in the terms of use.
100 means the weighted categories sit at the top of the 40 to 100 scale and the popularity bonus filled whatever room was left, up to the cap. Read it as a fit for the price, alongside the rest of the catalog.
See which boards score highest.
The catalog can be sorted by this number. The badge on each card opens this page.