Clicky switches

A category the market has stopped investing in

Eleven switches. For comparison, linear has 111 and tactile 41, and both are supported by 12 brands against clicky's 7.

The prices tell the same story. Clicky has the lowest median of any switch type we track at $0.24 per switch, and a $0.13 floor. When a category gets cheaper while every other one holds its price, that is not a bargain appearing — it is manufacturers competing on cost because nobody is competing on quality.

Only 67% are factory-lubed, the lowest share in the catalogue, and for once that is deliberate rather than cheap. Lubricant on a click mechanism damps exactly the sound you bought the switch for. If you own clickies, this is the one switch type you should not lube.

Who clicky is still right for

Two groups, and both are legitimate.

If you work alone and like the sound, nothing else reproduces it. Silent and linear switches are quieter by design and tactiles give you the bump without the announcement; there is no substitute for a click bar.

And if you are coming from an old buckling-spring or a first-generation mechanical, clicky is the closest thing to the keyboard you remember. That is a real reason.

Everyone else should think about the room. Clicky switches carry across an open-plan office and through a microphone, and a tactile switch gives you the same physical feedback without either problem.