The best cheap gaming keyboards

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The best cheap gaming keyboard can offer a lot that the most expensive versions can without making you spend a ton of money. Budget keyboards can help you ease the cost of pricing out a brand new gaming PC, and they can be a good starting point before you get deeper into the clicky hole. If you want to pass on best gaming keyboards, look no further than the keyboards below.

When we say “cheap,” we're talking about pricing, not quality. Most budget keyboards in this guide are $50 or under and will be a stalwart companion to your gaming PC. Certain features will be omitted to keep the price down, though. Make sure you know which features really matter to you—be they media controls, LED displays, elaborate macro keys, or mechanical switches—and decide what you can live without.

Anyway, we've attempted to list as many of the best cheap gaming keyboards we've tested over the years, with a range of price points up to $50. We've even added a couple of quality keyboards that come bundled with other peripherals to take some of the stings out of the cost of a new setup. 

If you do find yourself with some money to burn, however, the best mechanical keyboards would always be our first recommendation.

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White G.Skill KM360 gaming keyboard on grey background

(Image credit: G.Skill)
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G.Skill KM360 tenkeyless keyboard

(Image credit: G.Skill)

1. G.Skill KM360

Genuine Cherry MX switches at a great price

Switch: Cherry MX Red | Size: TenKeyLess | Backlights: White | Passthroughs: None | Media Controls: Integrated | Wristrest: None

Affordable
Reliable Cherry MX switches 
Bright white LED 
No numpad

There is a trend towards $200+ gaming keyboards in the market at the moment, but that doesn't mean there aren't quality mechanical switch boards available at a more reasonable price. Often you'll find these more budget-oriented options offering cheap switches from other manufacturers, but the G.Skill KM360 comes featuring the classic Cherry MX Red linear switch out of the gate.

If you can't cope with your gaming board not lit up like a rainbow then you may be disappointed with the single-color option, but damn, the white LEDs on this G.Skill board are the brightest I've ever seen. Normally I like to keep at max brightness all day long, but the KM360 would burn out my retina if I did.

This TKL board is basic, but what it does, it does very well. It's solid, well-built, reliable, and looks pretty decent too. There's no wrist rest, no passthrough, or media controls, but I'll happily give it a pass in favor of affordable functionality.

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