Keycaps Checklist Easy

Why You Should Stop Guessing When Buying Keycaps

I spent three years and about eight hundred dollars on keycaps before I realized I was buying the wrong things every single time. The problem isn't that keycaps are expensive. It's that the specs are scattered across seventeen different subreddits, forum posts from 2014, and Amazon listings that tell you nothing useful. I eventually built a Keycaps Checklist Easy system just so I could actually know what I was getting before checkout. This isn't some fancy software. It's a list. A really specific list. And it saved me from buying PBT keycaps that turned out to be double-shot ABS with a texture that felt like sandpaper. You'll see why in a second.

Keycaps Checklist Easy

Start with the material. This is where most people mess up. You need to know whether you're looking at ABS or PBT. Double-shot means the legend is molded into the key itself, not printed on top. Profile determines how tall they are — OEM, Cherry, MX, SA, MT3 — and this changes everything about how your keyboard feels. Compatibility matters more than people admit. Not every switch type works with every cap, and some caps won't fit your stem properly even if they say they do. The practical part is checking the stem type. Most modern keyboards use Cherry-compatible stems. But if you're running Alps switches or something vintage, those stems are completely different dimensions. I once ordered a full set of GMK-style keycaps that were beautiful, well-made, and completely unusable on my Alps-based board. Took me six months and a return shipping cost I didn't want to think about to learn that lesson.

The Actual Checklist

Here's what I go through now before every single purchase. It takes about five minutes. The actual decision-making process after that usually takes fifteen to twenty minutes once you've got the checklist down. I can verify compatibility by reading a listing in about three minutes now because I know exactly what to look for. Material: PBT is generally more durable and resist shine over time. ABS is smoother out of the box but gets glossy faster. Double-shot legends last forever. Dye-sublimation is the budget-friendly alternative that fades. There's no moral obligation to buy PBT. If the price difference matters more to you than longevity, buy ABS and move on with your life. Profile: This is the height and angle. OEM is the standard Cherry MX height. Cherry profile is slightly taller and steeper. SA is tall and rounded — very distinct sound and feel, but your pinky will appreciate it less on long typing sessions. MT3 is another popular choice. You need to pick one and commit. Don't mix profiles unless you're doing a specific aesthetic build and you know exactly why you're doing it.

Compatibility: Cherry MX stems are the default. Kailh and Gateron are also generally compatible. Alps require specific low-profile or tall-mount stems depending on the switch. Some boutique sets are made for specific keyboards entirely. Read the listing. If it doesn't mention stem type explicitly, assume Cherry-compatible and verify against your switches. I keep a spreadsheet of every board and switch combination I own. It takes one hour to set up and saves me about forty-five minutes per shopping trip going forward. Size layout: Standard ANSI and ISO are the two main layouts. ANSI has a wider spacebar. ISO has a taller Enter key and an extra key next to the left Shift. Then there's the 60 percent, 65 percent, 75 percent, and full-size variants. Make sure the key sizes match your board. I've seen people buy caps that don't have the right size for their spacebar. It sounds obvious until you're staring at a $120 set and your spacebar is the wrong length. Legend style: This is font, placement, and method. Some people are obsessed with this. Some don't care. Know which camp you're in before you start browsing. The difference between a set that costs $40 and one that costs $180 often comes down to whether the font is custom-designed and how the legends are applied.

Common Mistakes I See People Make

The biggest one is ignoring the key count. People see a nice set and assume it covers their board. It doesn't always. A standard 104-key set won't cover a 98-key board perfectly. A 65 percent set definitely won't cover a tenkeyless board. The count in the listing should match your board's key count within a reasonable range. If it's way off, something is wrong. Another mistake is not checking the weight. Some sets are incredibly heavy and require significant force to press down. This isn't a problem for everyone, but if you type fast and your fingers fatigue easily, you'll notice. I learned this the hard way with a set of high-profile SA keycaps that felt like typing on boulders. Everything worked fine. My wrists didn't. Some buyers also skip checking whether the keycaps are compatible with their switch brand. This matters less now because most manufacturers have moved toward universal compatibility, but if you're running Kailh Box switches or something specialized, double-check. Kailh Box stems have a slightly different shape than Cherry MX, and while many caps fit, not all of them do.

What This Doesn't Fix

The checklist won't tell you whether a set sounds good on your specific board. Sound depends on the switch, the plate material, the case, the stabilizers, and whether you lubed anything. Two people can have the exact same keycap set on identical boards and hear different things. Don't read reviews for sound unless the reviewer is using the same setup as you. It also won't help you decide whether the aesthetic is right for you. That's subjective. The checklist keeps you from buying the wrong size or the wrong material. It doesn't make you like the color. If you're building a keyboard from scratch and already have the keycaps picked out, the checklist still applies. You'd be surprised how many people buy a board, then realize the keycaps they wanted aren't compatible with the included switches, and they end up buying new switches just to make the caps work. That's an unnecessary second purchase that the checklist would have prevented in five minutes.