Under $100 is where most people buy their first good keyboard, and where boxes promise the most. Two boards at the same price can sound nothing alike: one deep and soft, another bright and clicky. The switches, the case, the foam inside and the keycaps all change the sound, and a spec sheet does not tell you which one you will like. Every board below costs $100 or less at its maker's US list price, and each one has community sound packs on Mechvibes, so you can hear it before you buy.
This list ranks the keyboards under $100 whose sound packs people opened most in the 30 days to November 13, 2026, counting each person once a day. We have not used these keyboards ourselves. The sound comes from the community's recordings, and the facts and prices below come from each maker's own pages, linked.
Some links below go to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, Mechvibes earns from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you.
If you only hear one, start with the Aula F75: the board under $100 people played most.
At a glance
| Keyboard | Layout | Connection | List price | Pack views |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Aula F75 | 75% | Wireless and wired | $79.99 at Aula | 1,107 |
| 2. Aula F75 Max | 75% | Wireless and wired | $79.99 at Aula | 1,034 |
| 3. GravaStar Mercury K1 Lite | 75% | Wireless and wired | $89.95 at GravaStar | 815 |
| 4. Keychron K2 | 75% | Bluetooth and wired | $74.99 at Keychron | 321 |
| 5. GamaKay MK61 | 60% | Wired | $59.99 at GamaKay | 175 |
| 6. Royal Kludge RK61 | 60% | Wireless and wired | $49.99 at Royal Kludge | 165 |
| 7. Redragon K552 Kumara | Tenkeyless | Wired | $44.99 at Redragon | 151 |
| 8. Akko TAC75 HE | 75% | Wired | $59.99 at Akko | 118 |
List prices on the makers' sites on November 11 and 13, 2026; prices change, check the current one before buying. Where a board comes in several versions, the price is the lowest regular price the maker lists for it, not a sale price. Several of these boards were sold out on their maker's site when we checked. Pack views count each person once a day.
1. Aula F75
A 75% board with 80 keys in an ABS plastic case, with a gasket mount, hot-swap sockets and factory-lubed linear switches. It connects over Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz or a cable and has a 4000 mAh battery. Aula sells it with LEOBOG Reaper, Greywood V3 or Ice Vein switches, among others (Aula). It is not the same board as the F75 Max at number 2, which adds a screen beside the knob. Its four packs record Reaper, Graywood V3, Ice Vein and Gateron Oil King switches, and their makers describe them as creamy or thocky.
Most listened keyboard under $100
Aula F75
Played 1,127 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 4 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: people who want one board for a laptop and a desktop, wireless or wired
- Skip it if: you need a number pad; it is a 75% board
2. Aula F75 Max
The F75 with a small TFT screen beside a metal knob, still with 80 keys. It has a gasket mount, a flex-cut PC plate, foam and silicone between the plate, PCB and case, and factory-lubed LEOBOG Reaper linear switches. It works over Bluetooth, 2.4 GHz or a cable. Aula's page calls its sound creamy and thocky combined (Aula). All three of its packs record Reaper switches; two are described as creamy and one as clacky.
2nd most listened
Aula F75 Max
Played 1,052 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 3 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: people who want a screen and a knob on a wireless 75% board
- Skip it if: you need a number pad; it is a 75% board
3. GravaStar Mercury K1 Lite
A 75% board with 80 keys in a transparent PC frame, with transparent PC keycaps. GravaStar lists a gasket mount with five layers of foam, its own linear switches at 40 gf, a 4000 mAh battery, and wired, Bluetooth and 2.4 GHz connections. GravaStar describes its sound as a deep thock at moderate volumes (GravaStar). Its three packs record GravaStar linear switches, and their makers call them thocky and creamy.
3rd most listened
GravaStar Mercury K1 Lite
Played 823 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 3 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: people who want a see-through board with light linear switches
- Skip it if: you want metal or ordinary opaque keycaps
4. Keychron K2
A 75% board in an ABS plastic case with a tray mount, ABS keycaps and a 4000 mAh battery. Keychron now sells it as Version 2, which works over Bluetooth with up to three devices or a cable, and has hot-swap sockets with Keychron Super switches. Keychron's page showed it sold out and points to the newer K2 HE and K2 Ultra 8K (Keychron). Its two packs record Gateron Brown and Gateron Blue switches, not the Keychron Super switches the page lists now; the Blue pack is described as clicky.
4th most listened
Keychron K2
Played 323 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 2 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: people who switch between up to three devices over Bluetooth
- Skip it if: you want a metal case; it is ABS plastic
5. GamaKay MK61
A 60% board with 61 keys on a USB-C cable only. It uses Gateron optical switches in hot-swap sockets, with PBT double-shot pudding keycaps, RGB lighting and an IPX4 water resistance rating (GamaKay). All three of its packs record Gateron Optical Yellow switches; one of them is spray-lubed, and its maker calls it clacky and creamy. The maker's page showed every version sold out.
5th most listened
GamaKay MK61
Played 176 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 3 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: people with little desk space who want a wired 60% board
- Skip it if: you want dedicated arrow keys; it is a 61-key 60% board
6. Royal Kludge RK61
A 60% board with 61 keys that connects over 2.4 GHz, Bluetooth with up to three devices, or a USB-C cable. The version in the table has blue backlighting, ABS double-shot keycaps and a 1450 mAh battery, with red linear, brown tactile or blue clicky switches (Royal Kludge). Royal Kludge also sells other RK61 editions at other prices. It has twelve packs, the most on this list: RK Brown, RK Blue and RK Red switches, plus Cherry MX Blue, Outemu Red and lubed Ajazz Banana swaps, so you can hear what changing its switches does.
6th most listened
Royal Kludge RK61
Played 168 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 12 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: people who want a small wireless board and to hear several switch choices
- Skip it if: you want dedicated arrow keys; it is a 61-key 60% board
7. Redragon K552 Kumara
A tenkeyless board with 87 keys, a metal and ABS base, a wired USB cable and rainbow LED lighting. Redragon's page lists it with Outemu Red linear switches (Redragon), and showed it sold out. Most of its eight packs record Outemu Blue switches, which their makers describe as clicky, and two record Feker Milk Green switches, so the packs are not the version the page sells now.
7th most listened
Redragon K552 Kumara
Played 159 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 8 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: people who want arrow keys and a function row on a wired board
- Skip it if: you want wireless; it is wired only
8. Akko TAC75 HE
A magnetic-switch board on a USB-C cable that polls at 8000 Hz. You can set where a press counts from 0.1 to 3.3 mm, and rapid trigger goes down to 0.005 mm. It comes with Akko Glare, AstroAim or Astrolink magnetic switches and Cherry-profile PBT side-printed keycaps (Akko). Both of its packs record the stock switches and are described as creamy. The price in the table is for the black version with Glare or AstroAim switches.
8th most listened
Akko TAC75 HE
Played 118 times on Mechvibes in the last 30 days across 2 community packs, and counting.
- Good for: gamers who want to set how deep a press counts and use rapid trigger
- Skip it if: you want wireless; it is wired only
How to listen
Every pack page has a keyboard you can type on. Turn the volume up and type anywhere on the page to hear the pack. To hear it while you work in other apps, download Mechvibes, open the pack and press Install.
The same keyboard can sound very different from one recording to the next. Switches, keycaps, the desk and the microphone all change the sound, which is why some keyboards here have several packs. If you own a keyboard under $100 that is missing from this list, you can record your own pack and add it to the library.