A gaming keypad puts the left half of a keyboard under one hand. You get 20 to 40 keys you can actually reach without looking, plus a thumbpad or a real analog stick. MMO players use them for skill bars, shooter players for movement, and plenty of video editors for shortcuts.
The market has changed a lot since this guide first ran. Logitech's G13 and Razer's Orbweaver are gone. Magnetic switches and Hall-effect sticks came in. In September 2026 Razer replaced its flagship with a model that has a proper thumbstick. Below is every keypad we could confirm on sale in October 2026, with its specs from its maker's own product page and the price the maker charges.
Quick picks
- Most people: Razer Tartarus V2, $79.99. A full 32-key layout for the least money.
- Analog keys and a real stick: Razer Tartarus V2 Pro, $199.99.
- A shaped, stick-first controller: Azeron Cyborg II, $258.
- Wireless or mechanical on a budget: Redragon K585 DITI Pro Wireless, $49.99 on sale.
- Rapid Trigger for shooters: Keychron C0 HE 8K, $59.99.
- Just three keys for rhythm games: Pulsar XPAD Mini, $39.95.
All current keypads compared
| Keypad | Keys | Switches | Stick / pad | Polling | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Razer Tartarus V2 | 32 | Mecha-Membrane | 8-way thumbpad | not listed | $79.99 |
| Razer Tartarus Pro | 32 | Analog optical, 1.5–3.6 mm | 8-way thumbpad | not listed | $129.99 |
| Razer Tartarus V2 Pro | 31 + 3 buttons | Analog optical Gen-2, 0.1–4.0 mm | TMR thumbstick | 8000 Hz | $199.99 |
| Azeron Cyborg II | 30 inputs | Omron | Hall-effect stick | not listed | $258 |
| Azeron Keyzen | 32 inputs | Cherry MX Red, Blue or Brown | Hall-effect stick | not listed | $245 |
| Azeron CYRO | 22 inputs | not listed | 360° Hall-effect stick with click | not listed | $258 |
| Redragon K585 DITI Pro Wireless | 42 (7 macro) | Mechanical: Blue, Brown or Red | none | not listed | $49.99 sale, $64.99 list |
| Keychron C0 HE 8K | 35 | Magnetic (Hall effect) | none | 8000 Hz | $59.99 |
| Pulsar XPAD Mini | 3 | Magnetic, 4.0 mm travel | none | 8000 Hz | $39.95 |
Razer Tartarus V2: the default choice
The Tartarus V2 is still the cheapest way into a full keypad layout. It has 32 programmable keys and an 8-way thumbpad under your thumb. The switches are Razer's Mecha-Membrane: a soft membrane dome with a clicky, mechanical-style feel on top.
It's the right buy if you mostly want more binds for an MMO or a set of editing shortcuts. You'll set everything up in Razer Synapse. The thumbpad acts like a d-pad, so it won't give you the smooth, partial movement a stick does.
Razer Tartarus V2 Pro: analog keys and a real stick
Razer announced the V2 Pro around 18 September 2026, and it's now the top of the range. Two changes matter.
First, the keys are analog optical switches. You can set where each one triggers, anywhere from 0.1 to 4.0 mm, and turn on Rapid Trigger. A key resets the moment you start lifting your finger, so you don't have to wait for it to travel back up.
Second, the thumbpad is gone. In its place is a full-size TMR thumbstick, a magnetic sensor design that Razer sells as resistant to drift. It can stand in for either analog stick of a controller. That means real analog walking in games that support it, which a d-pad can't do.
Press coverage at launch reported up to 24 keymaps across three onboard profiles, switches rated for 100 million keystrokes, and a wrist rest that slides and rotates (Pokde, 20 September 2026). At $199.99 it costs two and a half V2s. If you don't want the stick, the original Tartarus Pro is still sold at $129.99 with analog keys and the older thumbpad.
Azeron Cyborg II, Keyzen and CYRO: built around the stick
Azeron makes the most unusual-looking keypads on this list, and the priciest. All three current models have a Hall-effect analog stick, connect with a 2 m USB-C cable, and store up to six profiles onboard. Azeron lists its software for both Windows and Linux.
- Cyborg II ($258): 30 inputs on Omron switches rated for 50 million clicks.
- Keyzen ($245): launched July 2025, 32 inputs, and a choice of Cherry MX Red, Blue or Brown switches if you want a mechanical feel.
- CYRO ($258): fewer buttons (22), but a 360° stick that also clicks in.
Azeron's store also lists a Cyborg II Compact and the original Cyborg. Stock moves around, so check the product page before you count on a colour being available.
Redragon K585 DITI Pro Wireless: the budget mechanical pick
The K585 is the biggest keypad here, with 42 keys, seven of them dedicated macro keys. It uses proper mechanical switches in Blue, Brown or Red, and it's the only model here whose maker lists a wireless mode: USB-C cable, a 2.4 GHz dongle, or Bluetooth.
Redragon rates the battery at 15 to 20 hours with the RGB on. One catch: the configuration software only works while the keypad is plugged in. Its sale price of $49.99 makes it the cheapest full-size option.
Keychron C0 HE 8K: Rapid Trigger for shooters
The C0 HE is a 35-key, wired keypad on Keychron's magnetic Lime switches with 8000 Hz polling. It weighs 450 g. It came out in March 2026.
Magnetic switches are why it's here. As on the V2 Pro, you can set the actuation point and use Rapid Trigger, along with DKS (two actions at different depths of one press) and SOCD handling (what happens when you hold opposite directions at once). It costs less than a third of the Razer, though it has no stick.
Setup happens in the Keychron Launcher web app, so there's nothing to install. The switches are hot-swappable, but only with Keychron's own Lime switches.
Pulsar XPAD Mini: three keys, nothing else
The XPAD Mini is closer to a pedal for your hand. It has three magnetic keys with 4.0 mm of travel, Rapid Trigger, Quick Tap and a joystick mode, and it weighs 51 g. It suits rhythm games like osu!, where you hammer two or three keys all evening, or a few push-to-talk and macro binds beside a normal keyboard.
Pulsar's software runs in the browser and needs WebHID. In practice that means a Chromium-based browser such as Chrome or Edge.
What happened to the G13 and the Orbweaver?
Older lists, including ours, still recommend both. The Logitech G13's product pages on Logitech G now return a "page not found", and Razer's own community forum reports the Orbweaver Chroma as discontinued. Neither maker has posted a formal notice that we could find. You'll still see both on resale sites, but you'd be buying a discontinued product with no current software support guaranteed.
How to choose a gaming keypad
Four questions settle it, roughly in this order.
Switch type
Membrane and mechanical switches fire at one fixed point. Analog optical and magnetic (Hall effect) switches measure how far the key is pressed, which is what makes adjustable actuation and Rapid Trigger possible. Those two features matter most in shooters, where you strafe by tapping and releasing movement keys. For MMO skill bars, a plain switch is fine.
Thumbpad or stick
A thumbpad is eight digital directions. A thumbstick is analog, so you can walk slowly or run depending on how far you push it, provided the game reads a controller stick. If that's why you want a keypad, the Tartarus V2 Pro or an Azeron is the only kind that does it.
Software and platform
Razer uses Synapse on Windows. Azeron's software also runs on Linux. Keychron and Pulsar configure through web apps. Onboard profiles (Azeron's six, the V2 Pro's three) mean your binds travel with the keypad to another PC.
How many keys you'll really use
Count your binds before you buy. Thirty-odd keys covers an MMO with room to spare. If you play mostly shooters, the 35-key C0 HE or even a three-key XPAD may be all you need. A pricier keypad with more inputs is only better when you'll use them.
A keypad pairs with a mouse rather than replacing anything, so it's worth pairing with a good one: see our gaming mouse guide. If you'd rather have the full keyboard, our gaming keyboard guide covers those, and our PC controller guide covers a gamepad.
How we compiled this list
We haven't run these keypads through hands-on testing, and we won't pretend otherwise. Every spec and price above comes from the maker's own product page, checked on 25 October 2026, plus the launch coverage linked where a detail wasn't on the maker's page. Where a maker doesn't list something, such as polling rate on the Tartarus V2 or the Azeron range, the table says so.