Best clicky switches
The best clicky switches are not all Cherry MX Blues: the click mechanism inside matters more than the badge on the box. We ranked nine clickies by mechanism quality, sound character and availability, from modern click-bar designs to the buckling spring that started it all. Hearing matters most on this list of all, so our top pick has a live sound player, simulated from its real specs.
The ranking
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The switch that fixed clickies. Instead of the rattly click jacket Cherry pioneered, BOX Whites use a click bar that snaps on both press and release: a sharp, clean tick-tick with zero looseness. Light at 45 g actuation, consistent, and cheap enough to fill a full board without thinking.
Clicky · 45 g actuation · 1.8 mm pre-travel · 3.6 mm total travel
simulated from real specssound loads on first tap -
A BOX White with a thicker click bar, and the difference is dramatic: a loud, crunchy, almost metallic double click that you feel through the keycap. At 50 g actuation it stays easy to press while sounding like machinery. The enthusiast clicky, unapologetically.
Clicky · 50 g actuation · 1.8 mm pre-travel · 3.6 mm total travel
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The click everyone recognizes: a high-pitched two-part snap from the original click-jacket design, with contact closing at 50 g and the click peak higher still. Purists point to the slight upstroke rattle, but the Blue remains the most widely available clicky ever made and the reference sound of mechanical keyboards in the public imagination.
Clicky · 50 g actuation · 2.2 mm pre-travel · 4.0 mm total travel
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The grandfather of every switch on this page. A coil spring physically buckles against the barrel wall at 67 g, producing a loud, full clack-click with the steel-chassis ring no plastic switch reproduces. Unicomp replaced IBM's worn tooling in 2020 and still builds new Model M boards, so this is not just nostalgia, it is buyable.
Clicky · 67 g actuation · 2.3 mm pre-travel · 3.7 mm total travel
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The loudest click bar in production: 60 g to actuate, peaking at 95 g through the click itself, with a bar thick enough that every press lands like a small hammer. Typing on Navies is a workout and a statement. Nobody in the next room will need to ask what switch you use.
Clicky · 60 g actuation · 1.8 mm pre-travel · 3.6 mm total travel
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An MX Blue with a much stiffer spring: 80 g actuation and a 105 g bottom-out that turns the familiar click deeper and more deliberate. Originally a spacebar switch, adopted by heavy-handed typists who found Blues too easy to set off.
Clicky · 80 g actuation · 2.2 mm pre-travel · 4.0 mm total travel
- #7
Gateron Blue
The value click-jacket pick. It keeps the classic bright Blue-style snap at 60 g actuation with Gateron's smoother stroke and a friendlier price than Cherry. A slight rattle comes with the jacket design, but per dollar it is the easiest way into clickies.
Clicky · 60 g actuation · 2.3 mm pre-travel · 4.0 mm total travel
- #8
Outemu Blue
The loud budget option found in countless entry-level boards: a harsh, rattly, unmistakably mechanical click at Outemu's rated 60 g, though samples in hand often measure lighter than that. Refinement is not the point. For pocket money it delivers maximum audible drama, and its hot-swap ubiquity means you may already own some.
Clicky · 60 g actuation · 2.2 mm pre-travel · 4.0 mm total travel
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The niche pick: a clicky tuned for speed, with the click arriving high in a short 1.4 mm pre-travel and a shortened 3.5 mm total travel. If you want audible feedback and quick actuation in the same switch, this is one of the few that genuinely offers both.
Clicky · 50 g actuation · 1.4 mm pre-travel · 3.5 mm total travel
How we ranked them
Mechanism first. Click-bar switches like the BOX White and BOX Jade click cleanly in both directions and never develop the loose rattle that click jackets are prone to, which is why Kailh owns the top of this list. The Cherry MX Blue ranks on historical importance and sheer availability: it is the clicky you can get in any prebuilt, anywhere. The buckling spring is here because no clicky roundup is honest without the switch that defined the category when the Model M entered production in 1985, and because Unicomp means you can still buy it new.
Weight spreads unusually wide among clickies, from the 45 g Kailh BOX White to the 80 g Cherry MX Green. Read those figures with one caveat that only applies to this switch type: a clicky has two force peaks, the click itself and the contact closure, and brands do not all publish the same one. Cherry markets the MX Blue as a 60 cN switch, for one, while its own technical table puts contact closure at 50 g, and closure is what we list. Pick by stamina as much as sound. Navies and Greens are glorious for an hour and heavy over a workday, while Whites and Jades click all day without fatigue.
Be honest with yourself about noise before committing: a clicky board is a shared experience for everyone within earshot. If the answer is "better not", our quietest switches ranking is the opposite end of the spectrum, and the best tactile switches keep the feedback without the announcement. Compare all nine of these ears-on in the switch library, and if your current Blues are double-typing, our keyboard tester will catch the chatter.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a click jacket and a click bar?
A click jacket is a loose collar around the stem that snaps down on press, the original Cherry MX Blue design. It clicks once, on the downstroke, and adds a little rattle. A click bar, used in Kailh BOX clickies, is a sprung metal bar that snaps on both press and release, giving a cleaner, crisper double click with no looseness.
Which clicky switch is the loudest?
Among current production switches, the Kailh BOX Navy is the loudest, followed by the BOX Jade, because a thicker click bar puts more energy into the snap. The IBM buckling spring competes in a different way: its click rings through a steel backplate, so a full Model M can dominate a room even against Navies. Note that loudest is not the same as heaviest, since the Cherry MX Green asks for more force at both actuation and bottom-out.
Are clicky switches bad for offices and voice chat?
Mostly yes. The click sits in a frequency range that carries across rooms and cuts straight through microphone noise suppression, so teammates will hear every keystroke. For shared spaces, look at our quietest switches ranking instead: silent tactiles keep the feedback without the broadcast.
Do clicky switches feel different from tactiles?
Yes. Every clicky is also tactile, because the click mechanism creates a physical snap you can feel, but the character differs: the event is sharper and more sudden than the rounded bump of a tactile like the Holy Panda. Click-bar switches in particular feel crisp on both press and release.