A Beginner's Guide to Choosing Keycaps: Kitting, Profiles, and Interference

Have you ever bought a gorgeous keycap set, sat down at your desk to install it, and realized your right Shift key was too long? Or perhaps some keys sat at weird, uneven heights? You are not alone.

Choosing the right keycaps for your custom mechanical keyboard can be confusing. To save you some time and wasted money, we compiled a quick, straightforward guide explaining how keycap compatibility and kitting actually work.

THE SWITCH BOTTLENECK

First, check your switches before buying anything. Standard keycaps are designed to fit standard MX-style cross stems.

If you have a low-profile keyboard, or proprietary switches like ROG RX or Logitech Romer-G, standard keycaps are physically incompatible. Always pull a keycap to verify your switch stem first.

THE MODIFIER AND KITTING TRAP

If you have a standard 61, 87, or 104 layout, you are completely safe. But if you have a compact layout like 64, 68, 75%, 84, or 1800-compact (98), standard cheap 104-key sets will not fit. You need a "Full Kit" with add-on keys.

This is exactly why my Shift key was sticking out. You must look out for:

• A shorter 1.75u Right Shift (instead of the standard 2.75u).

• 1u bottom-row modifiers (Alt, Fn, Ctrl) instead of the standard 1.25u.

• A shorter 1u numpad "0" key on 98 layouts (instead of the standard 2u).

THE ROW HEIGHT (R1-R4) NIGHTMARE

Sculpted keycap profiles (like Cherry, OEM, and SA) have different slants and heights for different rows, categorized from R1 to R4.

If your compact layout moves a key (like putting a Delete key on the top row, or PageUp/PageDown on the middle rows), and your keycap set doesn't have the specific keys designed for those rows, you will be forced to use substitute keys. This results in jarring, uneven heights that completely ruin the typing feel.

THE UNIFORM SAVIOR (UNIFORM PROFILES)

If you want to avoid row height calculations entirely, there is an easy trick: buy uniform, flat-topped profiles like XDA, MOA, or MAO.

Because every single row is exactly the same height, you never have to worry about row height mismatches. You only need to verify the keycap widths (U-numbers).

We hope this quick guide saves you some time and money. At Akeycap, we hand-check every curated keycap set we dispatch to ensure maximum layout compatibility and absolute quality. Feel free to explore our collection to find the perfect fit for your setup!

Warmest regards,
Dylen & The Akeycap Studio