Zuoya GMK67 – How Good Is a Cheap DIY Keyboard Kit From Aliexpress?
Custom keyboards are usually associated with higher costs and the idea of a premium product by normal office workers or gamers. In reality, if you are in the hobby you know that you can build amazing budget keyboards for as little as 70$ (total cost).
What is even more amazing is that if you bought a prebuilt keyboard for that money the experience would be net inferior to a DIY kit. With this in mind, I got one of the cheapest (to my understanding) DIY kits from AliExpress – the Zuoya GMK67.
DIY Kit – Zuoya GMK67
The whole project started with me wanting an office keyboard that I could build for cheap, and I kept seeing videos about the GMK67. The DIY kit is cheap but packs a gasket mount, polycarbonate plate, a bunch of foam, and a hot swap PCB. The case is plastic but for 40$ it would be weird if you expected anything else.
The keyboard kit has RGB, a knob, and comes in a 65% layout with different colors depending on preference. The keyboard is also capable of 2.4GHz and Bluetooth connectivity (if that interests you), but I mainly bought it to plug it in and type away with no worries.
You can find this keyboard kit for as cheap as 30$ sometimes making it incredibly hard to beat as a price-to-value option. After doing some research I could not find anything to rival the GMK67 currently so I went with it.
Switches + Keycaps
Keeping in tune with the budget build concept I went for some Gateron Milky Yellow Pro switches which are extremely affordable and come pre-lubed from the factory making them an insanely good deal for what I needed. I like linear switches anyway so these were an instant purchase for me.
AliExpress is also known for having a bunch of clone/cheap keycap sets so I got a simple white PBT set of keycaps to match the aesthetic of the keyboard.
*These are not the keycaps I used but are similar in price*
When purchasing all of this I was aiming for free shipping so I would incur no extra costs on that. In total the DIY kit plus the switches/keycaps would cost ~70$ right now. This makes this amazingly budget keyboard an insanely good value for how good it sounds and feels to type on.
Things to Note
- The prices for these items vary from time to time meaning that at some point they might be cheaper or more expensive depending on market/demand. I have however not seen this build (keyboard kit + switches+keycaps) hit 80$ yet meaning that it somewhat stabilizes at 70$ or less.
- The stabilizers on this keyboard are not the best and will need to be lubed and tuned. The stock experience is rattly and takes away from how good this keyboard can be. With just a little bit of work, you can improve the experience immensely so I would advise you to take your time and do it.
- The software for the keyboard is pretty simple without extensive options like VIA-compatible keyboards or something like the Wootility. With the GMK67 you pretty much get the keyboard, assemble it, set your RGB, and use the keyboard.
There is this amazing GMK67 GitHub manual in English that allows you to figure out what you can do with the board and also gives you links to the optional software you can install. The software will allow you to change the RGB modes and change some binds if you do need something more to your taste (I changed the PrintScreen from FN+I to FN+P like on all my other boards).
- Depending on your choice of switches and keycaps you can drop the price even lower but for my tastes, this build does everything right.
TL;DR – Zuoya GMK67
If you are looking for an amazing budget DIY keyboard kit which you can build upon, the Zuoya GMK67 offers unmatched value for the money you would invest making it perfect for a beginner/budget build!