Keychron C3 Pro
Keychron · TKL · standard height
The Keychron C3 Pro is a $35 wired tenkeyless keyboard that brings gasket mounting, sound-dampening foam, and full QMK/VIA support to the entry level, with a red-only backlight and soldered switches on the base model (the newer 8K revision adds RGB and hot-swap).
Best for: budget, beginners, gaming.
Keychron C3 Pro specs
| Layout | TKL |
|---|---|
| Height | Standard |
| Connectivity | Wired |
| Hot-swap | No |
| Stock switches | Keychron Mechanical Red, Keychron Mechanical Brown |
| Keycaps | ABS, OEM profile |
| Case | ABS plastic |
| Mount | gasket |
| Backlight | White / none |
| QMK / VIA | Yes |
| Battery | n/a |
| Typical price | $35 |
| Sound (stock) | surprisingly thocky |
| Released | 2023 |
Fields marked n/a are unpublished by the maker; we list only verifiable numbers rather than guesses.
Where to buy
- Keychron , around $35
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Alternatives to the Keychron C3 Pro
Keychron C1 TKL · $40 The Keychron C1 is a budget wired-only tenkeyless keyboard sold in non-backlit, white-backlight, and RGB trims, with hot-swap sockets only on the hot-swappable variants. Lemokey X3 full · $50 The Lemokey X3 is a $50 wired full-size (104-key) gasket-mount gaming keyboard with QMK/VIA support and 1000 Hz polling, whose base model has a red-only backlight and soldered switches while the RGB version adds hot-swap sockets. Keychron V3 TKL · $60 The Keychron V3 is a wired tenkeyless QMK/VIA custom keyboard with a hot-swappable PCB and double-shot OSA PBT keycaps, serving as the budget plastic counterpart to the aluminum Q3.
Not sure this is the one?
Answer five questions in our keyboard finder and it narrows the whole database to boards that match your use case, size, and budget. The Keychron C3 Pro ships soldered, so choose the stock switch carefully from the switch database.