Altar II mechanical keyboard
Ranked 6 of 13 mechanical keyboards by recommenders
Fans praise its materials, components and volume knob, and one buyer calls the $249 price good value. Critics say it costs too much next to a Keychron K3.
Fans praise its materials, components and volume knob, and one buyer calls the $249 price good value. Critics say it costs too much next to a Keychron K3.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Loyal fans of the Altar line
“I am a very happy customer of the Altar I. The first one worked so well I picked up two more on the secondary market.”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard” “I am a big fan of the original Altar”
Comment from 6 Aug 2026 in “Show HN: I spent 2 years designing a mechanical Magic Keyboard”
Other mechanical keyboards people recommend
The four most recommended other mechanical keyboards, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magic Keyboard mechanical keyboard | 55 | 11 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
| IBM Model M keyboard | 39 | 10 | 80% | 8 | 18 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| Keychron keyboard | 29 | 18 | 62% | 8 | — | — |
| Filco Majestouch TKL | 15 | 2 | 88% | 3 | 15 yrs5 owners | — |
| Altar II mechanical keyboardThis page | 8 | 2 | 80% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I am a very happy customer of the Altar I. The first one worked so well I picked up two more on the secondary market.”
“big fan of that volume button!”
“Congrats on the great job with the Altar II. If I didn't already have too many keyboards, I'd hop on the Kickstarter!”
“I would actually argue Altar II is excellent value at $249, especially when you consider the materials, special components, and scale we are at.”
“the price compared to something like a Keychron K3 makes this a no-go for my preferences”
“I initially viewed it on desktop and found it unpleasant to use.”
“no shipping to Brazil, so I gave up on it”
“it ended up being too tall for me”
“Everything lives on the keyboard itself. The app just configures files on the device, basically.”
“I am a big fan of the original Altar”
“The promo website is something to behold and by itself is sufficient reason to chuck a buck”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.