What is the best gaming mousepad? Whether you call them mousepads, mouse pads, or mouse mats, they're a genuinely essential part of any PC gaming setup, unless you only game on controller of course. Good mousepads provide smooth but precise gliding, a consistent surface for your mouse to track accurately, and some can even charge your mouse and add to your RGB lighting display. We've picked out a range of options below to suit you whatever your needs.
The best gaming mousepad overall is the FAQ sections of this guide will help you out.
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SteelSeries QcK
Best mousepad overall
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| Surface material | Cloth |
| Base material | Silicon rubber |
| Sizes | Standard, Extended, 3XL |
- Good quality
- Wide range of sizes and styles
- Cheaper than other big-brand options
- Thinner than other big-brand options
- No stitched edge
If you're looking for am absolutely go-to, baseline, decent-quality gaming mousepad, the SteelSeries QcK is it. Available in all sorts of sizes and quite a few designs too, many other competitors such as Corsair's MM range offer similar quality but the QcK is noticeably cheaper.
At just $14 for a large 17.7 x 15.7-inch pad with no stitched edge, even no-name options are hardly any cheaper yet you're getting a reliable brand and a mousepad that's plenty big enough for most gamers.
The main downside here is that the lack of a stitched edge means the pad isn't as resistant to fraying as some more options. It's only 2mm thick too, which compares to 3mm or more on some options. Still, for its price, it's a great choice.
Amazon Basics Gaming Mouse Pad
Best budget mouse pad
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| Surface material | Cloth |
| Base material | Silicone rubber |
| Sizes | Mini, Standard, Extended, XXL |
- Affordable, even at larger sizes
- Good for general use
- Machine washable
- Not built for gaming
- Very thin
- Logo is prominently visible
If even the $14 price of the SteelSeries QcK is a stretch for you, the Amazon Basics Gaming Mouse Pad is actually a perfectly ok mouse mat option. It provides a decent soft mouse pad surface with smooth and accurate tracking all for a price under $10.
Amazon even claims this pad is machine washable, making it the ideal model if you're a clumsy eater or spill your drink. We'd still suggest checking out how to clean a mouse pad (hint, it's safer not to use a washing machine), but we won't judge you for taking the easy route with this cheap and cheerful pad.
SteelSeries QcK Performance
Best mousepad
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| Surface material | Fabric |
| Base material | Rubber |
| Sizes | Large or XL |
- Choice of three surfaces to suit your style
- Thicker than standard QcK mats
- Expensive for standard pad
- Only available in two sizes
The SteelSeries QcK Performance is the company's new soft mousepad range that uses a thicker 3mm foam and has a stitched edge. Its key feature, though, is that it comes in three different surfaces: Speed, Balance, and Control.
Speed is like many typical soft mousepads, with a surface that's as smooth as possible for fast mouse movements. Control, though, has a much grainy texture that provides dampens your twitchy movements and stops your mouse quickly, which some gamers prefer for certain styles of game where steady precision is more important than outright speed. Balance, meanwhile, offers a middle ground of the two.
In my review of all three pads, I found I preferred the Balance mat, followed by the Speed then the Control but it's great that the options there for s to try. Each does cost $40, so it's not a cheap option to try them all but at leas the option's there.
Read our SteelSeries QcK Performance review.
Logitech Powerplay 2
Best mousepad for wireless mice
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| Surface material | Rubber (with mouse pad) |
| Base material | Silicon rubber |
| Sizes | Medium |
- You'll never run out of battery
- Lower price than previous PowerPlay
- Only works with Logitech Lightspeed mice
- Only comes in one size
- Fewer features than previous PowerPlay
- Expensive
If you're rocking a Logitech wireless gaming mouse and love the idea of never having to charge it again, the Logitech PowerPlay 2 is the mousepad for you. With its built-in wireless charging, it continuously charges your mouse saving you ever needing to plug in again.
A follow up to the eight year old original PowerPlay, the PowerPlay 2 is a big downgrade in of features, losing the integrated wireless dongle, RGB lighting, detachable cable, and reversible hard/soft mousepad. However, for all those losses, the PowerPlay 2 is $20 cheaper.
Still, this is, frankly, an overpriced option that we'd really like to see Logitech fix by either dropping its price by another $20 or at least revising the design so the cable is removable again. Also, the PowerPlay 2 doesn't work if you use a steel/ferrous metal desk.
It's definitely a flawed product but if you own one of the 11 Logitech mice with which the technology works there's no denying it's still an amazingly useful mousepad.
Read our Logitech PowerPlay 2 review.
Logitech G440
Best hard mouse pad
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| Surface material | Polymer |
| Base material | Silicon rubber |
| Sizes | Medium |
- Great for FPS games
- Only comes in one size
- The surface can peel after a year
Instead of cloth, Logitech's G440 uses a hard polymer surface, resulting in less friction for your clicker to deal with. Since there's no fabric to fray over time, it should last longer, and less resistance means you'll be able to land shots quicker in the likes of CS: GO.
Logitech says its pads are engineered to work best with its gaming mouse sensors, like the one within the Logitech G Pro Wireless. However, there's nothing to stop you from pairing this mat with your clicker of choice, providing it works on hard surfaces.
SteelSeries QcK Prism
Best soft RBG mousepad
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| Surface material | Micro-woven cloth |
| Base material | Non-slip rubber |
| Sizes | M. XL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL |
- Smooth woven surface
- Grips to desktop
- RGB implementation is more than a gimmick
- Power connection can be disruptive
If you're looking to step up the look of your gaming setup, the SteelSeries Prism QcK is an affordable and fun way to add some extra RGB. With a strip of light running around its edge that can be synced up with your games via SteelSeries' software, you can get a great light show while still getting a quality mousepad too.
Powered via a single USB cable, the lighting is bright and provides two zones so you can mix the lighting up a little. Available in a wide range of size, the Prism QcK starts at $59 for the large version, which is a bit expensive, but for just $10 more you can get the XL version that's twice the size, making it decent value considering the large strip of LED lighting it includes.
Read our SteelSeries Prism QcK review.
Razer Firefly V2 Pro
The best hard RGB mouse pad
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| Surface material | Micro-textured composite |
| Base material | Anti-slip Rubber |
| Sizes | One size (91 x 30cm) |
- Brilliant backlit RGB
- Wireless dongle port is a neat bonus
- Feels smooth to use
- Very flashy
- Only one size
The Razer Firefly V2 Pro is practically a spotlight with how it uses RGB lighting. The world's first fully backlit mousepad, the V2 Pro is more than just a bright accessory to your setup but is a great mouse pad for performance and design alike.
Offering a micro-textured composite material that feels smooth to glide your mouse over, the Firefly V2 Pro is an excellent mouse pad that may be a bit too flashy for most. However, the bonus addition of a port for your wireless mouse's dongle to sit in is a quality-of-life feature I didn't know I needed until I had it.
Despite being a hard mouse pad, the Firefly V2 Pro also stays firmly in place thanks to an anti-slip rubberized base. If you want a mouse pad that is different compared to anything else on the market, this is it.
HyperX Wrist Rest
Best wrist for mouse pads
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| Surface material | Anti-fray stitching over cooling gel and memory foam |
| Base material | Rubber |
| Sizes | Different sizes made for different products e.g. mouse, keyboard, etc. |
- Comfortable to use
- Good for your wrist
- Inexpensive
- Not bundled with a mouse pad
- Not a very striking design
Though this isn't a mouse pad, we wanted to ensure that we had at least one wrist rest included as an option. While you can buy mouse pads that include a built-in wristrest, annoyingly, they often aren't the ones designed for gaming, so we recommend buying one in addition to your mouse pad.
The HyperX Wrist Rest would be our top pick, because its anti-slip design helps to prevent it from moving out of place mid-session, and the cooling gel used inside it feels genuinely very soothing. It's a shame that its appearance is slightly bland, but, hey, it's a case of function over form.
We can't really overstate the value of a wrist rest, especially for anyone who might find themselves using their mouse for countless hours on end. Not using one, or worse, resting your wrist on the edge of a hard wooden desk, can genuinely have a negative impact on your health, so make sure to look after yourself.
How to choose the best gaming mousepad
If you just need a plain but reliable surface to use your mouse on, you can pickup a quality mousepad for under $15. Unlike the other parts of your setup, there's very little risk when you get a cheap gaming mouse pad, though we'd recommend sticking with a trusted brand such as Corsair, Glorious, Logitech, NZXT, or SteelSeries. Cheaper, lesser known brand mousepads tend to still be perfectly usable but might not be quite such high quality, leading to the pad fraying, curling up over time, or discoloring.
When it comes to mousepad size, we recommend not dropping below around 10 x 8-inches (26 x 20cm) in order to give yourself room to move your mouse freely without it dropping off the edge of your mat. That's especially true if you like to use a lower DPI to improve your accuracy while gaming.
You may also want to consider a so-called desk pad or XXL mousepad. These are wide enough to sit under your keyboard, providing a soft, non-slip landing for your keyboard and ensuring that you don't have the annoying issue of your mousepad and keyboard fighting for desk space.
If you're really looking to make a statement, there are many mousepad options that include fun designs or you can get pads with integrated RGB. This tends to be in the form of a strip that runs round the edge of the mat. It's entirely just for show but might be just what you need to complete the look of your setup.
Then there's that most unique of offerings from Logitech with its PowerPlay technology. This uses wireless charging built into the pad to charge compatible Logitech mice. If you have a mouse such as the Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 or Logitech G502 X Plus – 11 Logitech mice currently work with the tech – you can buy a PowerPlay 2 mat and never need to charge your wireless mouse again.
As for the choice between soft and hard mousepads, we don't recommend hard mouse mats for most gamers these days. Soft pads are nicer on your hands, quieter, just as accurate, and can be nearly as fast and smooth.
Gaming mousepad frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Hard vs soft mousepads – which is best for gaming?
There are two main kinds of mousepads; hard vs soft mouse pads. Hard surface mousepads use either a hard textured plastic or sometimes even a textured glass to provide a very fast, smooth-gliding surface. Meanwhile, soft pads tend to use a woven fabric glued to a foam underside, often with a stitched outer edge to prevent the fabric fraying.
Hard mats tend to be faster, with your mouse skating over the slick surface. However, that's where their advantages effectively end. They're otherwise loud, can wear down your mouse glides/feet more quickly, and many gamers find the really slippery feel too unforgiving, with every slight twitch moving the mouse.
Soft mousepads, on the other hand, are soft on your wrists, they're quiet, and they're just as accurate. They are, though, slightly less fast. Some gamers prefer this, with "control" style mousepads leaning into providing a bit of resistance to your mouse to counteract your twitchiness, but plenty of soft mouse mats can feel fast too.
Do you need a mouse pad for FPS games?
Technically, no. There's no type of game that you explicitly need a mouse pad for, assuming your mouse works at all on your chosen surface. However, there's also no mouse-based game that won't benefit from using a mouse pad, and as FPS games are very intense and require precise movements, they are one of the genres that will benefit most.
What happens if you don't use a mousepad?
The first problem you could encounter is simply that your mouse doesn't work on your chosen surface. Modern gaming mice with an optical sensor don't work on plain flat glass, for instance, and struggle with most reflective surfaces. They also don't cope with rough, uneven surfaces, such as rustic old wooden tables. A mousepad provides a low-reflection, consistent, and smooth surface so that your mouse can track movement accurately.
Soft mousepads also bring the benefit of cushioning your wrist and reduce the noise of using a mouse. If you've ever tried to use a mouse on a glass (with a piece of paper on it to make the sensor work) or metal table, you'll know how loud they can be, especially if you're gaming and regularly picking up and placing the mouse during fast movements. Soft mousepads solve all these issues.
Should you use a mouse pad with wrist ?
Many gamers find wrist s more comfortable to use for long periods of mouse use. However, for most gamers, we wouldn't recommend limiting yourself to using a mousepad with an integrated wrist rest. They tend to be too small and don't give you the option of using a wrist rest for long working sessions then removing the wrist rest for when you're gaming (to provide more space for movement). Instead, get yourself a normal mousepad and pickup a separate wrist rest, such as the HyperX mouse wrist rest.
Do different mousepads make a difference?
Absolutely. This is not a one-size-fits-all situation. Aside from the soft vs hard debate we mentioned above, some include RGB lights, some charge wireless mice, and some can cover your whole desk. Think carefully about your setups and needs before deciding on a mousepad.
For more help making your setup as great as possible, read our guides on the best standing desks. We'll help you get the most comfortable and ergonomic setup possible.