They help you keep track of your valuables, show off your unique personality… and they make a great low-cost product with fabulous margins.
If you sell custom products in your online or in-person store, custom keychains are a no-brainer product to add.
They’re endlessly customizable, whether you make them with your company brand on them or with a cool pattern you know your customers would love.
Anyone can use them, making them a very popular product. (Our factories ship out over 5000 unique orders of them each month!)
And best of all, they’re surprisingly easy to create – even if you’re not an especially crafty person. Here at, you can create custom keychains 100% online with our powerful product creation tool.
But when it comes to keychains, there’s a lot more to making them than you might realize! Beyond the design you’ve dreamed up for your keychains, different materials, key-rings, and other features can totally transform the entire product.
Here at we offer three main types of keychains: metal keychains, PVC keychains, and embroidered keychains. With no minimum order quantities, excellent quality, and fair pricing, large businesses and small-scale creators alike can create personalized keychains their customers would love. Learn more about the three main types of custom keychains and how you can create them yourself.
The Three Types of Custom Keychains
The three main types of custom keychains are categorized based on the materials used to create them. They are:
However, the materials used also affect the overall functionality and purpose of each keychain, as well as the customization possibilities available. It’s important to choose the right type of custom keychain for your intended design, target audience, and product budget. Learn more about these three types of custom keychains and what they’re best suited for.
1. Custom Keychains
Custom keychains are the most classic and traditional type of keychains. They beautifully complement important house keys and car keys with a shiny, sturdy construction. Customers love how they jingle and add a little weight to their keys, making them easier to keep track of in a purse.
Metal keychains are composed of a metal emblem attached to a metal keyring that’s large enough to fit plenty of other keys. They are traditionally made out of plated nickel. They can be made with an all-metallic finish or with enamel colors added to one or both sides of the keychain.
If you’ve ever made custom products with before, creating a custom metal keychain is a lot like creating a custom pin, with many of the same customization options. If you’d like, you could even create a pin to go along with your keychain for a matching collection.
If you decide to make a metal keychain, you’ll be able to customize the following:
- Size – Choose the height and width of your keychain, from .5 inches to 3 inches
- Material color/finish – Choose from a shiny gold, shiny gunmetal, shiny silver, shiny nickel, antique nickel, antique brass, black paint, satin nickel, shiny rose gold, antique silver, antique gold, shiny brass, shiny chrome, brushed brass, satin brass, satin silver, shiny copper, satin gold, satin copper, or antique copper finish.
- Number of material colors – Choose to add on a second metal color in the same finish to your keychain if you’d like. (You’ll have the chance to add on as many enamel colors as you’d like in a later step.)
- Attachment material color/finish – Choose between a standard nickel or a standard brass finish for your keyring.
- Number of colors in design – Choose anywhere from 0-10 enamel colors, or opt for a printed design for unlimited colors.
- Design options – Choose how you’d like to bring your design to life. You’ll be able to choose between a soft enamel color fill (adding color with enamel that creates valleys between metal lines), hard enamel color fill (adding color with enamel that is polished flat across the design surface), or 3D mold (a textured, sculpted metal design). You can also add on extras such as custom engraving, glow-in-the-dark enamel, or glitter enamel.
- Link and chain options – Choose the type of keyring or attachment material on your keychain. You’ll be able to choose between a split ring only with no link, a curb chain, a swivel 8-link chain, a C-link chain, a cable chain, or a non-swivel 8-link chain.
- Upgrades – If you’d like, choose to add on a black faux-leather fob.
- Packaging and branding – For easy gifting and retail sales, choose to add on extras like clear poly bags, velvet boxes, velvet pouches, or acrylic cases to distribute your keychains.
Metal keychains are the most expensive type of custom keychain, but they’re still rather affordable. They start at just $1.40 each, depending on how many you order and any extras selected.
To start creating metal keychains, click here. (More on the product creation process in a later section!)
2. Custom keychains
Custom keychains are the most durable type of keychains. They’re flexible, lightweight, and vibrant, with unlimited color options. Unlike metal keychains, they don’t jingle with other keys, but they do provide a splash of color that makes them easy to spot and keep track.
PVC keychains are made of polyvinyl chloride, a sturdy synthetic thermoplastic material. They can be made in any shape or size.
If you’ve ever made custom products with before, creating a custom PVC keychain is a lot like creating a custom PVC patch, with many of the same customization options. If you’d like, you could even create a patch to go along with your keychain for a matching collection.
If you decide to make a PVC keychain, you’ll be able to customize the following:
- Size – Choose the height and width of your keychain, from .5 inches to 4 inches
- Style – Choose whether you’d like to create a keychain with a design on one side, a repeated design on both sides, or a full three-dimensional design using a custom mold.
- Design & colors – Choose to include anywhere from 1-12 colors in your design, or to go with a 3D mold.
- Attachment type – Choose from a wider variety of attachment types, including a split ring with curb chain, split ring with link chain, split ring with metal jump link, split ring with swivel 8-link, split ring with plastic jump link, beaded metal cord, lobster claw with metal jump link, black cell phone string, lobster claw with curb chain, split ring with black rope, or round split ring + swivel lobster claw combo attachment.
- Printing – Choose whether you’d like to bring your design to life with just PVC-colored material or with the help of photorealistic printing on the surface.
- PVC thickness – Choose from 3mm thick to 12mm thick, or request a custom thickness.
PVC keychains are the most affordable type of custom keychain, starting at just $0.28 each depending on how many you order and any extras selected.
To start creating PVC keychains, click here. (More on the product creation process in a later section!)
3. Embroidered keychains
Embroidered keychains are a little bit retro, a little bit eclectic, and all the way cool. Made out of fabric and textured thread, they’re flexible, very lightweight, and available in just about any color. Unlike metal keychains, they don’t jingle with other keys, but they do provide a splash of color that makes them easy to spot and keep track of.
If you’ve ever made custom products with before, creating a custom embroidered keychain is a lot like creating a custom embroidered patch, with many of the same customization options. If you’d like, you could even create a patch to go along with your keychain for a matching collection.
If you decide to make an embroidered keychain, you’ll be able to customize the following:
- Size – Choose the height and width of your keychain, from 1.5 inches to 4 inches
- Style – Choose whether you’d like one or both sides of your keychain embroidered.
- Embroidery coverage – Choose whether you’d like your design to take up all or only part of the keychain’s surface.
- Attachment type – Choose from a limited selection of attachment types, including a key ring with a metal grommet, a key ring with a full-coverage bolt, or a twill-wrap keyring for fob-style keychains.
- Keyring size – Choose from a 1-inch, 1.18-inch, or 1.38-inch keyring.
- Border – Choose whether you’d like a contrasting embroidered border or a more subtle merrowed border.
- Upgrades – If you’d like, add on metallic thread, glow-in-the-dark thread, or puff embroidery.
Embroidered keychains are another very affordable type of custom keychain, starting at just $0.35 each depending on how many you order and any extras selected.
To start creating embroidered keychains, click here. (More on the product creation process in a later section!)
