Years ago, third-party gaming controllers were dirt cheap and notorious for their poor craftsmanship—especially the notorious MadCatz knockoffs. Every household had one; it was reserved for kid siblings and houseguests you (maybe) didn’t like that much. Those kinds of controllers gave third-party gamepads a bad name—one that persists to this day.
In recent years though, companies like Scuf and Astro have donned their armor and unfurled their banners on a quest to rebuild the reputation of “off-brand” gamepads, one controller at a time. We’ve tried a bunch of them in the past year, and these are our favorites. Here are the best gaming controllers, official and unofficial, for Switch, PS4, Xbox, PC, Mac, and more.
For more of our recommendations, be sure to read our guides to the Best Gaming Headsets, Best Gaming Mouse, Best Gaming Laptops, and more.
Updated January 2020: We’ve adjusted pricing throughout this guide and included the Scuf Infinity4PS Pro.
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