JetKVM Mini cuts hardware KVM pricing to $39 in a matchbox-sized case

A $39 KVM the size of a matchbox

JetKVM has announced the JetKVM Mini, a hardware KVM that undercuts most of the market on price: $39 for the Ethernet model and $42 for the wireless JetKVM Mini W, with three-packs bringing the per-unit cost down to $33 and $36. According to the company's announcement, which reached the Hacker News front page, both models go on sale October 26, 2026 through authorized resellers.

The device sits in an aluminium enclosure measuring 42 × 42 × 23 mm, which JetKVM describes as roughly matchbox-sized, with a small status display on top and physical buttons on the side. The company frames the Mini not as a stripped-down version of its existing product but as a ground-up re-engineering aimed at a single goal: a KVM inexpensive enough to fit on every machine you look after.

Wired and wireless variants

The standard Mini keeps an RJ45 port. Setup, per the announcement, matches the larger JetKVM: connect Ethernet, video and the USB cable to the target computer, read the IP address off the display, and open it in a browser.

The Mini W replaces the RJ45 with a 2.4 and 5 GHz radio, aimed at machines that are awkward or impossible to cable — a PC in another room, a box under the television, or rack gear without a spare network port. Initial configuration happens over Bluetooth from a browser on a phone or laptop, where you select a network and type the password; afterwards, video and USB are the only cables involved.

An ESP32 instead of Linux

The biggest change is inside. Rather than shrinking a Linux-based design, JetKVM built the Mini around an ESP32-P4X microcontroller, which handles video capture, H.264 encoding, USB and the firmware itself, with no separate DRAM or eMMC. Video is captured at 1080p at 30 fps or 720p at 60 fps, encoded on the chip, and streamed to the browser over WebRTC.

The Mini W adds a second chip, an ESP32-C5, providing 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax networking on both bands, Bluetooth LE for setup, and IEEE 802.15.4 support for Zigbee and Thread.

Ports, power and extensions

The Mini carries two USB ports. One attaches to the target machine at USB 2.0 High Speed (480 Mbps); it presents a keyboard, mouse and virtual media to that machine, and draws its own power from it. Virtual media runs from a TF card in a slot on the side — you supply the card and fill it with whichever ISO images you want.

The second port runs at USB 2.0 Full Speed (12 Mbps) and doubles as a backup or secondary power input. It is also where extensions connect: JetKVM is reworking its ATX, DC power and serial extensions to use standard USB, with new versions promised in a later release. With external power, the port can operate as a USB host, which the company suggests opens it to almost any USB device a custom firmware is written to support.

Same software, open-source firmware

The firmware was rewritten for the ESP32-P4X and, according to the announcement, will be open source from day one. Because it speaks the same protocols as the original, the existing web interface and cloud carry over unchanged: keyboard and mouse control, text paste, keyboard layouts, virtual media, JetKVM Cloud for access from outside the local network, Wake-on-LAN, MQTT and Home Assistant integration, OIDC login, and over-the-air updates with automatic rollback.

A separate OS service installed on the managed machine — due in the next few weeks and supporting the Mini from launch — adds screen capture at up to 4K, a shared clipboard, a guest terminal and file transfer.

On security, the Mini ships ready for secure boot: a digest of JetKVM's public signing key is preinstalled in the chip's eFuse, so a single setting in the web interface can permanently restrict the device to firmware signed by JetKVM.

Why it matters

Hardware KVMs have historically been data-center equipment at data-center prices. At $39 — or $33 in bulk — out-of-band management becomes practical for homelabs, a relative's remote PC, and every half-forgotten box in a rack. That matters because a KVM works when nothing else does: it hands you keyboard, mouse and screen in the BIOS, during boot failures, and on machines whose operating system has stopped responding.

The design is also a data point on where small-server hardware is heading. A microcontroller with a hardware H.264 encoder now performs a job that previously needed a Linux system with its own memory and storage, while keeping WebRTC streaming, virtual media and cloud access. And with open-source firmware plus optional locked secure boot, JetKVM is engaging with the obvious trust question that comes with a device sitting between you and a machine's most sensitive interfaces.