A competitor found a permanent way to brew off-brand K-cups in Keurig 2.0 machines

Freedom Clip will permanently disable DRM on your Keurig 2.0 brewer

By Drew Prindle Published April 24, 2023

keurig brings back refillable kcups — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Good news, everybody! Somebody has finally created a contraption that allows you to get around Keurig’s annoying DRM tech. It’s basically a little clip that snaps into your brewer and perpetually tricks the machine’s sensor, allowing you to use whatever kind of K-cups you please — not just the Keurig-approved variety.

For those of you who might not be familiar with Keurig DRM, here’s the deal: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (the company that makes Keurig coffee brewers) has been the top dog in the single-serving coffee market for years, selling little plastic pods that come in over 200 licensed varieties. That’s where the company makes most of its money, similar to how printer companies make most of their profit from ink refills. But ever since a crucial patent expired in 2012, competitors have been free to produce generic K-cup pods that retail for anywhere from 5 to 25 percent less than those made by Keurig.

Recommended Videos

Obviously, other companies selling cheaper versions of the same product hurt Green Mountain’s bottom line. In an effort to block out the competition, the company implemented a sort of physical DRM system into its new coffee machines. This system works by reading a special kind of ink on the lid of Keurig-brand cups, and if a K-cup doesn’t have this special ink, Keurig 2.0 machines will reject it and refuse to brew your coffee.

Implementing this tech was a pretty cutthroat move, but now one of Green Mountain’s competitors is countering with some bold tactics of its own. The Roger’s Family Company, owner of Gourmet-Coffee.com and maker of off-brand K-cup pods, is distributing a device called the Freedom Clip, a retrofittable clip that snaps onto Keurig 2.0 machines and permanently disables Green Mountain’s DRM technology by perpetually bamboozling the sensor into thinking everything is peachy.

And the best part? You don’t have to pay a single cent to get one. We’re not sure if the Roger’s Family Company is being really generous here, or they’re doing it for legal reasons, but regardless of their motivation, Freedom Clip is completely free.

Sign up here, and Roger’s will ship one to your door, free of charge.

Topics

Appliances

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

Smart Home

This Keurig coffee maker is nearly half-price after a $70 discount

The Keurig K-Classic on a counter.

For those who are planning to buy a coffee maker, we highly recommend checking out Keurig deals, especially this one from Amazon: the Keurig K-Classic for only $80, following a limited-time discount of $70 on its regular price of $150. There's no telling how long you've got before you miss out on the savings, so if you're interested in this coffee maker and you want to get it for nearly half-price, you're going to have to complete your transaction for it as soon as possible.

Why you should buy the Keurig K-Classic coffee maker
If you need coffee to wake up in the morning and get through sluggish afternoons, then you're going to want a coffee maker in your kitchen or home office. You can't go wrong with the Keurig K-Classic, which uses the brand's K-Cup Pods to make different types of coffee. There's no need to grind the coffee beans yourself, or to create the mixtures by hand -- just pop the K-Cup Pod into your Keurig K-Classic, choose between cup sizes of 6 ounces, 8 ounces, or 10 ounces, and your coffee will be ready in less than a minute.

Smart Home

The Dreame Z1 Pro Robotic Pool Cleaner takes the hassle out of pool maintenance

the dreame z1 pro robotic pool cleaner takes hassle out of maintenance img 6328

Robot vacuums are out. Robot pool cleaners are in (the deep end). In addition to the noteworthy Dreame X50 Ultra, the company has introduced the Z1 Pro robotic pool cleaner. At first glance, it looks like the world's bulkiest robovac. With large treads instead of wheels and dual brushes on the front, the Z1 Pro looks like a cross between a tank and spaceship.

There's a reason it's significantly larger than household bots, though. Navigating through the water is more difficult from a physical standpoint, but it's also trickier for the navigation system. The Z1 Pro utilizes a combination of ultrasound, 3D structured light, and infrared to make its way through the depths, but what stands out most is its ability to handle elevation shifts. Early models of robot pool cleaners struggled with dips in the floor of the pool, but the Z1 Pro can clean not just the floor but also the walls (by literally climbing them) and the surface of the water. It will float atop your pool and act as a skimmer, too.

Smart Home

Robotic pool cleaner with jaw-dropping 15-hour battery life revealed at CES 2025

iGarden TurboX Master

Tech company iGarden revealed several new products at CES 2025, but the TurboX and TurboX Master robotic pool cleaners were undoubtedly the most exciting. Both are designed to make pool maintenance effortless -- but it’s the TurboX Master and its staggering 15-hour runtime that stood out from the rest of the iGarden lineup.

The iGarden TurboX Master is expected to launch in April, and it’s poised to make waves in the robotic pool cleaner marketplace. While most products can only run for a few hours before needing a recharge, this one can clean for 15 hours before running out of juice. In fact, iGarden says it holds the Guinness Record for the longest continuous operation of a robotic pool cleaner. This is due to its unique AI-inverter technology, which results enhanced battery efficiency without skimping on a premium clean.