Leather mousepads look better but perform worse.

Stick with cloth for daily office use. Leather is an aesthetic choice that actively makes your mouse experience worse, and unless you’re optimizing for Instagram photos of your desk, it’s not worth it.

Cloth pads are consistent, cheap, and quiet. Your mouse glides predictably, the texture doesn’t change as it wears, and you can throw it in the wash when it gets dirty. A good cloth pad costs $15 and lasts years.

Leather looks nice in photos but develops shiny spots where your wrist rests, and the surface friction changes over time. Some cheap “leather” pads are just bonded leather that peels. Even good leather is more slippery than cloth, and your mouse might not track as well on dark, glossy surfaces. If you need precision for work—spreadsheets, design, any sort of repetitive clicking—cloth wins every time.

Also, leather pads are harder to clean. Drink spills soak in. Cloth can be rinsed. Leather needs conditioning, which is a whole thing you shouldn’t have to deal with for a mousepad.

Your mouse doesn’t care about your desk decor.