This work presents wide range of compact and reliable single-pole-multi-throw (SPMT) radio frequency (RF) microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switches where the M (output) varies from 3 to 14 throws. The single dc-contact switch dimensions are 0.144 mm × 0.29 mm which are fabricated on 635 m alumina substrate using a surface micromachining process. SPMT switching networks demonstrate a measured return loss of more than 14 dB, a worst case insertion loss of ∼1.76 dB and isolation of ∼14.5 dB up to 12 GHz. The maximum area of the fabricated SPMT switch is ∼1.2 mm2. The SPMT switches are capable of handling 1 W of RF power up to >1 billion cycles at 25 °C, and sustained even up to >80 million cycles with 0.5 W at 85 °C. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported wide range of MEMS SPMT switches and their respective performance evaluations in the literature that has undergone extensive measurement stages. © 2016 IOP Publishing Ltd.