Top hardware and cold wallets compared

About Top hardware and cold wallets compared

Hardware and cold wallets in this ranking cover 69 brands, and the list is mixed by nature. A few members are self-custody devices that keep keys in the buyer's hands, while others are custodial card, exchange and multi-currency accounts that hold balances for the customer. The main trade-off for crypto buyers is exactly that split: who controls the money, and what the account gives back. Devices are a single purchase and work on their own terms, while custodial accounts add spending features but hand over control. Cost plays a part too, with device prices near $79 and $79 to $278 against a field median of €69.28. Coin support, backup style, connection type and the secure element separate the rest. Support matters once a device is in a drawer and something needs explaining, so that is weighed too.

How we picked

Three signals drive the scores: trust at 40%, cost at 35% and offer at 25%. Trust is the heaviest weight, and in the hardware wallet field it covers who holds the keys, whether the firmware is open source, what sits in the secure element and how a wallet is backed up. Cost covers the purchase price of a device and the running charges attached to an account. Offer covers coin support, how a device connects, extras such as cards and multi-currency balances, and the support channels a brand actually offers. Figures come from brand sites and published sources, and the site-wide and ranking-wide figures used for context are rounded, so each brand is read against its peers rather than in isolation. Brands marked as partners sit at the top of the list, and everything else follows in score order. Labels such as top pick, lowest price and highest coins supported are calculated from the data rather than written by hand.

Our top picks

1. 2. Trezor: best for Top pick

   Trezor holds the top pick because it does what this ranking rewards most: it keeps the keys with the buyer. self custody is the model, backups come as seed and shamir options, and the chip inside is an EAL6+ secure element. The firmware is open source, coin support reaches 8,000, and the device connects over usb c. A single purchase of $79 sits near the €69.28 median for the field, so the outlay is ordinary for hardware. The trade-off is help after the sale: support runs through help centre, which is thinner than the self-custody rivals further down. Nebeus, next in line, offers a very different setup.

   • Wallet type: Hardware
   • Price: $79
   • Custody: Self custody

   Pros

   • Custody sits with the holder: self custody, with no provider able to move the funds
   • Open source firmware, so the code can be read and checked
   • A secure element rated EAL6+ keeps signing inside the device
   • Backup options of seed and shamir cover a single seed or split shares
   • Covers 8,000 coins, above the 49 median

   Cons

   • Price of $79 leaves it towards the pricier end of the table, ranking at 103 of 120
   • Coins supported rank of 8 out of 108 trails rivals that list more
   • Support runs on help centre only, so a lost seed has no live agent to call
   • Connectivity is usb c alone, so a phone or laptop is needed for signing

2. 10. OneKey: best for Highest coins supported

   OneKey takes the highest coins supported label in this ranking with 30,000 coins, a clear step above 14,100 at Tangem and 8,000 at Trezor. self custody keeps keys with the buyer, seed covers recovery and the firmware is open source. Devices run $79 to $278 against $79 for the pick at the top, with a EAL 6+ secure element chip inside. Connectivity is the widest in this ranking at usb c, bluetooth and nfc, support runs on email, chat and help centre, and the company is ONEKEY LIMITED in HK. The trade-off is price against coin count, and Airtm below moves to card spending rather than cold storage.

   • Wallet type: Hardware
   • Price: $79 to $278
   • Custody: Self custody

   Pros

   • Custody sits with you: self custody keeps the balance and the keys off any operator's books, unlike bynex, whose custody is custodial.
   • The signing chip is a EAL 6+ secure element, a stated security rating rather than a marketing line.
   • Coverage of 30,000 coins is the strongest part of the offer, and the app lists self-custody among its features.
   • The firmware is open source, so the code that touches your keys can be read by anyone rather than trusted on assurance.
   • Entry pricing lines up with Trezor at $79, so moving to hardware need not cost more than the comparison.

   Cons

   • Support runs on email, chat and help centre only, so written channels carry the whole help load.
   • On price, OneKey ranks 103 of 120 brands, so the device is not the cheapest option on the page.
   • The range $79 to $278 is wide, so the higher specification device costs far more than the entry model.
   • Backup is a seed phrase, which puts the whole recovery path on one written secret.

What to look for

Who holds the keys

Self-custody devices account for 64.5% of this field, against 35.5% for custodial accounts. Ownership of the keys comes first, because it decides who can move your money.

What the device costs

Prices in this ranking have a median of €69.28, while trading fees on the accounts sit at a median of 0.2% per trade. Compare a single hardware purchase with charges that repeat on every transaction.

Coin support

Median coin support here is 345, and the widest device sits far above it. More coins on a hardware wallet means broader use without moving balances to another account.

Backups and open source firmware

Seed backup is the norm at 100%, with Shamir splitting at 15.8% and open source firmware at 85.7%. Both make a wallet easier to check and easier to recover.

How the device connects

Connection style shapes daily use: USB-C at 70.6%, NFC at 58.8% and Bluetooth at 41.2%. A tap-only card needs no cable, while a wired device needs a port.

Running costs and support

Monthly fees in this ranking sit at a median of €0, so the running cost of a device is mostly the hardware itself. Support matters when something goes wrong: help centres appear on 80.5% of the field, with email at 70.7%.

Frequently asked questions

Top hardware and cold wallets compared by country

• Australia
• Canada
• Germany
• India
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV