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Head-to-head · Hardware Wallets

Coldcard vs SafePal S1 Coldcard leads by 18 points.

Coldcard scores 18 points above SafePal S1, led by rebuildable firmware, secure element, and checkable keys. Coldcard ranks #11 and SafePal S1 #19 of 23 published hardware wallets. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.

Coldcard66
SafePal S148
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #11 and #19 of 23
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot Evidence verified through 6 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-COLDCARD-VS-SAFEPAL-S1-b0344baf
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

Coldcard leads by 18 points

Coldcard scores 18 points above SafePal S1, led by rebuildable firmware, secure element, and checkable keys.

Coldcard #11 of 2366
SafePal S1 #19 of 2348
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termColdcard leads on 4 of 6 published criteria; SafePal S1 on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
TermColdcardSafePal S1WeightPoints
Rebuildable firmware10/103/106.5+11.8for Coldcard+6.0 of 32
Secure element5/103/106.5+3.4for Coldcard+1.7 of 32
Checkable keys7/100/102.9+5.2for Coldcard+2.7 of 32
Fund-loss record1/1010/102.6−6.2for SafePal S1−3.2 of 32
Maker independence10/104/102.6+4.1for Coldcard+2.1 of 32
Net of the terms+18.3
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+18.5
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6648+18.0

Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.

Quick facts

At a glance

2 of 5 rows read the same for both.
FactColdcardSafePal S1
One-time priceSnapshotCOLDCARD Mk5 at $219 ("Buy Now $219 USD") on https://coldcard.com/mk5, read 1 October 2026.SafePal S1 at $49.99, VAT and duty excluded, on https://www.safepal.com/en/store, read 1 October 2026.
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, globalglobal
Custody modelEditorialSelf-custody: the keys stay on the deviceSelf-custody: the keys stay on the device
Security postureSnapshotSecure element, no listed certificate; fully open source; air-gapped signing; a device-level flaw cost owners funds.Secure element, no listed certificate; partly open source; air-gapped signing.
From the published criteria

Which should you pick?

Coldcard

66#11 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Coldcard if rebuildable firmware matters most — it scores 10/10 to SafePal S1's 3/10 there (weight 27).
Strength
Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10
Tradeoff
30 July 2026: Coinkite reported that firmware before 5.6.0 generated weak seeds (about 72 bits) on Mk4, Mk5 and Q, and that attackers stole funds from weak seeds; update, then move any seed made before 5.6.0 to a new one

SafePal S1

48#19 of 23
Pick it when
Pick SafePal S1 if fund-loss record matters most — it scores 10/10 to Coldcard's 1/10 there (weight 11).
Strength
Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss — 10/10
Tradeoff
Its secure element is claimed at EAL5+ on one SafePal page and EAL6+ on another, with no part number
Self-identify in 10 seconds

Which one is actually for you?

ColdcardLeads

Choose Coldcard if secure element matters most

  • Secure element: 5/10 against 3/10 for SafePal S1 (weight 27)
  • Rebuildable firmware: 10/10 against 3/10 for SafePal S1 (weight 27)
  • Checkable keys: 7/10 against 0/10 for SafePal S1 (weight 12)
SafePal S1

Choose SafePal S1 if fund-loss record matters most

  • Fund-loss record: 10/10 against 1/10 for Coldcard (weight 11)
Criterion by criterion

Scorecard

Published criteria · weight in points of 8612 of 12 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology

Secure element

by 2 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Coldcard leads
Coldcard5 out of 10
SafePal S13 out of 10

Rebuildable firmware

by 7 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Coldcard leads
Coldcard10 out of 10
SafePal S13 out of 10

Genuine check

weight 2.9 of 86Tie
Coldcard5 out of 10
SafePal S15 out of 10

Checkable keys

by 7 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Coldcard leads
Coldcard7 out of 10
SafePal S10 out of 10

Maker independence

by 6 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Coldcard leads
Coldcard10 out of 10
SafePal S14 out of 10

Fund-loss record

by 9 of 10weight 2.6 of 86SafePal S1 leads
Coldcard1 out of 10
SafePal S110 out of 10

Score dimensions

weights sum to 86

The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.

Availabilityweight 20 of 86 · constant here
Coldcard14/20SafePal S114/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Coldcard16.1/30SafePal S19/30
Coldcard leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Coldcard2.7/10SafePal S12.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Coldcard3.2/8SafePal S13.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Coldcard5.5/18SafePal S15.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order

Choose Coldcard unless the term SafePal S1 leads on is the one you are buying.

Pick SafePal S1 if fund-loss record matters most — it scores 10/10 to Coldcard's 1/10 there (weight 11).

The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .

From the published order

Next best action

If this isn't your case

Other matchups worth comparing

How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
  • Key failure: your own keys are made, shown or recovered unsafely.
    Scored by Secure element you can look up · 27% (Coldcard 5/10, SafePal S1 3/10)
    Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (Coldcard 10/10, SafePal S1 3/10)
    Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (Coldcard 5/10, SafePal S1 5/10)
    Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (Coldcard 7/10, SafePal S1 0/10)
    Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (Coldcard 10/10, SafePal S1 4/10)
    Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (Coldcard 1/10, SafePal S1 10/10)
Every failure family that applies to this category is scored, except Information failure, which the provider pages show as a fact.
Questions

Frequently asked questions

Coldcard scores 18 points above SafePal S1, led by rebuildable firmware, secure element, and checkable keys. Published scores, out of 100: Coldcard 66 (rank 11 of 23 hardware wallets), SafePal S1 48 (rank 19 of 23).

Related pages

Go deeper

Trust & process
Individual reviews
Other comparisons
Written and reviewed by Founder
Reviewed Next review by Methodology v2026.10.18
How this page is reviewed

Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.

Accountable for this review: Mathias Siemonsmeier, Founder.

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