Keycard scores 5 points above KeepKey, led by secure element and genuine check. KeepKey ranks #14 and Keycard #10 of 23 published hardware wallets. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
KeepKey62
vs
Keycard67
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #14 and #10 of 23
Keycard scores 5 points above KeepKey, led by secure element and genuine check.
KeepKey #14 of 2362
Keycard #10 of 2367
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termKeycard leads on 2 of 6 published criteria; KeepKey on 3. The terms sum to the gap.
TermKeycardKeepKeyWeightPoints
Secure element10/100/106.5+16.8for Keycard+8.6 of 32
Rebuildable firmware5/1010/106.5−8.4for KeepKey−4.3 of 32
Checkable keys0/104/102.9−3.0for KeepKey−1.5 of 32
Genuine check7/105/102.9+1.5for Keycard+0.8 of 32
Maker independence8/1010/102.6−1.4for KeepKey−0.7 of 32
Net of the terms+5.6
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+5.5
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6762+5.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
KeycardScore 67An EAL6+ certified card with an open applet, €29 — no screen, signed from a phone over NFCStrength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: No screen: you approve what the phone or computer shows, so a compromised host can mislead youKeepKeyScore 62No secure element by design — open firmware rebuilt and matched, and no fund loss since 2015Strength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: No secure element: in 2019 Kraken extracted a KeepKey seed in about 15 minutes with the device in hand, through a chip flaw no firmware update can fix; a strong passphrase is the defence
Quick facts
At a glance
3 of 5 rows read the same for both.
FactKeepKeyKeycard
One-time priceSnapshotKeepKey at $59.95 ("Buy Now — $59.95") on https://keepkey.com/product, read 1 October 2026.Keycard at €29.00 including VAT on https://keycard.tech/products/keycard, read 1 October 2026; the store prices in euros only and publishes no US dollar list price.
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotus, europe, globalus, europe, global
Custody modelEditorialSelf-custody: the keys stay on the deviceSelf-custody: the keys stay on the device
Security postureSnapshotNo secure element; fully open source; no air-gapped signing.Secure element, EAL6+ certified; partly open source; no air-gapped signing.
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
KeepKey
62#14 of 23
Pick it when
Pick KeepKey if rebuildable firmware matters most — it scores 10/10 to Keycard's 5/10 there (weight 27).
Strength
Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10
Tradeoff
No secure element: in 2019 Kraken extracted a KeepKey seed in about 15 minutes with the device in hand, through a chip flaw no firmware update can fix; a strong passphrase is the defence
Keycard
67#10 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Keycard if secure element matters most — it scores 10/10 to KeepKey's 0/10 there (weight 27).
Strength
Secure element you can look up — 10/10
Tradeoff
No screen: you approve what the phone or computer shows, so a compromised host can mislead you
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
KeepKey
Choose KeepKey if rebuildable firmware matters most
Rebuildable firmware: 10/10 against 5/10 for Keycard (weight 27)
Checkable keys: 4/10 against 0/10 for Keycard (weight 12)
Maker independence: 10/10 against 8/10 for Keycard (weight 11)
KeepKeyScore 62No secure element by design — open firmware rebuilt and matched, and no fund loss since 2015Strength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: No secure element: in 2019 Kraken extracted a KeepKey seed in about 15 minutes with the device in hand, through a chip flaw no firmware update can fix; a strong passphrase is the defence
KeycardLeads
Choose Keycard if secure element matters most
Secure element: 10/10 against 0/10 for KeepKey (weight 27)
Genuine check: 7/10 against 5/10 for KeepKey (weight 12)
KeycardScore 67An EAL6+ certified card with an open applet, €29 — no screen, signed from a phone over NFCStrength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: No screen: you approve what the phone or computer shows, so a compromised host can mislead you
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 10 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Keycard leads
KeepKey0/10 out of 10
Keycard10/10 out of 10
Rebuildable firmware
by 5 of 10weight 6.5 of 86KeepKey leads
KeepKey10/10 out of 10
Keycard5/10 out of 10
Genuine check
by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Keycard leads
KeepKey5/10 out of 10
Keycard7/10 out of 10
Checkable keys
by 4 of 10weight 2.9 of 86KeepKey leads
KeepKey4/10 out of 10
Keycard0/10 out of 10
Maker independence
by 2 of 10weight 2.6 of 86KeepKey leads
KeepKey10/10 out of 10
Keycard8/10 out of 10
Fund-loss record
weight 2.6 of 86Tie
KeepKey10/10 out of 10
Keycard10/10 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
KeepKey14/20Keycard14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
KeepKey14.4/30Keycard16.5/30
Keycard leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
KeepKey2.7/10Keycard2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
KeepKey3.2/8Keycard3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
KeepKey5.5/18Keycard5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Keycard unless the term KeepKey leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick KeepKey if rebuildable firmware matters most — it scores 10/10 to Keycard's 5/10 there (weight 27).
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% (KeepKey 0/10, Keycard 10/10)
Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (KeepKey 10/10, Keycard 5/10)
Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (KeepKey 5/10, Keycard 7/10)
Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (KeepKey 4/10, Keycard 0/10)
Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (KeepKey 10/10, Keycard 8/10)
Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (KeepKey 10/10, Keycard 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
Keycard scores 5 points above KeepKey, led by secure element and genuine check. Published scores, out of 100: KeepKey 62 (rank 14 of 23 hardware wallets), Keycard 67 (rank 10 of 23).
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.
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