KeepKey vs Keycard Shell Keycard Shell leads by 7 points.
Keycard Shell scores 7 points above KeepKey, led by secure element and genuine check. KeepKey ranks #14 and Keycard Shell #6 of 23 published hardware wallets. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
KeepKey62
vs
Keycard Shell69
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #14 and #6 of 23
Keycard Shell scores 7 points above KeepKey, led by secure element and genuine check.
KeepKey #14 of 2362
Keycard Shell #6 of 2369
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 Shell leads on 2 of 6 published criteria; KeepKey on 3. The terms sum to the gap.
TermKeycard ShellKeepKeyWeightPoints
Secure element10/100/106.5+16.8for Keycard Shell+8.6 of 32
Rebuildable firmware7/1010/106.5−5.1for KeepKey−2.6 of 32
Checkable keys0/104/102.9−3.0for KeepKey−1.5 of 32
Genuine check7/105/102.9+1.5for Keycard Shell+0.8 of 32
Fund-loss record5/1010/102.6−3.4for KeepKey−1.8 of 32
Net of the terms+6.9
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+6.8
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6962+7.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
Keycard ShellScore 69An air-gapped QR signer with a screen around an EAL6+ Keycard — firmware rebuilt and matched, €129Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' handsKeepKeyScore 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 Shell
One-time priceSnapshotKeepKey at $59.95 ("Buy Now — $59.95") on https://keepkey.com/product, read 1 October 2026.Keycard Shell (with two Keycards) at €129 including VAT (regular €149) on https://keycard.tech/products/keycard-shell, read 1 October 2026; no US dollar list price is published.
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; 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 Shell's 7/10 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 Shell
69#6 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Keycard Shell 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
First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
KeepKey
Choose KeepKey if rebuildable firmware matters most
Rebuildable firmware: 10/10 against 7/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 27)
Checkable keys: 4/10 against 0/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 12)
Fund-loss record: 10/10 against 5/10 for Keycard Shell (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
Keycard ShellLeads
Choose Keycard Shell 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)
Keycard ShellScore 69An air-gapped QR signer with a screen around an EAL6+ Keycard — firmware rebuilt and matched, €129Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
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 Shell leads
KeepKey0/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell10/10 out of 10
Rebuildable firmware
by 3 of 10weight 6.5 of 86KeepKey leads
KeepKey10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell7/10 out of 10
Genuine check
by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Keycard Shell leads
KeepKey5/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell7/10 out of 10
Checkable keys
by 4 of 10weight 2.9 of 86KeepKey leads
KeepKey4/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell0/10 out of 10
Maker independence
weight 2.6 of 86Tie
KeepKey10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell10/10 out of 10
Fund-loss record
by 5 of 10weight 2.6 of 86KeepKey leads
KeepKey10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell5/10 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
KeepKey14/20Keycard Shell14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
KeepKey14.4/30Keycard Shell17/30
Keycard Shell leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
KeepKey2.7/10Keycard Shell2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
KeepKey3.2/8Keycard Shell3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
KeepKey5.5/18Keycard Shell5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Keycard Shell 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 Shell's 7/10 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 Shell 10/10)
Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (KeepKey 10/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (KeepKey 5/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (KeepKey 4/10, Keycard Shell 0/10)
Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (KeepKey 10/10, Keycard Shell 10/10)
Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (KeepKey 10/10, Keycard Shell 5/10)
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 Shell scores 7 points above KeepKey, led by secure element and genuine check. Published scores, out of 100: KeepKey 62 (rank 14 of 23 hardware wallets), Keycard Shell 69 (rank 6 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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