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Head-to-head · Hardware Wallets

Keystone vs Keycard Shell Keystone leads by 1 point.

Keystone scores 1 point above Keycard Shell, led by rebuildable firmware, checkable keys, and fund-loss record. Keystone ranks #5 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.

Keystone70
Keycard Shell69
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #5 and #6 of 23
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot Evidence verified through 6 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-KEYSTONE-VS-KEYCARD-SHELL-915199f5
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

Keystone leads by 1 point

Keystone scores 1 point above Keycard Shell, led by rebuildable firmware, checkable keys, and fund-loss record.

Keystone #5 of 2370
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 termKeystone leads on 3 of 6 published criteria; Keycard Shell on 2. The terms sum to the gap.
TermKeystoneKeycard ShellWeightPoints
Secure element5/1010/106.5−8.4for Keycard Shell−4.3 of 32
Rebuildable firmware10/107/106.5+5.1for Keystone+2.6 of 32
Checkable keys7/100/102.9+5.2for Keystone+2.7 of 32
Genuine check5/107/102.9−1.5for Keycard Shell−0.8 of 32
Fund-loss record7/105/102.6+1.4for Keystone+0.7 of 32
Net of the terms+1.7
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+1.8
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below7069+1.0

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

3 of 5 rows read the same for both.
FactKeystoneKeycard Shell
One-time priceSnapshotKeystone 3 Pro at $149.00 on https://shop.keyst.one/products/keystone-3-pro, 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 postureSnapshotSecure element, no listed certificate; firmware open source; air-gapped signing.Secure element, EAL6+ certified; partly open source; air-gapped signing.
From the published criteria

Which should you pick?

Keystone

70#5 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Keystone 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
None of its three secure-element parts (ATECC608B, DS28S60, MAX32520) holds a listed certificate

Keycard Shell

69#6 of 23
Pick it when
Pick Keycard Shell if secure element matters most — it scores 10/10 to Keystone's 5/10 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?

KeystoneLeads

Choose Keystone if rebuildable firmware matters most

  • Rebuildable firmware: 10/10 against 7/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 27)
  • Checkable keys: 7/10 against 0/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 12)
  • Fund-loss record: 7/10 against 5/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 11)
Keycard Shell

Choose Keycard Shell if secure element matters most

  • Secure element: 10/10 against 5/10 for Keystone (weight 27)
  • Genuine check: 7/10 against 5/10 for Keystone (weight 12)
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 5 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Keycard Shell leads
Keystone5 out of 10
Keycard Shell10 out of 10

Rebuildable firmware

by 3 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Keystone leads
Keystone10 out of 10
Keycard Shell7 out of 10

Genuine check

by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Keycard Shell leads
Keystone5 out of 10
Keycard Shell7 out of 10

Checkable keys

by 7 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Keystone leads
Keystone7 out of 10
Keycard Shell0 out of 10

Maker independence

weight 2.6 of 86Tie
Keystone10 out of 10
Keycard Shell10 out of 10

Fund-loss record

by 2 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Keystone leads
Keystone7 out of 10
Keycard Shell5 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
Keystone14/20Keycard Shell14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Keystone17.7/30Keycard Shell17/30
Keystone leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Keystone2.7/10Keycard Shell2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Keystone3.2/8Keycard Shell3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Keystone5.5/18Keycard Shell5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order

Choose Keystone unless the term Keycard Shell leads on is the one you are buying.

Pick Keycard Shell if secure element matters most — it scores 10/10 to Keystone'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% (Keystone 5/10, Keycard Shell 10/10)
    Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (Keystone 10/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
    Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (Keystone 5/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
    Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (Keystone 7/10, Keycard Shell 0/10)
    Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (Keystone 10/10, Keycard Shell 10/10)
    Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (Keystone 7/10, 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

Keystone scores 1 point above Keycard Shell, led by rebuildable firmware, checkable keys, and fund-loss record. Published scores, out of 100: Keystone 70 (rank 5 of 23 hardware wallets), Keycard Shell 69 (rank 6 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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