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Head-to-head · Hardware Wallets

Ledger vs Coldcard Coldcard leads by 3 points.

Coldcard scores 3 points above Ledger, led by rebuildable firmware, checkable keys, and maker independence. Ledger ranks #12 and Coldcard #11 of 23 published hardware wallets. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.

Ledger63
Coldcard66
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #12 and #11 of 23
Methodology v2026.10.18Ranking snapshot Evidence verified through 6 published criteria5 score dimensions Receipt #cc-VS-LEDGER-VS-COLDCARD-f215a5e7
Published verdictRanking snapshot 3 November 2026

Coldcard leads by 3 points

Coldcard scores 3 points above Ledger, led by rebuildable firmware, checkable keys, and maker independence.

Ledger #12 of 2363
Coldcard #11 of 2366
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 3 of 6 published criteria; Ledger on 3. The terms sum to the gap.
TermColdcardLedgerWeightPoints
Rebuildable firmware10/104/106.5+10.1for Coldcard+5.2 of 32
Secure element5/1010/106.5−8.4for Ledger−4.3 of 32
Checkable keys7/100/102.9+5.2for Coldcard+2.7 of 32
Genuine check5/107/102.9−1.5for Ledger−0.8 of 32
Fund-loss record1/108/102.6−4.8for Ledger−2.5 of 32
Maker independence10/106/102.6+2.7for Coldcard+1.4 of 32
Net of the terms+3.4
Reproduced gap+3.4
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6663+3.0

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.
FactLedgerColdcard
One-time priceSnapshotLedger Nano S Plus: the Offer on https://shop.ledger.com/products/ledger-nano-s-plus reads "price":"69","priceCurrency":"USD", read 1 October 2026. The same page shows a visitor in Germany "€59" (read 28 October 2026).COLDCARD Mk5 at $219 ("Buy Now $219 USD") on https://coldcard.com/mk5, read 1 October 2026.
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, EAL6+ certified; partly open source; no air-gapped signing.Secure element, no listed certificate; fully open source; air-gapped signing; a device-level flaw cost owners funds.
From the published criteria

Which should you pick?

Ledger

63#12 of 23
Pick it when
Pick Ledger if secure element matters most — it scores 10/10 to Coldcard's 5/10 there (weight 27).
Strength
Secure element you can look up — 10/10
Tradeoff
Installing or updating a signing app needs Ledger's live HSM servers (developer sideloading of an app you compile yourself aside), so a new or reset Nano S Plus cannot be readied to sign the normal way without the maker

Coldcard

66#11 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Coldcard if rebuildable firmware matters most — it scores 10/10 to Ledger's 4/10 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
Self-identify in 10 seconds

Which one is actually for you?

Ledger

Choose Ledger if secure element matters most

  • Secure element: 10/10 against 5/10 for Coldcard (weight 27)
  • Genuine check: 7/10 against 5/10 for Coldcard (weight 12)
  • Fund-loss record: 8/10 against 1/10 for Coldcard (weight 11)
ColdcardLeads

Choose Coldcard if rebuildable firmware matters most

  • Rebuildable firmware: 10/10 against 4/10 for Ledger (weight 27)
  • Checkable keys: 7/10 against 0/10 for Ledger (weight 12)
  • Maker independence: 10/10 against 6/10 for Ledger (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 5 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Ledger leads
Ledger10 out of 10
Coldcard5 out of 10

Rebuildable firmware

by 6 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Coldcard leads
Ledger4 out of 10
Coldcard10 out of 10

Genuine check

by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Ledger leads
Ledger7 out of 10
Coldcard5 out of 10

Checkable keys

by 7 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Coldcard leads
Ledger0 out of 10
Coldcard7 out of 10

Maker independence

by 4 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Coldcard leads
Ledger6 out of 10
Coldcard10 out of 10

Fund-loss record

by 7 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Ledger leads
Ledger8 out of 10
Coldcard1 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
Ledger14/20Coldcard14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Ledger14.8/30Coldcard16.1/30
Coldcard leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Ledger2.7/10Coldcard2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Ledger3.2/8Coldcard3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Ledger5.5/18Coldcard5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order

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

Pick Ledger if secure element matters most — it scores 10/10 to Coldcard'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% (Ledger 10/10, Coldcard 5/10)
    Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (Ledger 4/10, Coldcard 10/10)
    Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (Ledger 7/10, Coldcard 5/10)
    Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (Ledger 0/10, Coldcard 7/10)
    Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (Ledger 6/10, Coldcard 10/10)
    Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (Ledger 8/10, Coldcard 1/10)
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 3 points above Ledger, led by rebuildable firmware, checkable keys, and maker independence. Published scores, out of 100: Ledger 63 (rank 12 of 23 hardware wallets), Coldcard 66 (rank 11 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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