Keycard scores 19 points above SafePal S1, led by secure element, rebuildable firmware, and genuine check. SafePal S1 ranks #19 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.
SafePal S148
vs
Keycard67
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #19 and #10 of 23
Keycard scores 19 points above SafePal S1, led by secure element, rebuildable firmware, and genuine check.
SafePal S1 #19 of 2348
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 4 of 6 published criteria; SafePal S1 on 0. The terms sum to the gap.
TermKeycardSafePal S1WeightPoints
Secure element10/103/106.5+11.8for Keycard+6.0 of 32
Rebuildable firmware5/103/106.5+3.4for Keycard+1.7 of 32
Genuine check7/105/102.9+1.5for Keycard+0.8 of 32
Maker independence8/104/102.6+2.7for Keycard+1.4 of 32
Net of the terms+19.4
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+19.5
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6748+19.0
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 youSafePal S1Score 48Air-gapped by QR at $49.99 — the cheapest air-gapped signer here, with an unnamed secure elementStrength: Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss — 10/10Watch-out: Its secure element is claimed at EAL5+ on one SafePal page and EAL6+ on another, with no part number
Quick facts
At a glance
2 of 5 rows read the same for both.
FactSafePal S1Keycard
One-time priceSnapshotSafePal S1 at $49.99, VAT and duty excluded, on https://www.safepal.com/en/store, 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 fitSnapshotglobalus, europe, global
Custody modelEditorialSelf-custody: the keys stay on the deviceSelf-custody: the keys stay on the device
Security postureSnapshotSecure element, no listed certificate; partly open source; air-gapped signing.Secure element, EAL6+ certified; partly open source; no air-gapped signing.
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
SafePal S1
48#19 of 23
Pick it when
SafePal S1 leads Keycard on no published criterion and no score dimension — pick it only if a fact outside the score (country, funding rail, custody) decides for you.
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
Keycard
67#10 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Keycard if secure element matters most — it scores 10/10 to SafePal S1's 3/10 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?
SafePal S1
SafePal S1 leads Keycard on no published criterion
Choose it only if something outside the published criteria decides for you — your country, a funding rail, or custody.
SafePal S1Score 48Air-gapped by QR at $49.99 — the cheapest air-gapped signer here, with an unnamed secure elementStrength: Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss — 10/10Watch-out: Its secure element is claimed at EAL5+ on one SafePal page and EAL6+ on another, with no part number
KeycardLeads
Choose Keycard if secure element matters most
Secure element: 10/10 against 3/10 for SafePal S1 (weight 27)
Rebuildable firmware: 5/10 against 3/10 for SafePal S1 (weight 27)
Genuine check: 7/10 against 5/10 for SafePal S1 (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 7 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Keycard leads
SafePal S13/10 out of 10
Keycard10/10 out of 10
Rebuildable firmware
by 2 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Keycard leads
SafePal S13/10 out of 10
Keycard5/10 out of 10
Genuine check
by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Keycard leads
SafePal S15/10 out of 10
Keycard7/10 out of 10
Checkable keys
weight 2.9 of 86Tie
SafePal S10/10 out of 10
Keycard0/10 out of 10
Maker independence
by 4 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Keycard leads
SafePal S14/10 out of 10
Keycard8/10 out of 10
Fund-loss record
weight 2.6 of 86Tie
SafePal S110/10 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
SafePal S114/20Keycard14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
SafePal S19/30Keycard16.5/30
Keycard leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
SafePal S12.7/10Keycard2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
SafePal S13.2/8Keycard3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
SafePal S15.5/18Keycard5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Keycard unless the term SafePal S1 leads on is the one you are buying.
SafePal S1 leads Keycard on no published criterion and no score dimension — pick it only if a fact outside the score (country, funding rail, custody) decides for you.
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% (SafePal S1 3/10, Keycard 10/10)
Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (SafePal S1 3/10, Keycard 5/10)
Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (SafePal S1 5/10, Keycard 7/10)
Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (SafePal S1 0/10, Keycard 0/10)
Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (SafePal S1 4/10, Keycard 8/10)
Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (SafePal S1 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 19 points above SafePal S1, led by secure element, rebuildable firmware, and genuine check. Published scores, out of 100: SafePal S1 48 (rank 19 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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