SafePal S1 vs Keycard Shell Keycard Shell leads by 21 points.
Keycard Shell scores 21 points above SafePal S1, led by secure element, rebuildable firmware, and genuine check. SafePal S1 ranks #19 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.
SafePal S148
vs
Keycard Shell69
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #19 and #6 of 23
Keycard Shell scores 21 points above SafePal S1, led by secure element, rebuildable firmware, and genuine check.
SafePal S1 #19 of 2348
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 4 of 6 published criteria; SafePal S1 on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
TermKeycard ShellSafePal S1WeightPoints
Secure element10/103/106.5+11.8for Keycard Shell+6.0 of 32
Rebuildable firmware7/103/106.5+6.7for Keycard Shell+3.5 of 32
Genuine check7/105/102.9+1.5for Keycard Shell+0.8 of 32
Maker independence10/104/102.6+4.1for Keycard Shell+2.1 of 32
Fund-loss record5/1010/102.6−3.4for SafePal S1−1.8 of 32
Net of the terms+20.7
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread+0.1
Reproduced gap+20.8
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6948+21.0
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' handsSafePal 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 Shell
One-time priceSnapshotSafePal S1 at $49.99, VAT and duty excluded, on https://www.safepal.com/en/store, 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 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; air-gapped signing.
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
SafePal S1
48#19 of 23
Pick it when
Pick SafePal S1 if fund-loss record matters most — it scores 10/10 to Keycard Shell's 5/10 there (weight 11).
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 Shell
69#6 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Keycard Shell 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
First shipped in 2025, so it has a short record in buyers' hands
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
SafePal S1
Choose SafePal S1 if fund-loss record matters most
Fund-loss record: 10/10 against 5/10 for Keycard Shell (weight 11)
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
Keycard ShellLeads
Choose Keycard Shell if secure element matters most
Secure element: 10/10 against 3/10 for SafePal S1 (weight 27)
Rebuildable firmware: 7/10 against 3/10 for SafePal S1 (weight 27)
Genuine check: 7/10 against 5/10 for SafePal S1 (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 7 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Keycard Shell leads
SafePal S13/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell10/10 out of 10
Rebuildable firmware
by 4 of 10weight 6.5 of 86Keycard Shell leads
SafePal S13/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell7/10 out of 10
Genuine check
by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Keycard Shell leads
SafePal S15/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell7/10 out of 10
Checkable keys
weight 2.9 of 86Tie
SafePal S10/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell0/10 out of 10
Maker independence
by 6 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Keycard Shell leads
SafePal S14/10 out of 10
Keycard Shell10/10 out of 10
Fund-loss record
by 5 of 10weight 2.6 of 86SafePal S1 leads
SafePal S110/10 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
SafePal S114/20Keycard Shell14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
SafePal S19/30Keycard Shell17/30
Keycard Shell leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
SafePal S12.7/10Keycard Shell2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
SafePal S13.2/8Keycard Shell3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
SafePal S15.5/18Keycard Shell5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Keycard Shell unless the term SafePal S1 leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick SafePal S1 if fund-loss record matters most — it scores 10/10 to Keycard Shell's 5/10 there (weight 11).
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 Shell 10/10)
Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (SafePal S1 3/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (SafePal S1 5/10, Keycard Shell 7/10)
Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (SafePal S1 0/10, Keycard Shell 0/10)
Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (SafePal S1 4/10, Keycard Shell 10/10)
Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (SafePal S1 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 21 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 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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