Trezor scores 14 points above Coldcard, led by secure element, genuine check, and fund-loss record. Trezor ranks #2 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.
Trezor80
vs
CLColdcard66
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #2 and #11 of 23
Trezor scores 14 points above Coldcard, led by secure element, genuine check, and fund-loss record.
Trezor #2 of 2380
CLColdcard #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 termTrezor leads on 3 of 6 published criteria; Coldcard on 0. The terms sum to the gap.
TermTrezorColdcardWeightPoints
Secure element10/105/106.5+8.4for Trezor+4.3 of 32
Genuine check7/105/102.9+1.5for Trezor+0.8 of 32
Fund-loss record7/101/102.6+4.1for Trezor+2.1 of 32
Net of the terms+14.0
Reproduced gap+14.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
TrezorScore 80Trezor Safe 3: certified chip you can look up — firmware rebuilt and matched by independent reviewers, at EUR 59 (US$59)Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: Graded on the Safe 3, which first shipped in November 2023, so its record counts three years, not the brand's twelveColdcardScore 66July 2026 seed flaw cost owners funds — fixed in 5.6.0; a Bitcoin-only signer that works from microSDStrength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: 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
Quick facts
At a glance
3 of 5 rows read the same for both.
FactTrezorColdcard
One-time priceSnapshotTrezor Safe 3: the Product JSON-LD on https://trezor.io/trezor-safe-3 reads "priceCurrency":"USD","price":59, read 1 October 2026 and again 28 October 2026; the Bitcoin-only edition is the same price. The same page shows a visitor in Germany "Buy for EUR 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; fully 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?
Trezor
80#2 of 23
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Trezor 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
Graded on the Safe 3, which first shipped in November 2023, so its record counts three years, not the brand's twelve
CL
Coldcard
66#11 of 23
Pick it when
Coldcard leads Trezor 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
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?
TrezorLeads
Choose Trezor 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: 7/10 against 1/10 for Coldcard (weight 11)
TrezorScore 80Trezor Safe 3: certified chip you can look up — firmware rebuilt and matched by independent reviewers, at EUR 59 (US$59)Strength: Secure element you can look up — 10/10Watch-out: Graded on the Safe 3, which first shipped in November 2023, so its record counts three years, not the brand's twelve
CLColdcard
Coldcard leads Trezor on no published criterion
Choose it only if something outside the published criteria decides for you — your country, a funding rail, or custody.
ColdcardScore 66July 2026 seed flaw cost owners funds — fixed in 5.6.0; a Bitcoin-only signer that works from microSDStrength: Firmware anyone can rebuild and match — 10/10Watch-out: 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
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 86Trezor leads
Trezor10/10 out of 10
Coldcard5/10 out of 10
Rebuildable firmware
weight 6.5 of 86Tie
Trezor10/10 out of 10
Coldcard10/10 out of 10
Genuine check
by 2 of 10weight 2.9 of 86Trezor leads
Trezor7/10 out of 10
Coldcard5/10 out of 10
Checkable keys
weight 2.9 of 86Tie
Trezor7/10 out of 10
Coldcard7/10 out of 10
Maker independence
weight 2.6 of 86Tie
Trezor10/10 out of 10
Coldcard10/10 out of 10
Fund-loss record
by 6 of 10weight 2.6 of 86Trezor leads
Trezor7/10 out of 10
Coldcard1/10 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
Trezor14/20Coldcard14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Trezor21.5/30Coldcard16.1/30
Trezor leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Trezor2.7/10Coldcard2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Trezor3.2/8Coldcard3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Trezor5.5/18Coldcard5.5/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Trezor unless the term Coldcard leads on is the one you are buying.
Coldcard leads Trezor 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% (Trezor 10/10, Coldcard 5/10)
Scored by Firmware anyone can rebuild and match · 27% (Trezor 10/10, Coldcard 10/10)
Scored by Proof the device is genuine and unmodified · 12% (Trezor 7/10, Coldcard 5/10)
Scored by Key creation and signing you can check · 12% (Trezor 7/10, Coldcard 7/10)
Scored by Sign and recover without the maker · 11% (Trezor 10/10, Coldcard 10/10)
Scored by Years in buyers' hands without a device-level fund loss · 11% (Trezor 7/10, 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
Trezor scores 14 points above Coldcard, led by secure element, genuine check, and fund-loss record. Published scores, out of 100: Trezor 80 (rank 2 of 23 hardware wallets), Coldcard 66 (rank 11 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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