Ledger vs. Trezor: Which One is Better?

The most important part when choosing your wallet will always be currency support.  After all, the best-rated hardware wallet in the world will be useless if you can’t keep the crypto of your choice in it.

The specific supported currencies, however, aren’t company-wide by design: Not all Trezor devices will support the very same list, nor will all Ledger devices offer support for the same group of currencies.

For instance, the Trazor Model T supports more than 1,200 coins, whereas the Trezor Model One supports around 1,000.  However, both companies strive to support as wide an array of cryptocurrencies with all of their devices.

The main tokens, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are pretty much standard features by now. It’s the niche coins that may or not be supported – and this support should be the first thing to sway you not only towards a brand, but potentially towards specific models.

In general, Ledger wallet devices tend to support a larger number of tokens out of the box.  While Trezor devices support many tokens in theory, some of them require you to use third-party programs or plugins which not only makes the device more complicated to use, but also might lower its security rating.

To make Ledger’s advantage on this field even bigger, Ledger offers devices that support Ripple, which clearly does not enjoy the support of Trezor just yet.

While the TREZOR’s screen is obvious and larger, both Ledger and Trezor devices have screens.  Ledger’s screens are just conspicuous, since they’re the very body of the device.

As such, you shouldn’t focus on whether a device has a screen or not, since it will always have at least just one.  Instead, look at other things around it: Do you need a larger screen, perhaps due to visual impairment?

What about portability?  Both devices are portable, but one of them is smaller and less conspicuous than the other.

Where Trezor’s models are noticeable and can’t really be confused for a regular USB thumb drive, Ledger’s devices can.

This specific choice won’t be a huge one for most people, but maybe as small as it is, it could be what tips your choice towards one direction or another.

So our recommendation? Don’t lose much time thinking of this at first.  Instead, check the other points and then, if you’re still split between devices, come back to this one.

Naturally, both devices are considered extremely secure – after all, it’s the one feature anyone looking into them would be looking for.

However, there is one specific difference that gives Ledger an edge in this regard: Some of their devices are based on dual-chip architecture featuring a secure element that’s thought to be considerably safer than those of the competition.

There’s something else you should be wary of when choosing between crypto hardware wallets.  This is something that won’t tilt your choice if you are down to just ledger or trezor, but it’s best that you know it in case you look into a third party:

Does the device offer a screen?  Not all hardware wallets offer screens.

While this may not seem like a big thing and you may ask yourself if a silly screen is even useful at all, the truth is that a screen is a major security feature for a hardware key to have.

As mentioned before, if your device gets lost, stolen, or damaged, you’ll have a recovery key you can use to regain the control of your wallet.

This key is supposed to be secret and kept in a safe place apart from your wallet.  Keeping it secret is extremely important because it can be used by third parties to take over your wallet even if your device isn’t lost.

The screen in hardware wallets is there precisely so that you can be shown you recovery code without it passing through a third party.

The screen displays the code, you need to write it down and put it somewhere safe, and there’s not a chance a third party obtains it unless you’re either around thieves when you set up your wallet or you were being recorded with a camera.

If the device doesn’t have a screen, however, then the code can only be conveyed to you via software, usually through your PC.

This means the code has to go through it, either as the content of a file or as an image to be shown on your screen – regardless, this means the code can be intercepted and therefore the wallet is at risk.

Yes, it is unlikely that you’ll have malware in your PC that targets the specific brand and model of wallet you just bought.

But unlikely doesn’t mean impossible, so when choosing a hardware wallet always get one that has a screen or at least another safe way to show you your recovery code.

It would be nice to live in a world where you can get just get any hardware wallet (or any hardware whatsoever) and plug it to your PC or phone and have it work out of the box, without having to consider which OS, or version of an OS, your computer might be running.

We don’t live in such a world.  Thus, it’s important to choose a device that will work on what you have.

This is one of those points that are dealbreakers by nature, since most of the time, people won’t be able or willing to switch their platform of choice just so their hardware wallet will support it.

In general, both Trezor and Ledger devices support Mac, Windows, and Linux, so if you’re choosing between these brands, your OS shouldn’t be a problem.

However, there is one catch: Ledger devices require Google Chrome or Chromium-based browsers to work properly on top of requiring plugins.

Trezor devices, on the other hand, don’t have such a requirement and plugins exist for a variety of browsers.  Also, Trezor offers an Android app that allows you to use your Trezor hardware wallet with your phone instead of a computer.

While there are ways to obtain this functionality using a Ledger device, it’s more difficult than with Trezor where the full process consists of simply looking up the app on the play store and downloading it.

Hardware wallets don’t usually come with the wallet software incorporated – instead, they work with third-party wallets they’re compatible with.

This allows users to choose the hardware wallet they want without having to lock themselves to a software they may or not like.  As one would expect in these situations, not all hardware wallets are compatible with all software wallets.

The most common wallets, such as Electrum and Mycelium, tend to be supported by most models, but more niche ones will require you to spend more time searching for a compatible device.

Back to the question of how to choose between Trezor and Ledger wallets, both companies tend to offer support for a large array of third-party wallets.

However, on average, Trezor seems to offer more extensive compatibility.  Ledger’s wallets, although perfectly good for most software, don’t often support wallets like Multibit HD or Trezor’s own software wallet, myTREZOR.

It’s impossible to make a choice between two or more devices without taking this into account, since most people make their purchases on a budget and different device will always command different prices.

Hardware keys, luckily, aren’t particularly expensive.  While not necessarily inexpensive – you wouldn’t consider the cost of hardware keys to be pocket change unless you’re loaded – they also won’t usually dig a hole in your pocket either.

Which brand offers better pricing will heavily depend on your model of choice.  Both Ledger and Trezor offer hardware wallets for a rather diverse range of prices, although the average tends to be at around the $100 mark.

Ledger devices do sometimes cost less than Trezor products, but this price difference will heavily depend on the model you choose and where you buy it from.

If you’re looking for the absolute cheapest, you’ll likely find it from Ledger, but if small price differences aren’t a problem, then either brand will likely work just fine for you.

The last thing you should look into is this. While most hardware wallets have simple setup processes, it’s good to know what you’ll be asked or what the requirements of said process will be like.

There is probably nothing more frustrating than coming home with a new acquisition that you are not able to put to use.  So, no one would take this layer of product comparison as trivial or rather unimportant.

For Ledger and Trezor wallets, the setup process is similar: You set a PIN code that you’ll need whenever you want to move the tokens or coins to/from your wallet, and you’re given your recovery key to write down and keep somewhere safe.

The interfaces for both wallets are simple and clean.

One might expect an advanced device such as a hardware wallet to be somehow clunky to use, but that’s not the case here: Both companies have put usability on the forefront, making their product picks something almost anyone can use.