Our principles
Comparisons on this site follow four rules:
- Criteria come first. We publish what we measure before we rank anything, so you can disagree with the reasoning as well as the result.
- Nobody buys a position. No brand pays for placement. See our affiliate policy.
- We say how we know. Each comparison states what we checked ourselves and what comes from a maker's own documents or an outside audit.
- Rankings expire. Every comparison shows a review date, and we recheck it as products change.
We do not run a test lab. Our comparisons draw on makers' own documents, published audits and public independent tests, and each one says so. We link to that evidence, so that you can check it and hold us to it.
Password managers
When we compare password managers, we look at:
| Criterion | What we check |
|---|---|
| Encryption model | Can the provider read your vault? |
| Independent audits | Are recent audits published? |
| Incident history | How have past problems been handled and disclosed? |
| Two-factor options | Does the vault support strong second factors and passkeys? |
| Recovery and emergency access | What happens if you forget your master password? |
| Portability | Can you export everything and leave? |
| Everyday use | Does it work across your devices and browsers? |
| Price | What does the free plan include, and what does paid add? |
Hardware wallets
For hardware wallets, we look at:
| Criterion | What we check |
|---|---|
| Device screen | Can you verify transactions and enter secrets on the device? |
| Open source | Can outsiders inspect the firmware? |
| Secure hardware | How does it resist physical attacks? |
| Passphrase support | Can you enter a passphrase on the device itself? |
| Backup options | Which standards are supported for recovery? |
| Supply chain | How can you check that the device has not been tampered with? |
| Firmware updates | How are updates checked and installed? |
Metal backups
For metal seed phrase backups, we look at:
| Criterion | What we check |
|---|---|
| Material | What metal is used, and what grade? |
| Fire and corrosion | What evidence exists, and who produced it? |
| Word capacity | Does it hold 24 words clearly? |
| Ease of use | How likely are mistakes during setup? |
| Tamper evidence | Can you tell if someone has opened it? |
What we will never do
- Ask you to enter a real password or recovery phrase to use a tool.
- Claim that a product is "unhackable" or "completely safe".
- Say that we tested something we did not test.
- Recommend buying a wallet from anywhere but the maker or an authorized seller.