Alternatives to Tangem
NFC card hardware wallet
Tangem ranks #12 of 12 in Hardware wallets, with an Alt Score of 55. It is licensed under Proprietary (source-available), sold as a one-time purchase from $54.90 and available on iOS and Android. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.
Crypto holders who want cold storage without the hassle of a seed phrase to protect — buyers who'd rather tap an NFC card to their phone than type recovery words onto paper, plus anyone who wants a screenless, cable-free wallet they can carry in an actual wallet.
A set of 2 or 3 NFC smart cards (from $54.90 for the 2-card set), each with its own EAL6+ certified Samsung secure element that generates and holds a private key that never leaves the chip. There's no seed phrase by default — the extra cards in the set are the backup, cloned to each other via an encrypted, one-time backup process. A newer setup path lets you generate a standard BIP-39 seed phrase (12 or 24 words) instead, with optional passphrase support. Everything is managed through the free Tangem mobile app (iOS/Android), which supports 14,100+ assets across 90+ networks and connects to dApps via WalletConnect.
Tap a Tangem card against an NFC-enabled phone running the Tangem app; the app verifies the card's chip and firmware authenticity, then lets you view balances, build transactions, and sign them — the card signs internally and the private key never leaves it. Since the card has no screen of its own, the phone's screen is the interface for reviewing and approving every transaction. The mobile app is source-available on GitHub, though under a proprietary (not OSI open-source) license.
Why people leave Tangem
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Hardware wallets checklist (16 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Hardware wallets checklist | Tangem | OneKey | Trezor | Keystone | Blockstream Jade | Ledger |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Secure element (certified) | ||||||
| Air-gapped / QR signing | ||||||
| Bluetooth connectivity | ||||||
| Supported coins & chains count | ||||||
| Open-source firmware | ||||||
| Companion desktop app | ||||||
| Companion mobile app | ||||||
| On-device screen verification | ||||||
| Passphrase / hidden wallet | ||||||
| Multisig support | ||||||
| Connects to software wallets (MetaMask, etc.) | ||||||
| Recovery (seed / Shamir backup) |
Every fact and feature listed for Tangem is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License Proprietary (source-available) verified 2026-07-12
The mobile app repos (tangem-app-ios, tangem-app-android) are public on GitHub under a custom 'Tangem Proprietary and Confidential' license that permits personal cloning/auditing/self-building but bar
Tangem Proprietary and Confidential ... NOTICE: THIS IS NOT AN OPEN SOURCE LICENSE.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tangem/tangem-app-android/develop/LICENSE -
Platforms iOS, Android verified 2026-07-12
Confirmed live listings at apps.apple.com (id1354868448, title 'Tangem - Crypto wallet App - App Store') and play.google.com (id=com.tangem.wallet, HTTP 200). No desktop (Windows/macOS/Linux) client
Download the Tangem app from: App Store Google Play GitHub
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/getting-started-with-hardware-wallet/how-to-set-up-with-a-seed-phrase/ -
Pricing model One-time verified 2026-07-12
Physical card set sold at a single fixed price; no subscription language on the pricing page.
2 Cards set ... $54.90
https://tangem.com/en/pricing/ -
Starts at $54.90 verified 2026-07-12
Price of the entry 2-card set (labeled 'Cheaper'); the 3-card set ('Safer') is $69.90 per the same page.
2 Cards set ... $54.90
https://tangem.com/en/pricing/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-12
pushed_at": "2026-07-07T10:41:40Z"" — tangem-app-ios repo pushed_at 2026-07-01T20:46:35Z; both within days of research date (2026-07-12), indicating active development.
https://api.github.com/repos/tangem/tangem-app-android -
Secure element (certified) Yes verified 2026-07-12
Samsung S3D232A secure element (S3D350 family) per Tangem help articles; certification report linked to commoncriteriaportal.org.
The secure element chip inside every Tangem device is developed in collaboration with Samsung Semiconductor and certified to EAL6+ under the Common Criteria standard
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/introduction-to-tangem-wallet/tangem-and-security/ -
Air-gapped / QR signing Partial verified 2026-07-12
The card itself has no network stack and never touches the internet (cold/air-gapped in that sense), but it communicates via a physical NFC tap to the phone rather than manual QR-code transaction sign
This key stays on the wallet, which is not connected to the internet, so it never leaves the wallet.
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/introduction-to-tangem-wallet/tangem-and-security/ -
Bluetooth connectivity No verified 2026-07-12
Tangem cards/rings pair with the phone exclusively via NFC tap; no Bluetooth pairing is described anywhere in the official help center.
To start using Tangem Wallet, you need an NFC-enabled mobile device and the official Tangem app.
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/getting-started-with-hardware-wallet/how-to-set-up-with-a-seed-phrase/ -
Supported coins & chains count Yes verified 2026-07-12
14,100+ assets across 90+ networks per tangem.com homepage.
Store 14100+ tokens across 90 blockchains
https://tangem.com/en/ -
Open-source firmware No verified 2026-07-12
Firmware is independently audited but not published/open-source; only the mobile app source is published (and under a proprietary, non-OSI license — see 'license' fact).
The Tangem firmware has undergone two independent audits ... Both audits confirmed that the firmware has no backdoors or vulnerabilities, is non-updatable, and contains no hidden algorithms.
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/introduction-to-tangem-wallet/tangem-and-security/ -
Companion desktop app No verified 2026-07-12
No Windows/macOS/Linux desktop client is offered; only App Store/Google Play (mobile) and GitHub (source).
Download the Tangem app from: App Store Google Play GitHub
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/getting-started-with-hardware-wallet/how-to-set-up-with-a-seed-phrase/ -
Companion mobile app Yes verified 2026-07-12
Also live on Google Play as com.tangem.wallet.
Tangem - Crypto wallet App - App Store
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tangem-crypto-wallet/id1354868448 -
On-device screen verification No verified 2026-07-12
Tangem cards/rings have no screen — the paired phone's screen is the only display, so transaction details are verified on the phone, not on-device.
Remember, your phone doesn’t store sensitive information; it’s just a display for easy access.
https://tangem.com/en/ -
Passphrase / hidden wallet Yes verified 2026-07-12
BIP-39 passphrase ('25th word') support applies to seed-phrase-based Tangem wallets (2nd-gen devices or later).
Missed passphrase. If your previous wallet used a passphrase but you forgot to enter it when importing, this may be the reason for the lack of balance.
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/troubleshooting/seed-phrase-issues/ -
Multisig support No verified 2026-07-12
Only a generic educational glossary entry defining multisig exists; no Tangem help-center or product page documents native multisig wallet support for Tangem devices.
Multi-Signature (Multi-Sig)
https://tangem.com/en/glossary/multi-signature-multi-sig/ -
Connects to software wallets (MetaMask, etc.) Yes verified 2026-07-12
WalletConnect support covers Solana and EVM networks (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base, Polygon, BNB Smart Chain, etc.).
You can use WalletConnect to link your Tangem Wallet to various dApps on mobile devices and PCs.
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/tangem-dapps/ -
Recovery (seed / Shamir backup) Partial verified 2026-07-12
Default recovery is card-based (2-of-2 or 3-of-3 device backup, no seed phrase). Since 2nd-generation devices, users may instead opt in to a BIP-39 seed phrase (12 or 24 words) at wallet setup as an a
Additional devices are needed to create backups. The number of cards or rings in your backup (2 or 3) determines how many copies of your private key exist.
https://tangem.com/en/help-center/security/how-backup-works/
FAQ
OneKey, Trezor and Keystone — every license claim links its source.