The price advantage
The Trezor One has been reported at around $69, which makes it one of the least expensive ways to move crypto off an exchange and into hardware custody.
That matters more than it sounds. The most common reason people leave meaningful amounts on an exchange is not conviction that the exchange is safe — it is that buying a device feels like an unnecessary purchase. A sub-$70 entry point removes most of that friction.
The current range extends upward through the Safe 5 and Safe 7 at higher prices, and the same rule applies as everywhere in this category: the extra money buys convenience. Larger screens, better build quality, broader asset support. The protection of your keys is broadly comparable across the range.
For somebody holding a few thousand dollars of Bitcoin who has been putting off the decision, the entry model is the right answer and has been for years.
What open source buys
Trezor's firmware is open source, and this is the brand's genuine differentiator rather than a marketing line. It is worth being precise about what it does and does not mean.
What it gets you: independent researchers can inspect exactly what the device does with your keys rather than trusting a description. Over more than a decade that has produced a public record of what has been found, disputed and fixed. You are not required to take anybody's word for the behaviour.
What it does not get you: automatic safety. Open code still has to be read by people qualified to read it, and "many eyes" is a claim about potential rather than a guarantee that anyone looked. Open source is a precondition for verification, not verification itself.
Where it matters practically is trust architecture. With a closed device you are trusting a company. With an open one you are trusting a company plus everyone who has audited it publicly. For a product whose entire job is holding keys, that is a reasonable thing to weigh.
Trezor or Ledger?
The comparison people ask for, and the honest answer is less dramatic than the forum arguments suggest.
| Trezor | Ledger | |
|---|---|---|
| Firmware | Open source | Closed, secure element |
| Entry price | Around $69 | Higher |
| Main argument | Inspectable behaviour | Certified chip, wider ecosystem |
| Asset coverage | Good | Broader |
| Shared risk | Counterfeit sellers, fake apps | Counterfeit sellers, fake apps |
Note the last row. The realistic threat is identical for both brands, and it has nothing to do with the chip inside. Choosing between them on security architecture is arguing about the third-most important variable.
Buying safely
The same absolute rule that applies to every device in this category.
Manufacturer or authorised reseller only
Never a marketplace listing, auction site, classified advert or private seller, whatever the price. A tampered device arrives pre-initialised with a recovery phrase somebody else holds, works normally, and empties when you fund it.
A genuine device never ships with a recovery phrase already written down. If one is in the box, the device is compromised.
Discount timing is the same as the rest of the category: Black Friday and Cyber Monday through the official store, plus genuine reductions when a model is superseded. Our wallet deals page covers the calendar.
The risk that actually matters
After all the brand comparison, the losses we see cluster in three places, and none of them is the hardware.
Counterfeit software. The April 2026 fake Ledger Live app on the Apple App Store drained around $9.5 million from more than 50 people in two weeks. The victims had genuine hardware. Check the publisher field, and reach the app from a link on the manufacturer's site rather than a store search.
Recovery phrase handling. Photographed, stored in a notes app, or written down with an error that nobody discovers until it is needed.
Seed phrase requests. Nobody legitimate ever asks for it. Not support, not a wallet developer, not a recovery service. The request is the attack, every time. Our safety guide covers the surrounding patterns.
What we would tell a first-time buyer
Buy the Trezor One from trezor.io, set it up yourself, write the phrase on paper, test the recovery with a small amount, and stop worrying about whether you picked the optimal brand.
The person who does that with a $69 device is dramatically safer than the person still comparing $400 models next month while their coins sit on an exchange.