vs
Ledger vs Trezor: Which Should Canadians Buy in 2026?
Last reviewed 25 August 2026 · Specifications verified against both manufacturers · By the CryptoNorth Team
Trezor, for most people — not because the chip is better, but because the firmware is open source and the chip documentation is not under NDA, so independent researchers can actually check it.
Buy the Nano X if you use an iPhone and want to spend around CAD $149 — it is the only one of these four with Bluetooth. Trezor’s Safe 7 also does full iOS over Bluetooth, but it is CAD $389 and its chip has a disclosed flaw. Buy Ledger too if you hold an asset Trezor Suite does not cover. Those are real reasons, and they beat any argument about certification tiers.
Ledger and Trezor both pay CryptoNorth a commission, and Trezor pays slightly more. We name Trezor the better buy for most people anyway, so it is only fair to say that plainly. The reasoning below rests on open-source firmware, which you can verify yourself — not on anything we are asking you to take on trust.
Head to head
Verified 25 August 2026 against each manufacturer's published specifications.[1][2][3]
Certification: closer than most comparisons claim
Almost every Ledger-versus-Trezor article online says Trezor uses a higher-certified chip. At the entry level that is not true, and we got it wrong ourselves until August 2026.
At CAD $89 and CAD $99 the two are level on certification. Only the pricier Nano X sits a tier lower, which is an odd thing to discover about the more expensive device. If someone tells you to buy a Trezor because of EAL6+, they are comparing it to the wrong Ledger.
What actually separates them: open source
With certification level, this is where the real difference sits.
Firmware is fully open source and the chip documentation carries no NDA. Independent researchers can read what the device does and publish what they find. That is a structural check, not a promise.
Firmware is closed and the secure element documentation is under NDA. Ledger's security record on the device itself is strong, but you are trusting the company rather than able to verify it.
Whether that matters depends on how you think about trust. Neither company has had a secure element remotely compromised. The question is whether you want the ability to check, or are content to be told.
Both have been breached — neither on the device
This is the part buyers most often get wrong. Both companies have had serious incidents, and in every case the failure was in customer data or logistics, never the wallet itself.
- Ledger, 2020: a customer database leak exposed about 1 million email addresses and roughly 292,000 records with names, home addresses and phone numbers, leading to years of phishing and physical threats.
- Trezor, August 2026: a breach at fulfilment partner ShipMonk exposed names, addresses and phone numbers for 80,689 customers, including US orders from 2019 to 2021 that ShipMonk had said were deleted. In September, attackers used Trezor’s newsletter provider, Brevo, to send a phishing email from Trezor’s own account to about 347,000 subscribers. Same category of failure, different company.
The practical lesson applies to both brands equally: buy direct from the manufacturer, never from Amazon or eBay resellers, and treat any email or call referencing your order as hostile until proven otherwise. A shop calling itself an authorized reseller is not a safe harbour either: in October 2026 Ledger told buyers from CryptoBilis, a Southeast Asian reseller, not to set up devices bought there in the previous 90 days, and to move funds off any already in use, while it investigated reports of drained wallets. Neither company will ever ask for your recovery phrase.
Which one should you actually buy?
Open-source firmware and an EAL6+ chip at entry-level money.
Cheapest full iOS. Nano Gen5 also signs from iPhone, with a touchscreen and EAL6+ chip, at CAD $269. Trezor only matches this on the CAD $389 Safe 7.
2.8-inch E Ink, iPhone over Bluetooth, same EAL6+ chip as the S Plus.
500+ native plus thousands through third-party wallets.
Same EAL6+ chip as the Safe 3, easier contract reading.
Mk4 is replaced by Mk5 for new purchases. Read our seed advisory first.
At CAD $89 and CAD $99 the Safe 3 costs ten dollars less than the Nano S Plus, with the same certification tier. The other difference is that one can be independently audited and the other cannot, which is why we lean Trezor.
But this is a narrow win, not a rout. Anyone telling you Ledger is unsafe is overstating it — no Ledger device has had its secure element remotely compromised. If you need iPhone support or an asset Trezor does not carry, buy the Ledger and sleep fine.
Prices are approximate Canadian retail and move with exchange rates and sales. Specifications were verified against each manufacturer on 25 August 2026 and can change without notice — check the product page before buying. Nothing here is financial advice.
Full reviews, awards and the commission we earn shown on every one.
Compare hardware wallets →