TL;DR
The Trezor is the better device and costs roughly twice as much. The Ledger is a perfectly good third key in a multisig, as long as you don’t sign up for Ledger Recover and keep its Bitcoin app up to date (2.1 or newer).
| Trezor Safe 5 | Ledger Nano S Plus | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen | 1.54″ colour touchscreen | 1.1″ monochrome OLED |
| Firmware | Open source | Bitcoin app open source, secure element code closed |
| Secure element | Yes, EAL6+ | Yes, EAL6+ (ST33K1M5) |
| Default backup | 20 words (SLIP39), change to 24 | 24 words |
| Remembers your multisig | No, Sparrow sends it each time | Yes, registered once; stored in Sparrow’s wallet file |
| Price | Higher | About half |
The closed-source question
On a Ledger, the software inside the secure element isn’t public. You have to trust Ledger that it does what they say. For a wallet that holds everything on one key, that’s a fair reason to hesitate. In a 2-of-3 it matters much less: the Ledger can’t move anything on its own, and an attacker would still need a key from a different maker.
Ledger Recover
Ledger sells an optional service that stores encrypted pieces of your seed with Ledger and two other companies. It’s off unless you subscribe, and in a self-custody multisig you don’t want it. Your backup is your own metal plate.
Daily use
The Trezor’s screen makes checking addresses and typing a passphrase easy. The Ledger’s small screen works, but you scroll through long addresses, and its passphrase works through a second PIN. It works, but you have to remember which PIN opens the passphrase wallet. The Ledger’s multisig registration lives in Sparrow’s wallet file, so if you ever rebuild the wallet from the descriptor, you register the Ledger again. Once registered, the Ledger checks addresses against your real setup, which the Trezor can’t.
My pick
Use both: the Trezor for its screen, the Ledger as the cheap third key that also remembers your multisig. See the full reviews of the Trezor Safe 5 and the Ledger Nano S Plus.
Trezor Safe 5: Buy from Trezor · Buy on Amazon
Ledger Nano S Plus: Buy from Ledger · Buy on Amazon