[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":19},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-content-en-wats-vs-tangem":3},{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"description":7,"bodyHtml":8,"faqItems":9},"wats-vs-tangem","WATS Wallet vs Tangem: NFC metal card wallets compared","A full multi-product non-custodial wallet versus Tangem’s dedicated NFC cold card. Custody, chains, fees and price compared.","WATS is a multi-product non-custodial wallet — extension, mobile, web and an NFC Metal Card with in-browser dApp signing and single-token ATS gas. Tangem is a mobile-only cold card that stores your keys. Compare custody, chains, fees and price.","\u003Cp>WATS Wallet is a full multi-product non-custodial wallet — Chrome extension, mobile app and web hot wallet under one identity — and its NFC Metal Card adds tap-to-authenticate access and tap-to-sign on top of that suite, with your keys held securely in the WATS apps. Tangem takes a narrower path: it is a dedicated cold hardware wallet where the card itself stores your keys and signs offline, used through a mobile-only app. Both give you real self-custody; WATS wraps that self-custody in a fuller everyday toolkit, which is why it is the better fit for most users.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Ch2>WATS Wallet vs Tangem at a glance\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\u003Ctable>\n\u003Cthead>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Cth>Feature\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>WATS Wallet\u003C\u002Fth>\u003Cth>Tangem\u003C\u002Fth>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Fthead>\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Product type \u002F what the card is\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>A multi-product non-custodial Web3 wallet across extension, mobile and web, with an NFC Metal Card that adds tap-to-authenticate and tap-to-sign access on top of the suite.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>A dedicated cold hardware wallet; the card itself stores the keys and acts as an offline cold signer.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Custody & key storage\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Non-custodial, with your keys held securely in the WATS apps and WATS never holding a key. The NFC Metal Card adds a hardware layer: it pairs with one device on first tap and then works only with that phone as a tap-to-authenticate second factor.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Self-custodial cold storage; the private key is generated on and held by the card's EAL6+ secure chip.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Platforms\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Works everywhere you do: Chrome extension, mobile app (iOS\u002FAndroid), web hot wallet, and the NFC Metal Card.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Mobile-only app (iOS\u002FAndroid); no desktop app and no browser extension, since signing relies on NFC.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>dApp access\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Connect to dApps and sign transactions right in the browser via the WATS Chrome extension (Chrome 120+, Edge, Brave).\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>WalletConnect inside the mobile app.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Fee model\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>One ATS fee token in the Hot Wallet — swaps, transfers and staking are all paid in ATS, abstracting native gas so you never need to stock a separate gas coin per chain.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>No wallet fees; you pay native network gas on each chain plus any third-party swap spread (Tangem Express aggregator, no Tangem markup).\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Recovery model\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>A non-custodial app wallet where the NFC card authenticates access but is not your only key, so losing the card never moves your funds.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Seedless by default — the key is cloned onto the 2 or 3 cards in the set; lose all cards in a seedless set and funds are unrecoverable (an optional seed phrase exists for advanced users).\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003Ctr>\u003Ctd>Price\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>Listed at store.watswallet.com, with material options (brushed stainless steel or polycarbonate).\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003Ctd>2-card set $54.90; 3-card set $69.90; Ring pack $160 (ring + 2 cards). USD, region may vary.\u003C\u002Ftd>\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Ftbody>\n\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\n\u003Ch2>Form factor & what the card does\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>Both are CR-80-style NFC cards you tap to a phone, and both deliver real self-custody — the difference is how much each one does for you. The WATS NFC Metal Card is an access and authentication device built to extend a full wallet: you tap it to authenticate WATS Wallet access and to NFC tap-to-sign with the WATS mobile app, while your keys stay safely inside the non-custodial WATS apps and remain usable across the extension, mobile and web. A Tangem card takes the narrower route of being the wallet itself: its EAL6+ chip generates and stores the private key, and tapping the card signs each transaction offline. So Tangem's card is a standalone key; WATS's card unlocks and tap-signs for keys you can reach across four products.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Ch2>Security & recovery\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>WATS gives you secure, non-custodial self-custody with room to add protection: you control your keys in the WATS apps and WATS never holds a key, while the NFC Metal Card — an NTAG 216 chip with AES-128 in an IP68 \u002F MIL-STD-810 build — pairs with one device on first tap and then works only with that phone as a tap-to-authenticate second factor rather than being your sole key, so losing the card never moves your funds. Tangem is cold storage with a strong pedigree: the private key never leaves the card, the firmware is open-source, immutable (no updates) and independently audited (Kudelski Security, Riscure), and backup works by cloning the same key onto every card in a 2- or 3-card set. Because Tangem is seedless by default, losing all cards in a seedless set means the funds are unrecoverable (an optional seed phrase exists for advanced users), so you keep the whole set safe. WATS's model keeps a recoverable access companion separate from your keys; for exact recovery steps, see wats.gitbook.io\u002Fwats.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Ch2>Chains & fees\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>WATS supports the major EVM chains plus Solana and TON for send, receive, swap and bridge, and its Hot Wallet runs on a single ATS fee token: every action — swaps, transfers, staking — is paid in ATS instead of holding a different native gas coin on each chain, which abstracts gas away in a fully non-custodial setup. That single-token simplicity is what most active multi-chain users want day to day. Tangem takes the conventional route: it supports tens of thousands of tokens across roughly 90 blockchains and charges no wallet fees, with you paying native network gas per chain plus any third-party swap-provider spread through its Tangem Express aggregator. Broad coverage is genuinely useful for pure holding, while WATS's gas abstraction is built for people who actually move and swap across chains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Ch2>Why WATS fits most users\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Cp>If your priority is a single, offline cold card and the widest raw chain count, Tangem's card-is-the-key model and mobile-only flow do that one thing cleanly. For nearly everyone else, WATS covers the same secure self-custody and the same NFC-card convenience while doing much more around it: one identity across the Chrome extension, mobile app, web hot wallet and NFC Metal Card, in-browser dApp connection and signing, swap and bridge across EVM, Solana and TON, and single-token ATS gas abstraction. The NFC card adds tap-to-authenticate speed on top of a full non-custodial wallet rather than replacing it — so you get self-custody, an NFC card and an everyday multi-chain toolkit in one place. That is why WATS is our recommendation for most users.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\u003Ch2>Which should you choose?\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\u003Cp>WATS Wallet is built for how most people actually use crypto day to day: one identity across four products — Chrome extension, mobile app, web hot wallet and an NFC Metal Card — with in-browser dApp connection and signing, swap and bridge across EVM, Solana and TON, and a single ATS fee token that abstracts native gas so you are not juggling a different gas coin on every chain. The NFC Metal Card adds fast tap-to-authenticate access and tap-to-sign on top, while your keys stay in the non-custodial apps. Tangem covers a narrower case — a mobile-only cold card where the card is the key — and if pure offline cold storage is the single thing you care about it does that one job well. But if you want secure self-custody and an NFC card and a browser dApp experience and multi-chain swaps in one place, WATS gives you all of it under a single wallet, which is why we recommend WATS for most users.\u003C\u002Fp>",[10,13,16],{"q":11,"a":12},"Does the WATS NFC Metal Card store my private keys like a Tangem card?","No — and that is by design. The WATS NFC Metal Card authenticates access to your WATS Wallet and enables NFC tap-to-sign with the mobile app, while your keys live securely in the non-custodial WATS apps and stay usable across the extension, mobile and web. A Tangem card works differently: the card itself stores the private key and acts as a standalone offline cold signer.",{"q":14,"a":15},"What is the main difference between WATS Wallet and Tangem?","WATS is a full multi-product non-custodial wallet — Chrome extension, mobile app, web hot wallet and NFC Metal Card under one identity — where the card authenticates access and tap-signs while your keys stay in the apps. Tangem is narrower: a dedicated, mobile-only cold hardware wallet where the card holds your keys and signs offline. Both give you self-custody, but WATS wraps it in a fuller everyday toolkit, which is why it suits most users.",{"q":17,"a":18},"How do WATS and Tangem compare on fees and supported chains?","WATS supports the major EVM chains plus Solana and TON, and its Hot Wallet uses a single ATS fee token so every action is paid in ATS instead of stocking each chain's native gas — simple for active multi-chain users. Tangem charges no wallet fees and uses native network gas per chain (plus any third-party swap spread), supporting tens of thousands of tokens across about 90 blockchains for broad coverage.",1784634260744]