Nitrokey hardware security key
Hardware security key in Privacy & security
Open source hardware security key that people use for passkeys, SSH keys and PGP smartcards, valued for its open firmware and reliability.
Open source hardware security key that people use for passkeys, SSH keys and PGP smartcards, valued for its open firmware and reliability.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 8 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 8 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Open source hardware and firmware
“There are even open source hardware passkeys (NitroKey) so you can have security with freedom.”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “Hackers had a live feed of every ID verification company scanned for over a year” “There's open source ones. Nitro keys are what I've been using and they're basically flawless.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Passkeys are not a trap” “Smartcards with rust firmware by Nitrokey.”
Comment from 27 May 2026 in “Are we self-sovereign PKI yet?” - Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Switching from GPG to Age”
Stores SSH and PGP keys
“you should probably store your SSH keys on a HSM like a Nitrokey or Yubikey”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “Git-bug: Distributed, offline-first bug tracker embedded in Git” “Buy a smartcard with touch support such as a Nitrokey 3”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Switching from GPG to Age” “a PGP key storage dongle (I personally use NitroKey)”
Comment from 3 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Advice on Migrating from 1Password?” - Comment from 31 Mar 2026 in “Claude Code's source code has been leaked via a map file in their NPM registry”
Touch to confirm each use
“you can use a physical yubikey or nitrokey and tap it when it blinks”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “Passkeys were invented by engineers with zero understanding of consumer brain” “Buy a smartcard with touch support such as a Nitrokey 3”
Comment from 13 Nov 2025 in “Switching from GPG to Age” Reliable, works without phone
“There's open source ones. Nitro keys are what I've been using and they're basically flawless.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Passkeys are not a trap” “Much more secure by a mile and works when your phone battery is dead.”
Comment from 25 Oct 2026 in “Apple Security Research Device”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YubiKey | 206 | 62 | 77% | 13 | 7 yrs7 owners | Approved |
| Nitrokey hardware security keyThis page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Much more secure by a mile and works when your phone battery is dead.”
“Ideally, you should bind your private key to a hardware security key”
“There's open source ones. Nitro keys are what I've been using and they're basically flawless.”
“you can absolutely just use nitrokeys you control, with backups”
“you should probably store your SSH keys on a HSM like a Nitrokey or Yubikey”
“There are even open source hardware passkeys (NitroKey) so you can have security with freedom.”
“a PGP key storage dongle (I personally use NitroKey)”
“you can use a physical yubikey or nitrokey and tap it when it blinks”
“Smartcards with rust firmware by Nitrokey.”
“Friends and I have gotten 100s of yubikeys and nitrokeys donated to FOSS maintainers”
“PGP smartcard which is all very well supported”
“can be done just as easily on a laptop with a yubikey or nitrokey”
“Buy a smartcard with touch support such as a Nitrokey 3”
“due to open source rust firmware”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.