15 Best Kickstarter Wallets

Looking for information about the best wallets on Kickstarter? Here’s a breakdown of 15 Kickstarter wallets, from simple card holders to wallets with clever mechanical features, and a couple that talk to your phone.

What Are Kickstarter Wallets?

You’ve probably heard of Kickstarter - but in case you haven’t, it’s a crowdfunding platform. Essentially what that means is, if you have a creative project, some new product you want to bring to life, you can create a campaign on Kickstarter to get ordinary people to commit funds.

Typically the way it works is that the team will create a well-made video that explains what they are proposing to make (video is by far the best way to get your message across in an entertaining way and to get people excited about not only your product, but also you as a team).

The funding they are asking for will typically be in tiers, and offer the product at a discounted price, or in unique, customized colors, etc. You’re helping fund development and production, often with a wallet offered as a reward. Backing a project carries different expectations from buying a finished wallet: delivery and the final design aren’t guaranteed.

So a Kickstarter wallet is exactly what it sounds like, a wallet where the funding for the development and production came out of a campaign on Kickstarter.

15 Kickstarter Wallets Worth Knowing

All right, let’s go through the list! Some of these campaigns ran years ago and the wallets have been through a version or two since, so think of the campaign as where the idea started.

Keplero Luxury Wallet

Made of: carbon fiber or crystal ABS options
Holds up to: 6 cards

This wallet fans out to provide easy and quick access to all of your cards. Each card is placed in a slot, locks in through magnetics, then fans out so you can select whichever card you’re looking for. The wallet also has a slot where you can keep change or keys, and there’s an option to order one with a money clip on the back. The campaign offered a black carbon-fiber version and colored or transparent ABS versions. The original Keplero campaign also built in RFID protection.

Djin Collection from Koala Gear

Made of: leather or microfiber options
Holds up to 10 cards and 20 bills (or any combination thereof)

The Djin campaign used a separate RFID-blocking card to let you choose which cards could still be tapped through the wallet. Its campaign FAQ explains how to arrange the card stack. Along with the slide pocket for coins, keys and USB sticks, the wallet also has a concealed drawer for smaller items such as a memory card or a SIM card. A hidden drawer for your SIM card is the kind of idea that only seems to come out of Kickstarter.

Decadent Minimalist 1

Made of: titanium, with aluminum and carbon-fiber versions in the DM1 family
Holds up to: 4, 8 or 12 card options

The DM1 titanium and carbon-fiber campaign expanded Decadent Minimalist’s open-frame card holder. The titanium DM1 is machined from one piece of titanium; choose the material as well as the card count when shopping the family. Depending on what size you order, it will weigh between 20 and 42 grams. Their largest size is only .51 inches thick, the smallest size .23 inches thick. The DM1 is not RFID blocking, ideal for using easy tap access cards without having to remove them. The Decadent Minimalist is made in the USA. The frame doesn’t stretch, so pick the size for the cards you actually carry.

Mjolnir: a fxxxking great wallet

Made of: RS15 fibers
Holds up to: 12 cards

Mjolnir was pitched with a quick-draw holder for up to 10 cards and RFID shielding. The two additional slots that are not RFID blocking are useful for easy tap cards, such as a metro card. The Mjolnir campaign also used magnets to keep it from sliding out of your pocket (keep hotel key cards away from it; magnets can wipe them).

It doubled as a phone stand, too. And our favorite trick: drop bills and coins in together, and the coins get routed into their own pocket.

The campaign also included a mini pen and storage for keys and small accessories, with superhero-inspired color names (they’re big superhero fans over there).

The GRIP6 Wallet

Made of: Aluminum (leather sleeve option)
Holds up to: 6 cards (up to 14 cards with leather sleeve)

When you squeeze the GRIP6 wallet, 5–6 cards rise in a staggered array so you can choose the one you’re looking for. When you release the lever, they retract. GRIP6 backs the wallet with its lifetime guarantee. In its launch announcement, GRIP6 said it cycled the lift mechanism more than 500,000 times. RFID blocking, the GRIP6 also comes with an option of a finger hook, making it easy to extract from pockets, carry around, and clip onto carabiners.

The optional leather jacket adds room for up to eight more cards and some cash. It’s worth adding if you carry cash.

Fantom Wallet: the quick access slim wallet

Made of: aluminum or carbon fiber options
Holds up to: 7, 10 or 13 card options

With a flick of your finger all your cards fan out for you to select from. The original Fantom campaign led to a range of holders with the same quick-access idea. The Fantom Wallet also comes with a quick draw slot, giving instant access to the top card with a quick thumb movement. The thumb lever that fans out your cards also serves as a door to an optional coin holder that can hold USB drives, SD cards and keys in addition to coins.

The current version is the Fantom S, in sizes for 7, 10 or 13 cards. All of them block RFID except the carbon-fiber one, and not every model has the coin holder.

You May Also Like: Our take on Fantom Wallet Alternatives!

Dango Dapper and Tactical Wallets

Made of: leather and aluminum
Holds up to: 12 cards

The Dango campaign paired a metal frame with leather and a silicone cash band. The D01 Dapper is made in the USA, includes RFID blocking and has a built-in bottle opener. The Tactical wallet comes with the Dango Multitool, made from stainless steel with over fourteen functions. These include a knife, saw, smartphone stand, ruler and more. If you fly with the Tactical, the multitool goes in your checked bag: it has a knife, and TSA’s multitool rules don’t allow blades in the cabin.

The Dapper wallet comes in Golden Whiskey Brown Leather or Jet Black Leather, each with a black silicone band. The Tactical wallet comes in Brown Rawhide Leather or Jet Black Leather, each of these also comes with a black silicone band.

You may also like our article on: Dango vs Trayvax!

Ekster Wallet 1.0: ultra slim traceable smart wallet

Made of: leather
Holds up to: 5 or 12 card options

The Ekster 1.0 campaign combined leather, RFID shielding and one-button card access. The Senate and Parliament gave backers different storage layouts, with extra pockets around the Parliament’s card holder.

The tracker talked to your phone over Bluetooth, so it could tell you when you’d walked away from your wallet and help you find it nearby. It’s not GPS, though, and Ekster’s current tracker card is a different piece of hardware from the campaign version.

See our full Ekster review for more.

The Micro Wallet

Made of: Tyvek® Smart Material
Holds up to: 8 cards

The Micro Wallet campaign focused on getting eight cards and cash into a very small fold. Made from one continuous piece of Tyvek® smart material, it’s RFID blocking, durable and water-resistant. The Leather-print Micro Wallet is still Tyvek, not animal leather. Artist-designed prints are a big part of the appeal if you want something more playful than a metal card holder.

You do have to fold your cash to fit.

Woolet: The slimmest smart wallet for the modern man

Made of: leather
Four single-card pockets plus a larger pocket

The Woolet campaign pitched a leather wallet with Bluetooth separation alerts and a speaker to help you find it nearby. The campaign FAQ describes four single-card pockets and a larger pocket, holding up to eight cards in total.

It charged wirelessly, and the FAQ says the battery can’t be replaced without opening the wallet. That’s the catch with any smart wallet this old: the battery has to still charge, and the app has to still work with your phone.

HuMn

Made of: Aluminum, Carbon fiber or Polycarbonate options
Holds up to: 6 cards

The HuMn campaign used plates and an elastic band to keep cards and cash together. It’s the stripped-down approach: spread the plates to get to the cards, with no leather pockets or ejector mechanism.

If you pick one up secondhand, the elastic band is the part to look at.

Ridge Wallet

Made of: Carbon fiber, aluminum or titanium options
Holds up to: 12 cards

The Ridge Wallet 2.0 campaign expanded the material options for its plate-and-elastic design. The Ridge Wallet comes with either a cash strap or a money clip, depending on your preference.

Aluminum, titanium and carbon-fiber models all share the same card-stack layout and RFID shielding; they just weigh and look different.

One original Kickstarter backer posted their wallet still in use ten years later.

See our full Ridge review for more.

The Flyfold

Made of: 10XD™ polyethylene/nylon fabric, with nylon options in later versions
Current Flyfold capacity: 16+ cards and full-length bills

The Flyfold campaign brought technical fabrics to a familiar bifold shape. Two inward-facing card slots and a full-length cash pocket keep the layout simple.

The current Flyfold is rated for 16+ cards and full-length bills, with RFID protection across its colors. Its 10XD material uses ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene yarn blended with nylon; Baby Ballistic is another fabric option. Pioneer backs it with a three-year warranty, and you can throw it in the wash.

The Wallet, by Zenlet

Made of: polycarbonate, TPU and stainless steel in the original model
Holds 4–7 cards in the original model

The original Zenlet combines a sliding case with automatic card arrangement. Its construction includes polycarbonate and TPU as well as stainless steel, rather than being an all-steel wallet. It holds 4–7 cards, depending on their thickness.

Single-hand slide access and a closed case are its main attractions. The flexible shielding layout lets you keep a tap card usable while protecting the rest of the stack. That was the 2014 Kickstarter version; the later Zenlet 2 and 3 changed the capacity and layout.

Walli

Made of: leather
Has 6 card slots

Walli’s interesting twist was a card-presence sensor, not just wallet tracking. In its 2016 launch announcement, the maker described SecurePocket alerts when a particular card pocket had been empty for a period of time. A phone app also provided wallet separation alerts and a last-known location.

If you’ve ever left your card at a bar, you can see the appeal. Same catch as the Woolet, though: the clever part depends on the electronics still working.

One More Worth Knowing

Kickstarter continues to fund small wallet makers who’d otherwise struggle to get a production run going. One we particularly like is the Wingback Cash Wallet, which uses folded leather and metal fasteners for a compact design.