Turnkey vs Privy is finished SDK versus enclave infrastructure. See Privy vs Turnkey. For a turnkey alternative, or for Turnkey embedded wallet competitors, see Turnkey alternatives. Turnkey provides secure key management infrastructure running in hardware-backed secure enclaves, exposed as a low-level API for building wallets and signing systems.
Turnkey and Cavos both take hardware-backed security seriously, but they sit at different layers. Turnkey is key-management infrastructure you build a wallet product on top of. Cavos is a finished embedded wallet product where the user’s own device, not a remote enclave, is the default signing authority.
For the category itself (custody, key models, and what the SDK actually does) start with embedded wallets and the embedded wallet SDK. The embedded wallet guide is that page. The named-vendor table is embedded wallet providers. Platform parts and pricing models are in wallet-as-a-service. The method-level surface is the embedded wallet API. The React install is how to add an embedded wallet.
| Capability | Cavos | Turnkey |
|---|---|---|
| Layer | Complete embedded wallet SDK: auth, wallet, recovery, sponsorship. | Key management infrastructure and signing API; you build the wallet experience. |
| Where keys live | On the end user’s device, non-exportable. | In hardware-backed secure enclaves operated as infrastructure. |
| Time to integrate | Quickstart to sponsored transaction with one SDK. | Longer: you assemble the product layer yourself. |
| Server-side signing | Not a general capability; the account key is derived on the user’s device and Cavos holds no key that can spend. | A core capability with policy controls. |
| Chain coverage | One SDK with chain-native adapters. Starknet, Solana, and Stellar available today. | Broad cryptographic curve and chain support at the signing primitive level. |
| Recovery | Passkey restore on a new device and opt-in hardware-isolated social recovery, both non-custodial. | You design recovery on top of the provided primitives. |
| Pricing | Free up to 1,000 wallets. Essential $59/mo. Complete $139/mo. | Pay as you go: 1,000 wallets and 25 free signatures/mo, then $0.10/signature. Pro $99/mo. |
Mostly a building block. Teams frequently use Turnkey to build something similar to what Cavos ships as a product. The decision is usually build-versus-buy rather than a feature comparison.
Only for opt-in hardware-isolated social recovery, which runs in an AWS Nitro Enclave with pinned attestation measurements and unwraps a MasterDEK onto a new device. It is off by default and is not a general server-side signing capability. On Starknet the account is the standard OpenZeppelin AccountUpgradeable; the enclave has no on-chain recovery role.
Cavos is free up to 1,000 wallets, then Essential at $59/mo and Complete at $139/mo. Turnkey’s public pay as you go tier includes 1,000 wallets and 25 free signatures per month, then $0.10 per signature; Pro is $99/mo.
If you want a finished embedded wallet instead of Turnkey’s signing infrastructure, the usual shortlist is Cavos, Privy, Dynamic, Web3Auth / MetaMask Embedded Wallets, and Magic. Turnkey vs Privy is build-versus-buy. The shortlist is Turnkey alternatives; the Privy write-up is Privy vs Turnkey.
Turnkey vs Privy is finished SDK versus enclave infrastructure. Privy is a finished auth and wallet product. Turnkey is a signing API you build a wallet on. The worked write-up is Privy vs Turnkey. This page is Turnkey vs Cavos.
Start with the quickstart and reach a sponsored transaction on your target chain.
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