Home / Style / Accessories

The Best Wallets for Men: Options for Every Budget and Style

Our guide to man’s most important accessory covers 30 wallets, from minimalist card holders to bulky bi-folds.

walletsHenry Phillips

By Evan Malachosky

Published

·

Every product is carefully selected by our editors. If you buy from a link, we may earn a commission. Learn more

Wallets may come in all shapes and sizes but one thing is certain: They’re an essential part of a person’s EDC. Every wallet is designed to hold and secure daily necessities, including a driver’s license, cash, credit cards and other requisite cards.

Products in the Guide

  • Anson Calder Card Holder

    Best Card Holder

    Read more
  • Bellroy Card Sleeve

    Card Holder

    Read more
  • Filson Leather Card Case

    Card Holder

    Read more
  • Tanner Goods Journeyman

    Card Holder

    Read more
  • J.Crew Double-Sided Cardholder

    Card Holder

    Read more
  • Leather Works Minnesota Front Pocket Flap Wallet

    Card Holder

    Read more

Types of Wallets

Though the wallet’s purpose is simple and rooted in function, there are numerous styles that achieve this end, ranging from minimalist styles (card holders and slim folding wallets) to more classic designs (bi-fold wallets and trucker wallets). These are the types we recognize (and recommend):

Card Holders

This non-folding slim wallet style has at least one slot that’s sized for credit cards and drivers licenses. Many card holders will feature a center slot, and two exterior slots. They are perfect for carrying just the essentials: a few cards and some folded bills.

Shop for your next card carrier in our buying guide to card holders.

Slim Folding Wallets

Like the card holder, the slim folding wallet is a smaller wallet primarily designed to hold cards. Unlike the card holder, however, it has a bi-fold design. The interior slots are big enough for a few cards or folded cash.

Bi-Fold Wallets

This may be the most traditional wallet style. The folding design is sized to hold paper bills unfolded in a full-length pocket. Most bi-folds carry slots for cards on the interior of the wallet.

Trucker Wallets

Inspired by the long wallets used by truckers and motorcycle riders, this wallet is the largest style. Usually, it features a snap closure, and the wallet may include a slot for bills, a zippered coin pouch and multiple slots for cards.

Passport Wallets

As the name implies, this wallet is sized to carry a passport and is ideal for international travel. Designs often include a slot for a passport, a pocket for currency and slots for cards.

Phone Wallets

Consolidating your carry, some brands offer a wallet with space to hold your phone. While design differs widely — some brands have a pouch, some use a grippy material, others secure it with hooks — the intent is the same. Most phone wallets also include slots for cash and cards.

Zip Wallets

This wallet style has a zipper to keep your valuables secure. Zip wallets come in many shapes and sizes and are simply defined by the presence of a zipper closure.

How We Tested

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 12
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: Yes

Anson Calder’s ultra-sleek Card Holder comes with two slots for cards and a center stash spot for cash. It’s available in six colors and with an optional monogram. While super-simple looking, it’s plenty functional. The exposed thumb slider helps you slide the cards up, offering access to each one. For cards tucked closer to the center, though, you might need to remove them all and put them back in.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 8
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

There’s a big slot for a bunch of cards, a tinier one for cash, and a pull tab to make getting both out a bit easier.

  • Material: Chromexcel Leather
  • No. of cards: 4
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Only your basic necessities will fit inside this Filson wallet — but that’s OK. You need not carry much more than some cash and a few cards. This option is built from hard-wearing chromexcel leather with enough room for four cards.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 4
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Made from durable, 3.5oz natural tooling leather, Tanners Goods’ Journeyman boasts just enough room — four slots and a central pocket — for your cards and some folded bills — nothing more.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Cut from vegetable-tanned Italian leather, this card holder features two exterior card slots and the brand’s logo is embossed on the exterior.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 4
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

The majority of Leather Works Minnesota’s leather comes from Red Wing’s S.B. Foot Tanning Co. This minimal wallet is stitched together from two pieces of leather, creating three pockets for your cards and cash. Waxed nylon thread is used to increase the wallet’s longevity and monogramming is optional for $15.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 4
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

RRL’s Concha Card Wallet arrives with a patina one would’ve otherwise worked years for. Crafted from premium leather, it boasts a snap button closure, four card slots and a debossed branded logo on the back.

  • Material: Aluminum
  • No. of cards: 12
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: Yes

It doesn’t get more minimalist than the Ridge Wallet. Its aerospace-grade aluminum body can hold even more than the 12 cards the brand says it can keep. It comes with a money clip or a cash strap, and while both are useful, the money clip option takes a little less work to put folded bills into.

Our tester has had his Ridge Wallet for nearly five years and it has shown very little signs of use, despite it being an everyday carry. It can be a little square and sharp in smaller pockets when packed with 12 cards, but the minimal size allows it to be a comfortable wallet in most pockets nearly all the time. Add in RFID blocking capabilities, and it’s easily a great pick for anyone who is tired of the old billfold style.

Learn more about the durable Ridge Wallet in our dedicated review.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 4
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Crafted in its small artisan studio in Southern California, Chester Mox’s Slim Wallet is a subtle and elegant wallet. It’s saddle-stitched by hand for superior construction and hand-burnished for a glass-like finish at the edges. Plus, it uses luxurious French goat leather for the exterior as well as the lining, leaving no stone unturned.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 12-16
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Made from Horween leather, Nomad Goods’ Slim Wallet has room for 12 cards and a tracker, like Tile Slim or Apple’s AirTag.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Buck Mason’s new Countryman Wallet is full-grain leather but only mid-sized. It’s hardly hefty, and it doesn’t feel too thick in your back or front pocket. Plus, it can carry quite a lot, but don’t overfill it if you want it to stay the size it is when empty.

  • Material: 10XD
  • No. of cards: 8
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

This slim folding wallet is water-resistant, seamless and tough as hell. It’s available in seven colors and can carry up to eight cards and a few bills.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Cut from vegetable-tanned Sonnenleder leather, this folding wallet has three larger pockets (two internal, one external) and two smaller slots (both internal). The German leather with develop a unique patina over time, darkening with use.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 8
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Comme des Garçon’s Classic Wallet keeps things sleek with just two card slots and a slot for your bills. It’s made in Spain using cowhide and comes in a range of colors, offering a bright pop (if you don’t want black) and designer cred at a friendly price.

styleIl Bussetto

Slim Folding Wallet

Il Bussetto Small Bi-Fold Wallet

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

There’s room for six cards plus cash in Il Bussetto’s vegetable-tanned, somewhat tiny Bi-Fold Wallet.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

With over 70 years of experience behind it, Ettinger’s Capra Mini Wallet is crafted in England using supple goat skin leather which gives the exterior a pleasing pebbled texture. It’s compact but has enough carry capacity for six cards and several bills.

Tanner Goods Utility BifoldTanner Goods

Best Bi-Fold Wallet

Tanner Goods Utility Bifold

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Founded in 2006, Tanner Goods spares no details when crafting its range of wallets. Case in point: the company uses the same hide for each piece to ensure exact color matching. This American-made bi-fold utilizes 3.5-ounce natural tooling leather. The interior features six slots for cards and one pocket for cash. It can be monogrammed for an extra $20.

styleJoshuvela

Bi-Fold Wallet

Joshu + Vela Billfold Wallet

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 8
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

This wallet is cut and sewn from natural Vacchetta leather in San Francisco. The design features two pockets for cards (which can each hold four cards) and a slot for bills.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 12
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Cut from natural shell cordovan leather crafted in the US, this wallet features a unique interior with two folded card slots and one cash pocket. Each slot holds up to six cards and the cash pockets fits all currencies.

  • Material: Cordura ripstop
  • No. of cards: 12
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Made from Cordura ripstop fabric, this Japanese-made wallet is lightweight and durable. With a classic bi-fold design, it features six interior card slots, a zip compartment for coins and an interior key ring.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Featuring harness-grade leather and either nickel or brass hardware, this American-made wallet is small enough to fit into your back pocket. The interior features two slots for cards or cash and one zippered compartment for coins.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 17
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Glad Hand and Porter Yoshida’s co-branded cow- and horsehide wallet is crafted in Japan to accommodate up to 17 cards, cash, and receipts, which can be any kind of paper in two large slots.

passport walletCourtesy

Best Passport Wallet

WP Standard Passport Wallet

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: Varies
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Sold in four shades of full-grain leather — Tan, Chocolate, Desert Black and Olive — WP Standard’s Passport Wallet doesn’t have any identifying marks on the front, and only a tiny debossed logo on the back. Monogramming is available for an extra $20, but the $58 wallet as-is is one of my favorites.

Inside, there’s a single slot for your passport, which anchors there using one of its covers. That way, when you open it up, the top of the passport shows — but it can still open, allowing easy access to the pages border officials (and other agents) want to see. With just your passport inside it closes with ease, but it doesn’t feel empty. It’s a passport wallet that works just fine with just a passport inside.

But there’s room for more. If you put your usual billfold — my Comme des Garcons Classic Wallet fits nicely — inside the same way, the passport wallet still closes, thanks to the flexible full-grain leather design. The snap closure adjusts, offering extra space when needed.

Learn more about WP Standard’s Passport wallet in our dedicated review.

  • Material: Leather
  • # of cards: 10
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Made in the US from American leather, Shinola’s slim passport wallet offers space for your travel essentials (and then some) without becoming too bulky. There are five lined card slots, plus a pretty sizable passport sleeve.

  • Material: 10XD
  • No. of cards: 6
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Cut and sewn in Minnesota from vegetable-tanned leather, this passport wallet features three full-length pockets for bills, a notebook or a passport, and two card slots. Red Wing released its line of leather goods in 2017 utilizing a range of leather from its own S.B. Foot Tanning Co. Understated on a whole, the brand’s logo is embossed on the interior of each piece.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 8
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

When you’re on the go, sometimes you need a lot — especially nowadays: vaccine card, passport, ID, cards, cash, maybe even proof of a pair of negative COVID tests. As such, a wallet with a little extra room is warranted. Try Leatherology’s Zip Travel Wallet, which comes with room for all of the above.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 4
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Made in the USA, this wallet features Italian full-grain leather and a unique grip technology that firmly holds your phone without extra bulk. The interior features four card slots and a slot for bills or receipts. (And, it comes in every iPhone size; don’t mind the ancient model.)

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 3
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

This phone wallet has a microfiber lining and chamfered edges. Along with holding your phone, the wallet has space for up to three cards and an extra SIM card. Available in eight colors, it is also backed by a three year warranty.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 2
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Makr’s iPhone Card Sleeve is a minimalist’s dream with a compartment for your phone and a single slot for a few cards or bills. It’s made using vegetable-tanned leather from Wickett & Craig and features an elegant design thanks to its rolled edges and gentle curves.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 15
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

This zip wallet can hold between four and 15 cards, along with coins and folded bills. It has a slot for a SIM card as well, and it is cut from three colors of environmentally certified leather.

“I’ve used this for years, often stuffed to the gills, and it’s virtually unchanged,” our tester, Nick Caruso, says.

  • Material: Leather
  • No. of cards: 10
  • Holds cash: Yes
  • RFID: No

Manufactured in New England, this wallet features vegetable-tanned leather with polished and painted edges. Available in nine colors, the design has a solid-brass YKK-Excella zipper and two exterior slots that can hold up to 10 cards.

, , ,