Side-by-Side Comparison
Smart Cards & RFID
HID Prox & iCLASS vs. MIFARE
Comparing 2 standards across 12 specifications. 12 key differences identified.
Comparing:
HID Prox & iCLASS
MIFARE
HID Prox and iCLASS are proprietary physical access control credentials developed by HID Global. They encompass legacy 125 kHz unencrypted Prox (such as 26-bit Wiegand H10301), 13.56 MHz read/write iCLASS smart cards, and modern Seos microprocessor cards utilizing AES-128 encryption.
MIFARE is a proprietary contactless smart card technology developed by Mikron (now NXP Semiconductors) conforming to ISO/IEC 14443 Type A. Spanning MIFARE Classic, Ultralight, Plus, and DESFire EV1/2/3, it is widely cited by NXP and industry sources as the world's most widely deployed contactless smart card platform for transit ticketing and access control.
Specification Comparison Table
12 Parameters| Parameter / Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Operating Frequencies
|
125 kHz (Prox) / 13.56 MHz (iCLASS / Seos) | — |
|
Common Bit Formats
|
26-bit H10301, 37-bit H10302/H10304, Corporate 1000 | — |
|
Standard Compliance (iCLASS)
|
ISO/IEC 15693 and ISO/IEC 14443-A/B | — |
|
Security Cryptography
|
None (Prox), 64-bit DES (Legacy iCLASS), AES-128 (iCLASS SE / Seos) | — |
|
Reader Interface Protocol
|
Wiegand / OSDP (Open Supervised Device Protocol) | — |
|
Frequency Bands
|
— | 13.56 MHz |
|
Standard Compliance
|
— | ISO/IEC 14443-A (Parts 1–4 for DESFire/Plus) |
|
Communication Rate
|
— | 106 to 848 kbps |
|
Typical Read Range
|
— | 2.5 to 10 cm |
|
Primary Variants
|
— | Classic (1K/4K), Ultralight, Plus, DESFire EV1/EV2/EV3 |
|
Security Ciphers
|
— | Crypto-1 (Classic, Broken), AES-128 (Plus/DESFire), 3DES (DESFire EV1) |
|
Common Criteria Certification
|
— | EAL5+ (DESFire EV2/EV3) |
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