Aqua vs Bitcoin Core

Comparing: two wallets
Decided by: Editorial rating
Last reviewed: 2026-08-25

A self-custodial Bitcoin, Liquid and Tether USDt wallet built for people who need cheap dollars on a phone, not only bitcoin.

Bitcoin Core4.7Bitcoin-only

The reference implementation, and the only wallet here that checks the rules itself instead of trusting somebody else's server.

Verdict: Bitcoin Core

Bitcoin Core rates higher on our rubric: 4.7 against 3.6 for Aqua.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Aqua: 3.6
Bitcoin Core: 4.7

Aqua and Bitcoin Core, fact by fact

Every row is from the two reviews as of their review dates, with sources on each. A check marks the side a decidable criterion favours; rows without one are information, not a score.

Aqua and Bitcoin Core compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Aqua	Bitcoin Core
Editorial rating	3.6	4.7 (favoured on this row)
Status	Available	Available
Made by	JAN3	Bitcoin Core project
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial, with the seed stored on your device in Keychain on iOS or EncryptedSharedPreferences on Android	self-custodial, keys in a wallet file on a machine that validates every block for itself
Bitcoin-only	No	Yes
Runs on	iOS, Android	Windows, macOS, Linux
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	On-chain bitcoin, the Liquid Network, and Lightning through submarine swaps rather than channels of its own	Validates every block itself over the peer-to-peer network, so no third-party server learns your addresses
Released	2024, by JAN3	January 2009, as the original bitcoin client
Countries on the maker's list	No published list	No published list
Last reviewed	2026-08-25	2026-08-25

Pros and cons, side by side

Aqua

What works

Self-custodial, with the seed kept in the phone's own secure storage and no documents required to open a wallet
Bitcoin, Liquid and Tether USDt in one app, which is the point for anyone who is paid or saves in dollars
Aqua's own figures put a $100 USDt transfer at three cents over Liquid against eight dollars over Ethereum
Network fees on USDt can be paid in USDt, so there is no separate gas token to hold
Replace-by-fee support, so a stuck transaction can be bumped instead of waited out
Client source published on GitHub, and Aqua says it collects no personal data or transaction logs

What to watch

Not bitcoin only: a large part of the app is about stablecoins
Liquid balances are secured by the Liquid federation rather than by bitcoin's own mining
Lightning runs through third-party submarine swaps rather than channels Aqua manages
USDt transfers over Tron or Ethereum depend on SideShift's liquidity, as Aqua's own FAQ says
In-app bitcoin purchases are run by outside providers, so the country rules and the support queue are theirs
A prepaid card and lending are advertised as coming rather than shipped

Bitcoin Core

What works

Validates every rule for itself, so your balance does not depend on someone else's server being honest
Bitcoin only, with the keys in a wallet file on your own machine and no account anywhere
Every vulnerability the project has fixed is published, dated and classified on its own advisory page
Free and open source, maintained by a large contributor base rather than by a company
Doubles as the private backend for friendlier wallets such as Sparrow
Pruned mode still validates every block while keeping a far smaller amount of data on disk

What to watch

The first sync downloads and verifies the whole chain, which costs hours and a lot of disk space
Desktop or server only: there is no phone app
A plain wallet interface with no fiat on-ramp, no price display and no hand holding
Running an old version leaves you exposed to bugs the advisory page has already described

Frequently asked questions

Is Aqua or Bitcoin Core better?

Bitcoin Core rates higher on our rubric: 4.7 against 3.6 for Aqua. The rating follows the product rubric published on our about page; the rows above set custody, price and platforms side by side so you can check it.

Are Aqua and Bitcoin Core free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Aqua is self-custodial, with the seed stored on your device in Keychain on iOS or EncryptedSharedPreferences on Android; Bitcoin Core is self-custodial, keys in a wallet file on a machine that validates every block for itself.

Is Aqua or Bitcoin Core bitcoin-only?

Bitcoin Core is bitcoin-only; Aqua supports other assets too. Multi-asset: bitcoin on chain, Liquid bitcoin, and Tether USDt on Liquid and several other chains

The full reviews: Aqua and Bitcoin Core, each with its sources, and every wallet we review.

More comparisons

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