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Aqua vs Mycelium

Comparing
two wallets
Decided by
Editorial rating
Last reviewed
2026-08-25
Aqua3.6

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

Mycelium3.7

One of the oldest bitcoin wallets still shipping, strong on Android with deep UTXO control, and an iPhone build nobody has verified.

Verdict: Mycelium

Mycelium rates higher on our rubric: 3.7 against 3.6 for Aqua.

Criterion
Editorial rating
Aqua
3.6
Mycelium
3.7

Aqua and Mycelium, 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 Mycelium compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
FactAquaMycelium
Editorial rating3.63.7 (favoured on this row)
StatusAvailableAvailable
Made byJAN3Mycelium
PriceFree downloadFree download
Who holds the keysself-custodial, with the seed stored on your device in Keychain on iOS or EncryptedSharedPreferences on Androidself-custodial, keys generated and held on the phone, recoverable only from a backup you write down
Bitcoin-onlyNoNo
Runs oniOS, AndroidiOS, Android
ScreenNot statedNot stated
ConnectivityOn-chain bitcoin, the Liquid Network, and Lightning through submarine swaps rather than channels of its ownOptional Tor, connection to your own Bitcoin node, NFC, and hardware wallet support for Trezor, Ledger and KeepKey
Released2024, by JAN3Android on July 1, 2013 and iPhone on December 17, 2014, per WalletScrutiny
Countries on the maker's listNo published listNo published list
Last reviewed2026-08-252026-08-25

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

Mycelium

What works

  • Shipping on Android since July 1, 2013, one of the longest unbroken runs of any mobile bitcoin wallet
  • Real UTXO control on a phone: unspent output visibility, fee bumping, watch-only and single-address savings accounts
  • Passed all seven of WalletScrutiny's wallet tests, including public source code and an unobfuscated binary
  • Hardware wallet support for Trezor, Ledger and KeepKey, plus spending directly from paper wallets
  • Direct APK download, an Obtainium link and a published signing certificate, so Google Play is not the only way in
  • Optional Tor and your own node, with each third-party service able to be turned off on its own

What to watch

  • The iPhone app trails badly: WalletScrutiny lists 3.22.0.2 for Android against 2.10 for iPhone
  • Mycelium's iOS source repository on GitHub is archived, with no commits since June 2024
  • WalletScrutiny says no iOS build has ever been reproduced, so the reproducibility claim covers Android and not iPhone
  • WalletScrutiny discloses that its own authors have contributed to Mycelium, so its verdict is not fully independent
  • No longer bitcoin only: Ethereum and ERC-20 accounts add code a bitcoin-only wallet does not carry
  • Dated interface, and support runs through a single email address with no live channel

Frequently asked questions

Is Aqua or Mycelium better?

Mycelium rates higher on our rubric: 3.7 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 Mycelium 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; Mycelium is self-custodial, keys generated and held on the phone, recoverable only from a backup you write down.

Is Aqua or Mycelium bitcoin-only?

Neither: both support assets beyond bitcoin. Aqua: Multi-asset: bitcoin on chain, Liquid bitcoin, and Tether USDt on Liquid and several other chains. Mycelium: Bitcoin first, with Ethereum and ERC-20 accounts in the same app.

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

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