Skip to content
buybitcoinsmart
Menu

Atomic Wallet vs Phoenix

Comparing
two wallets
Decided by
Editorial rating
Last reviewed
2026-08-26
Atomic Wallet1.2Warning

Do not keep bitcoin here: over 5,500 wallets were emptied in June 2023 and the cause was never published.

Phoenix4.0Bitcoin-only

A real Lightning node on your phone from the team behind Eclair, with a published fee table and a privacy tradeoff ACINQ states outright.

Verdict: Phoenix

Phoenix rates higher on our rubric: 4.0 against 1.2 for Atomic Wallet.

Criterion
Editorial rating
Atomic Wallet
1.2
Phoenix
4.0

Atomic Wallet and Phoenix, 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.

Atomic Wallet and Phoenix compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
FactAtomic WalletPhoenix
Editorial rating1.24.0 (favoured on this row)
StatusCaution: see the reviewAvailable
Made byAtomic WalletACINQ
PriceFree downloadFree download
Who holds the keysself-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted with your passwordself-custodial, a real Lightning node running on your phone behind a 12 word seed
Bitcoin-onlyNoYes
Runs oniOS, Android, Windows, macOS, LinuxiOS, Android
ScreenNot statedNot stated
ConnectivityNot statedLightning only, connecting to ACINQ's nodes, with the option to watch the chain through your own Electrum server
Released2017December 2019, alongside ACINQ's Eclair node implementation
Countries on the maker's listNo published listNo published list
Last reviewed2026-08-262026-08-26

Pros and cons, side by side

Atomic Wallet

What works

  • Keys are held on your device, so a working install still lets you move your own coins out
  • Desktop builds are published for Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora, with a hashsum check for the download
  • One app covers bitcoin and more than a thousand other assets, which is why so many people kept so much in it

What to watch

  • More than 5,500 wallets were drained on June 2 and 3, 2023, for over $100 million by Elliptic's count
  • Atomic has never published a confirmed technical cause, offering four possibilities and picking none
  • No compensation has been paid to the people who lost money
  • Its first public statements put the damage at under 0.1% and then under 1% of users, which the on-chain evidence contradicted
  • The first class action was thrown out in 2024 on jurisdiction rather than on the facts, and a second is now pending in California
  • The homepage says nothing about the incident and still runs testimonials from a man who died in 2021

Phoenix

What works

  • A real self-custodial Lightning node on the phone, not an account on somebody's server
  • Fees published as a table on ACINQ's own site: 0.4% plus 4 sat to send, free to receive when you have liquidity
  • Standard BIP39 seed on a BIP84 path, recoverable in Electrum if ACINQ ever disappeared
  • Built by ACINQ, which develops the Eclair implementation and runs a large routing node
  • Rotating taproot receive addresses, with swaps that look like ordinary transactions on chain

What to watch

  • ACINQ's own FAQ says Phoenix offers no privacy advantage over a custodial wallet and that ACINQ knows the destination and amount of payments
  • Receiving without enough inbound liquidity costs 1% plus mining fees, and a new channel costs 1,000 sat
  • No on-chain balance, which makes it a spending wallet rather than somewhere to park savings
  • Recovering from a force close takes roughly 720 blocks, about five days
  • Wake-up notifications rely on Google services, so GrapheneOS users need the sandboxed Play Services app
  • Was off US app stores from May 3, 2024 until some point in 2025, which is why some reviews still call it unavailable there

Frequently asked questions

Is Atomic Wallet or Phoenix better?

Phoenix rates higher on our rubric: 4.0 against 1.2 for Atomic Wallet. 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 Atomic Wallet and Phoenix free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Atomic Wallet is self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted with your password; Phoenix is self-custodial, a real Lightning node running on your phone behind a 12 word seed.

Is Atomic Wallet or Phoenix bitcoin-only?

Phoenix is bitcoin-only; Atomic Wallet supports other assets too. Bitcoin plus more than 1,000 other coins and tokens, by Atomic's own count

Does Atomic Wallet or Phoenix carry a warning?

Atomic Wallet: On June 2 and 3, 2023, more than 5,500 Atomic Wallet users had their balances emptied in a single coordinated event. Elliptic put the total above $100 million and attributed it to North Korea's Lazarus Group. Atomic Wallet has never published a confirmed technical cause and no compensation has been paid. The first US class action was dismissed in September 2024 for lack of personal jurisdiction rather than on the facts, and a second was filed in California in June 2025. The company's own homepage carries no mention of any of it.

The full reviews: Atomic Wallet and Phoenix, each with its sources, and every wallet we review.

More comparisons

Every other head-to-head Atomic Wallet or Phoenix appears in.