BlueWallet vs Electrum

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

BlueWallet4.2Bitcoin-only

Bitcoin-only phone wallet with real coin control and multisig vaults, whose Lightning side is custodial unless you run the server yourself.

Electrum4.4Bitcoin-only

The oldest bitcoin wallet still in active development, and the one whose users are hunted by a fake-update scam running since December 2018.

Verdict: Electrum

Electrum rates higher on our rubric: 4.4 against 4.2 for BlueWallet.

Criterion: Editorial rating
BlueWallet: 4.2
Electrum: 4.4

BlueWallet and Electrum, 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.

BlueWallet and Electrum compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	BlueWallet	Electrum
Editorial rating	4.2	4.4 (favoured on this row)
Status	Available	Available
Made by	BlueWallet	Electrum Technologies GmbH
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial on-chain, while a Lightning balance is only as self-custodial as the LNDHub server behind it	self-custodial, keys generated and encrypted on your own machine, with transactions checked by SPV
Bitcoin-only	Yes	Yes
Runs on	iOS, Android	Android, Windows, macOS, Linux
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	Talks to public Electrum servers or one you run; Lightning needs an LNDHub server, yours or someone else's	Connects to public Electrum servers or one you run yourself, verifying your transactions by SPV
Released	BlueWallet dates itself to the 2017 fork wars; the iOS and Android apps followed	November 2011, written by Thomas Voegtlin
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

BlueWallet

What works

Bitcoin only, open source and free, from the App Store, Google Play or a direct download
Genuine coin control: label and freeze individual coins, batch sends, and speed up or cancel with RBF and CPFP
Signs for Coldcard, Passport, Jade, Keystone and other PSBT hardware wallets, and runs watch-only so keys never touch the phone
Multisig vaults for larger holdings, documented step by step by the project
Connects to your own Electrum server, so you do not have to hand your addresses to a stranger's
Plausible deniability storage for a forced-disclosure situation

What to watch

A Lightning wallet here is an account on an LNDHub server, and whoever runs it can move those funds
Running your own LNDHub means a VPS or a home node, which is far past what most phone users will do
Lightning funds are not covered by the on-chain recovery phrase and need a separate backup
A hot wallet on a phone, so device malware or an unlocked screen reaches what the app can spend

Electrum

What works

Continuously maintained since November 2011, which nothing else on this list can claim
Lightweight: it checks your transactions by SPV instead of downloading the whole chain
Reproducible builds, signed by several independent builders, with signatures published next to every download
Hardware wallet support for Ledger, Trezor and KeepKey, plus multisig and watch-only cold storage
MIT licensed, and anyone can run the server software it talks to, so no company controls the network
An official Android build on both Google Play and F-Droid

What to watch

Users are the target of a fake-update scam that ZDNet traced to more than 22 million dollars of thefts by October 2020
The interface assumes you already know what a change address and a derivation path are
Windows builds are often flagged by antivirus heuristics, which the project says it cannot do anything about
No iOS version, and no built-in way to buy bitcoin
Two-factor signing runs through a third party, Trustedcoin, rather than the wallet alone

Frequently asked questions

Is BlueWallet or Electrum better?

Electrum rates higher on our rubric: 4.4 against 4.2 for BlueWallet. 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 BlueWallet and Electrum free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: BlueWallet is self-custodial on-chain, while a Lightning balance is only as self-custodial as the LNDHub server behind it; Electrum is self-custodial, keys generated and encrypted on your own machine, with transactions checked by SPV.

Is BlueWallet or Electrum bitcoin-only?

Both are bitcoin-only: neither supports another coin, which is a deliberate design choice for a smaller codebase.

The full reviews: BlueWallet and Electrum, each with its sources, and every wallet we review.

More comparisons

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