Cake Wallet vs Coinbase Wallet

Comparing: two wallets
Decided by: Editorial rating
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26

Open source Monero-first wallet with real bitcoin privacy tools, carrying a 2021 key generation bug that is still costing people coins.

Coinbase Wallet3.1

Coinbase's self-custody wallet is now Base App, and the product has moved its center of gravity to Base.

Verdict: Cake Wallet

Cake Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 3.3 against 3.1 for Coinbase Wallet.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Cake Wallet: 3.3
Coinbase Wallet: 3.1

Cake Wallet and Coinbase Wallet, 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.

Cake Wallet and Coinbase Wallet compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Cake Wallet	Coinbase Wallet
Editorial rating	3.3 (favoured on this row)	3.1
Status	Available	Available
Made by	Cake Labs	Coinbase
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial, seed and keys generated and stored on your own device, with no account and no telemetry	self-custodial, keys held on your device, unlike the custodial Coinbase.com exchange account
Bitcoin-only	No	No
Runs on	iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux	iOS, Android
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	Tor for all traffic, connection to your own node, Ledger hardware signing, and silent payments plus PayJoin on the bitcoin side	Not stated
Released	2018, launched as the first open-source Monero wallet on iOS	2018, relaunched under the Base App name
Countries on the maker's list	No published list	No published list
Last reviewed	2026-08-25	2026-08-26

Pros and cons, side by side

Cake Wallet

What works

Open source under an MIT license, with a public repository that is actively developed
Self-custodial with no account and no KYC, and, in Cake's words, zero data collection or telemetry
Genuine bitcoin privacy tooling: silent payments and PayJoin, plus Tor for all traffic and your own node
Handles Monero properly, which almost no other multi-asset wallet does
Ledger hardware wallet support, plus Cake's own two-factor option and biometric unlock
Reachable outside the app stores: direct APK, Accrescent, and Windows and Linux builds

What to watch

Bitcoin wallets created before v4.1.7 are permanently unsafe and have to be replaced, not just updated
The Milk Sad researchers traced sweeps of those weak wallets continuing into 2024, three years after the warning
The flaw was in Cake's own key generation code rather than a third-party library, and it ran through 2020 and 2021
Multi-asset by design, so it carries far more chains and far more code than a bitcoin-only wallet
Monero's privacy guarantees and much more transparent chains share one app, which takes care to use well

Coinbase Wallet

What works

Genuinely self-custodial and separate from the custodial Coinbase.com exchange account
Backed by a large listed company with a real security team and a bug bounty
Apple Pay deposits and a familiar trading interface for people already using Coinbase
Holds bitcoin alongside Ethereum, Solana and Base assets in one app

What to watch

The product has been rebranded as Base App, so most reviews and guides describe an app that no longer looks like this
Built around Base and trading rather than around bitcoin, with no Lightning and no coin control
coinbase.com/legal/wallet now returns a 404, so there is no wallet-specific terms document to read
A hot wallet on a phone, with no secure element
The May 2025 support contractor breach put real customer names and addresses in criminal hands, which fuels convincing impersonation

Frequently asked questions

Is Cake Wallet or Coinbase Wallet better?

Cake Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 3.3 against 3.1 for Coinbase 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 Cake Wallet and Coinbase Wallet free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Cake Wallet is self-custodial, seed and keys generated and stored on your own device, with no account and no telemetry; Coinbase Wallet is self-custodial, keys held on your device, unlike the custodial Coinbase.com exchange account.

Is Cake Wallet or Coinbase Wallet bitcoin-only?

Neither: both support assets beyond bitcoin. Cake Wallet: Multi-asset: Monero, bitcoin, Lightning, Litecoin, Ethereum, Solana, Zcash, Bitcoin Cash and more. Coinbase Wallet: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Base network assets, per the app's own sign-in page.

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

More comparisons

Every other head-to-head Cake Wallet or Coinbase Wallet appears in.