Guarda Wallet vs Mycelium

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

A capable multi-platform wallet whose 2020 domain hijack exposed the real weakness: a login flow built on uploading your backup.

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 3.0 for Guarda Wallet.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Guarda Wallet: 3.0
Mycelium: 3.7

Guarda Wallet 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.

Guarda Wallet and Mycelium compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Guarda Wallet	Mycelium
Editorial rating	3.0	3.7 (favoured on this row)
Status	Available	Available
Made by	Guarda	Mycelium
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted under a password you choose	self-custodial, keys generated and held on the phone, recoverable only from a backup you write down
Bitcoin-only	No	No
Runs on	iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser extension	iOS, Android
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	Not stated	Optional Tor, connection to your own Bitcoin node, NFC, and hardware wallet support for Trezor, Ledger and KeepKey
Released	2017	Android on July 1, 2013 and iPhone on December 17, 2014, per WalletScrutiny
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

Guarda Wallet

What works

Guarda's CEO published a dated, detailed account of the 2020 attack, including the registrar's own logs
Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, a web app and a Chrome extension
Keys are generated locally and encrypted under your own password, and Guarda never holds them
Staking on 14 networks, multisig support and 24/7 live support, per Guarda's own site
Buying built in with cards and Apple Pay across a wide asset range

What to watch

The web and extension flow involves uploading your backup file, which is precisely what the 2020 phishing page was built to collect
The 2020 breakdown came through a domain registrar account, a dependency Guarda does not control and cannot audit
Third party perpetual futures and prediction markets now sit inside the wallet, which is more moving parts than holding bitcoin needs
The user, token and blockchain counts are Guarda's own figures, published on its own homepage
A hot wallet with no hardware signing of its own

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 Guarda Wallet or Mycelium better?

Mycelium rates higher on our rubric: 3.7 against 3.0 for Guarda 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 Guarda Wallet and Mycelium free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Guarda Wallet is self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted under a password you choose; Mycelium is self-custodial, keys generated and held on the phone, recoverable only from a backup you write down.

Is Guarda Wallet or Mycelium bitcoin-only?

Neither: both support assets beyond bitcoin. Guarda Wallet: Bitcoin plus more than 70 blockchains, by Guarda's own count. Mycelium: Bitcoin first, with Ethereum and ERC-20 accounts in the same app.

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

More comparisons

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