Mycelium vs Wallet of Satoshi

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

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

Wallet of Satoshi2.7Bitcoin-onlyWarning

The easiest Lightning wallet to start with, and a custodial one: the company holds your coins, and it has stopped offering that in the US and the EU.

Verdict: Mycelium

Mycelium rates higher on our rubric: 3.7 against 2.7 for Wallet of Satoshi.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Mycelium: 3.7
Wallet of Satoshi: 2.7

Mycelium and Wallet of Satoshi, 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.

Mycelium and Wallet of Satoshi compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Mycelium	Wallet of Satoshi
Editorial rating	3.7 (favoured on this row)	2.7
Status	Available	Caution: see the review
Made by	Mycelium	Living Room of Satoshi Pty Ltd
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial, keys generated and held on the phone, recoverable only from a backup you write down	custodial in its default mode, meaning the company holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial mode where you do
Bitcoin-only	No	Yes
Runs on	iOS, Android	iOS, Android
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	Optional Tor, connection to your own Bitcoin node, NFC, and hardware wallet support for Trezor, Ledger and KeepKey	Not stated
Released	Android on July 1, 2013 and iPhone on December 17, 2014, per WalletScrutiny	The custodial service left the US on November 23, 2023 and the European Union at the turn of 2026
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

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

Wallet of Satoshi

What works

The fastest way onto Lightning there is: no channels, no liquidity management and no node to run
Free Lightning address that reads like an email, so anyone can pay you without scanning a code
Pays Lightning invoices and on-chain bitcoin addresses from the same box, detecting which you pasted
A self-custodial mode is offered everywhere, including in regions where the custodial one is not
No breach of its custodial infrastructure has been publicly reported

What to watch

Custodial in its default mode, so the company can freeze, lose or stop serving your balance
Left the US market on November 23, 2023 and has not announced a return
Withdrew the custodial service across the European Union at the turn of 2026, pushing EU users into self-custody
No published country list, so which mode you get is decided by the app rather than by a page you can read first
In-app buying runs through third-party partners whose country coverage changes without the wallet saying anything

Frequently asked questions

Is Mycelium or Wallet of Satoshi better?

Mycelium rates higher on our rubric: 3.7 against 2.7 for Wallet of Satoshi. 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 Mycelium and Wallet of Satoshi free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Mycelium is self-custodial, keys generated and held on the phone, recoverable only from a backup you write down; Wallet of Satoshi is custodial in its default mode, meaning the company holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial mode where you do.

Is Mycelium or Wallet of Satoshi bitcoin-only?

Wallet of Satoshi is bitcoin-only; Mycelium supports other assets too. Bitcoin first, with Ethereum and ERC-20 accounts in the same app

Does Mycelium or Wallet of Satoshi carry a warning?

Wallet of Satoshi: Wallet of Satoshi pulled its app from US app stores and stopped serving US customers on November 23, 2023, then withdrew its custodial Lightning service across the European Union at the turn of 2026, as the MiCA transition periods and the DAC8 reporting rules closed in on custodial providers. EU users are offered the self-custodial mode instead. Wherever the custodial mode is still available, the company holds the keys, which is the risk to weigh before you put money in it.

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

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