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Phoenix vs Sparrow Wallet

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

Sparrow Wallet4.7Bitcoin-only

The desktop wallet to coordinate hardware signers and multisig from, with a verification tool that also checks other projects' releases.

Verdict: Sparrow Wallet

Sparrow Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 4.7 against 4.0 for Phoenix.

Criterion
Editorial rating
Phoenix
4.0
Sparrow Wallet
4.7

Phoenix and Sparrow 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.

Phoenix and Sparrow Wallet compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
FactPhoenixSparrow Wallet
Editorial rating4.04.7 (favoured on this row)
StatusAvailableAvailable
Made byACINQSparrow Wallet
PriceFree downloadFree download
Who holds the keysself-custodial, a real Lightning node running on your phone behind a 12 word seedself-custodial, keys in an encrypted file on your own computer or on a hardware signer, with no account anywhere
Bitcoin-onlyYesYes
Runs oniOS, AndroidWindows, macOS, Linux
ScreenNot statedNot stated
ConnectivityLightning only, connecting to ACINQ's nodes, with the option to watch the chain through your own Electrum serverPublic Electrum servers, your own Electrum server, or Bitcoin Core, with Tor built in
ReleasedDecember 2019, alongside ACINQ's Eclair node implementationNot stated
Countries on the maker's listNo published listNo published list
Last reviewed2026-08-262026-08-25

Pros and cons, side by side

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

Sparrow Wallet

What works

  • Bitcoin only, open source and free, with no account and no server holding anything of yours
  • First-class multisig: build a quorum across several hardware signers and keep the descriptor
  • Works with hardware wallets over USB or fully air-gapped by QR code or SD card, with complete PSBT support
  • Full coin control and labels on every transaction, input and output, plus a transaction editor that shows the raw bytes
  • Every release ships a signed manifest, and Sparrow verifies the next download, Bitcoin Core and hardware wallet firmware from inside the app
  • Connects to your own Electrum server or Bitcoin Core, with Tor built in

What to watch

  • Desktop only: there is no iOS or Android app
  • The UTXO detail and the transaction editor are the point, and they are a lot to meet on day one
  • No built-in way to buy bitcoin, so the coins have to arrive from an exchange or a peer
  • Effectively a single maintainer, which is a concentration risk whatever the quality of the code

Frequently asked questions

Is Phoenix or Sparrow Wallet better?

Sparrow Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 4.7 against 4.0 for Phoenix. 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 Phoenix and Sparrow Wallet free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Phoenix is self-custodial, a real Lightning node running on your phone behind a 12 word seed; Sparrow Wallet is self-custodial, keys in an encrypted file on your own computer or on a hardware signer, with no account anywhere.

Is Phoenix or Sparrow Wallet bitcoin-only?

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

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

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