Sparrow Wallet vs Wasabi Wallet

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

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

Wasabi Wallet3.6Bitcoin-onlyWarning

Still a working bitcoin wallet, but the coinjoin coordinator that made its name was switched off by zkSNACKs on June 1, 2024.

Verdict: Sparrow Wallet

Sparrow Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 4.7 against 3.6 for Wasabi Wallet.

Criterion: Editorial rating
Sparrow Wallet: 4.7
Wasabi Wallet: 3.6

Sparrow Wallet and Wasabi 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.

Sparrow Wallet and Wasabi Wallet compared fact by fact from their reviews; a check marks the side a decidable criterion favours.
Fact	Sparrow Wallet	Wasabi Wallet
Editorial rating	4.7 (favoured on this row)	3.6
Status	Available	Caution: see the review
Made by	Sparrow Wallet	zkSNACKs
Price	Free download	Free download
Who holds the keys	self-custodial, keys in an encrypted file on your own computer or on a hardware signer, with no account anywhere	self-custodial, keys generated and stored on your own computer, never held by zkSNACKs
Bitcoin-only	Yes	Yes
Runs on	Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux
Screen	Not stated	Not stated
Connectivity	Public Electrum servers, your own Electrum server, or Bitcoin Core, with Tor built in	All traffic over Tor by default, compact block filters instead of a server that learns your addresses, and hardware signing through HWI for Trezor, Coldcard, Ledger, Blockstream Jade and BitBox02
Released	Not stated	2018; the download page serves version 2.8.1 for Windows, macOS and Linux
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

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

Wasabi Wallet

What works

Bitcoin only and open source under an MIT license, with a public repository that is still actively developed
Self-custodial: keys are generated and stored on your own computer, and zkSNACKs never held funds
Every connection runs over Tor by default, and compact block filters mean no server learns which addresses are yours
Hardware wallet signing through HWI for Trezor, Coldcard, Ledger, Blockstream Jade and BitBox02
Full coin control, transaction labeling and privacy suggestions that name who will learn about a payment
Coinjoin is still in the software: you add a third-party coordinator in place of the one zkSNACKs ran

What to watch

zkSNACKs switched off its coinjoin coordinator on June 1, 2024, so the feature Wasabi was known for no longer works out of the box
Choosing and vetting a third-party coordinator is now your problem, and each sets its own fees and terms
Desktop only: Wasabi's own site states it is not available on mobile
Trezor Suite coinjoin and BTCPay Server integrations that used the same coordinator broke on the same day
Silent payments are send-only: Wasabi cannot yet generate or receive to a silent payment address

Frequently asked questions

Is Sparrow Wallet or Wasabi Wallet better?

Sparrow Wallet rates higher on our rubric: 4.7 against 3.6 for Wasabi 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 Sparrow Wallet and Wasabi Wallet free?

Yes, both are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: Sparrow Wallet is self-custodial, keys in an encrypted file on your own computer or on a hardware signer, with no account anywhere; Wasabi Wallet is self-custodial, keys generated and stored on your own computer, never held by zkSNACKs.

Is Sparrow Wallet or Wasabi Wallet bitcoin-only?

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

Does Sparrow Wallet or Wasabi Wallet carry a warning?

Wasabi Wallet: zkSNACKs announced on May 2, 2024, days after US prosecutors charged the founders of Samourai Wallet, that it would discontinue the coinjoin coordination service behind Wasabi's headline privacy feature, and switched it off on June 1, 2024. The wallet is still developed and still works as a self-custodial, bitcoin-only desktop wallet, and coinjoin remains in the software, but you now have to find and trust a third-party coordinator to use it.

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

More comparisons

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