Software bitcoin wallets: 20 reviewed
- Top rated
- Bitcoin Core 4.7
- Bitcoin-only
- 8 of 20
- With a warning
- 3
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-26
Bitcoin Core is the highest-rated of the 20 software wallets we review, at 4.7 out of 5, and is free to download. 8 of the 20 are bitcoin-only, 3 carry a warning, and 3 more are no longer sold. Ratings follow the product rubric on our about page, and the order below is by rating with unrated wallets last. Every fact here is on the linked review, with its sources.
The 20 software wallets, ranked by rating
Highest editorial rating first. A warning pill means the review carries a dated status note worth reading before you trust the wallet with money.
- 1
The reference implementation, and the only wallet here that checks the rules itself instead of trusting somebody else's server.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys in a wallet file on a machine that validates every block for itself
- Runs on
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- 2
The desktop wallet to coordinate hardware signers and multisig from, with a verification tool that also checks other projects' releases.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys in an encrypted file on your own computer or on a hardware signer, with no account anywhere
- Runs on
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- 3
The oldest bitcoin wallet still in active development, and the one whose users are hunted by a fake-update scam running since December 2018.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated and encrypted on your own machine, with transactions checked by SPV
- Runs on
- Android, Windows, macOS, Linux
- 4
Bitcoin-only phone wallet with real coin control and multisig vaults, whose Lightning side is custodial unless you run the server yourself.
- Keys
- self-custodial on-chain, while a Lightning balance is only as self-custodial as the LNDHub server behind it
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 5
A real Lightning node on your phone from the team behind Eclair, with a published fee table and a privacy tradeoff ACINQ states outright.
- Keys
- self-custodial, a real Lightning node running on your phone behind a 12 word seed
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 6
On-chain and Lightning in one balance behind a 2-of-2 multisig, backed up by an Emergency Kit file rather than twelve words.
- Keys
- self-custodial, a 2-of-2 multisig where your phone holds one key and your Emergency Kit holds both
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 7
Blockstream's own Bitcoin and Liquid wallet, whose 2FA cosigning multisig is its reason to exist and has been closed to new accounts since May 2025.
- Keys
- self-custodial, either single signature on your device or a 2-of-2 where Blockstream cosigns after your two-factor check
- Runs on
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux
- 8
One of the oldest bitcoin wallets still shipping, strong on Android with deep UTXO control, and an iPhone build nobody has verified.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated and held on the phone, recoverable only from a backup you write down
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 9
A self-custodial Bitcoin, Liquid and Tether USDt wallet built for people who need cheap dollars on a phone, not only bitcoin.
- Keys
- self-custodial, with the seed stored on your device in Keychain on iOS or EncryptedSharedPreferences on Android
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 10
Still a working bitcoin wallet, but the coinjoin coordinator that made its name was switched off by zkSNACKs on June 1, 2024.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated and stored on your own computer, never held by zkSNACKs
- Runs on
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- 11
The wallet with no seed phrase: two MPC shares replace the private key, which removes one risk and adds a dependency.
- Keys
- self-custodial MPC, with no seed phrase: one secret share on your phone, one on Zengo's server, never combined
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 12
Open source Monero-first wallet with real bitcoin privacy tools, carrying a 2021 key generation bug that is still costing people coins.
- Keys
- self-custodial, seed and keys generated and stored on your own device, with no account and no telemetry
- Runs on
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux
- 13
Open source mobile wallet that trades the seed phrase for a username and password, and published every detail of the one time it failed.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys encrypted on your device under your password before any backup leaves it
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 14
Coinbase's self-custody wallet is now Base App, and the product has moved its center of gravity to Base.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys held on your device, unlike the custodial Coinbase.com exchange account
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 15
A capable multi-platform wallet whose 2020 domain hijack exposed the real weakness: a login flow built on uploading your backup.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted under a password you choose
- Runs on
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser extension
- 16
MetaMask holds real bitcoin since December 15, 2025, but it is still an Ethereum wallet with a BTC address attached.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated on your device from a 12 word Secret Recovery Phrase Consensys never sees
- Runs on
- iOS, Android, Browser extension
- 17
Use the phone app, think twice about the extension: an attacker published a malicious build of it on December 24, 2025.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated on your own device and never held by Trust Wallet
- Runs on
- iOS, Android, Browser extension
- 18
The best looking wallet on this list, from an NYSE listed company, with closed source apps and swap rates starting at 0.5%.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated and encrypted on your own device
- Runs on
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, Browser extension
- 19
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.
- Keys
- custodial in its default mode, meaning the company holds the keys, with a separate self-custodial mode where you do
- Runs on
- iOS, Android
- 20
Do not keep bitcoin here: over 5,500 wallets were emptied in June 2023 and the cause was never published.
- Keys
- self-custodial, keys generated on your device and encrypted with your password
- Runs on
- iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux
Side by side
The same 20 software wallets plus the 3 no longer sold, sortable by any column. Price is blank for software because a download has no price to publish.
| Review | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aqua | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Atomic Wallet | Software | You | No | Caution | Free download | Review |
| Bitcoin Core | Software | You | Yes | Available | Free download | Review |
| Blockstream Green | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| BlueWallet | Software | You | Yes | Available | Free download | Review |
| BRD | Software | You | No | No longer sold | Free download | Review |
| Cake Wallet | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Coinbase Wallet | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Edge | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Electrum | Software | You | Yes | Available | Free download | Review |
| Exodus | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Guarda Wallet | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Jaxx Liberty | Software | You | No | No longer sold | Free download | Review |
| MetaMask | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Muun | Software | You | Yes | Available | Free download | Review |
| Mycelium | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Phoenix | Software | You | Yes | Available | Free download | Review |
| Samourai Wallet | Software | You | Yes | No longer sold | Free download | Review |
| Sparrow Wallet | Software | You | Yes | Available | Free download | Review |
| Trust Wallet | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
| Wallet of Satoshi | Software | Company by default | Yes | Caution | Free download | Review |
| Wasabi Wallet | Software | You | Yes | Caution | Free download | Review |
| Zengo | Software | You | No | Available | Free download | Review |
Software bitcoin wallets that are no longer sold
Kept for anyone still searching for them. Each page says what happened, with dates, and names something that still works.
Narrow it down
The other hubs, with how many of these 20 each one also holds.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best software bitcoin wallet?
Bitcoin Core, rated 4.7 out of 5, the highest score among the 20 software wallets we review on the product rubric published on our about page. It is free to download. Custody: self-custodial, keys in a wallet file on a machine that validates every block for itself. Sparrow Wallet is next at 4.7.
Are there bitcoin-only software wallets?
Yes: Bitcoin Core, Sparrow Wallet, Electrum, BlueWallet, Phoenix, Muun, Wasabi Wallet and Wallet of Satoshi, which support no other coin. A smaller codebase and no altcoin features is a deliberate design choice, and the bitcoin-only hub compares every wallet that makes it.
Are software wallets free?
All 20 we review are free to download. What differs is who holds the keys: each review states the custody model in one clause, and one widely used wallet here is fully custodial, which makes it an account rather than a wallet.
Which software wallets 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. 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. Atomic Wallet: On June 2 and 3, 2023, more than 5,500 Atomic Wallet users had their balances emptied in a single coordinated event. Each review carries the full note with sources.
Which software wallets are no longer available?
BRD (replaced by the Coinbase Wallet), Jaxx Liberty, Samourai Wallet. Their pages say what happened, with dates, and name wallets that still work.
Every wallet we review compares the whole roster, hardware and software, with what each status means.