Above Phone vs Shopstr
Shopstr has the higher grade on both axes: Safety 7.0 against 5.5, and Privacy 8.0 against 5.4.
Above Phone
Shop for de-Googled phones, Linux laptops, data eSIMs and a privacy app suite
Privacy
5.4/ 10
Caution
Safety
5.5/ 10
Fair
ID in rare cases KYC 2 Docs reviewed Full review →
Shopstr
Open-source Nostr marketplace with self-custodial Lightning and Cashu payments
Privacy
8.0/ 10
Strong
Safety
7.0/ 10
Strong
ID never required KYC 0 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| Above Phone | Shopstr | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Marketplaces | Marketplaces |
| KYC policy | ID in rare cases | ID never required |
| Custody | N/A | Non Custodial |
| Sign-up | Not published | No account needed |
| Open source | No | Yes |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | Not published | BTC |
| Pay with | Crypto | Crypto, Lightning |
| Fees | Refunds may withhold a 3% processing fee, or 5% for cryptocurrency orders | No mandatory platform fee; sellers may set an optional donation rate |
| Limits | Ships to the US, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and Singapore | Not published |
| Jurisdiction | United States (Wyoming) | Decentralised / none |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Above Phone
Legal entity disclosedRuns an affiliate programme
Both
Nothing distinct
Only Shopstr
No email neededNo phone neededAccepts LightningOpen sourceNon-custodial
Where they sit among marketplaces
Questions
Is Above Phone or Shopstr safer?
Shopstr has the higher Safety grade: Above Phone 5.5, Shopstr 7.0, out of 10.
Does Above Phone or Shopstr require KYC?
Above Phone is KYC level 2 (ID in rare cases). Shopstr is KYC level 0 (ID never required).
Which has more incidents on record?
Above Phone has 0 and Shopstr has 0 documented incidents in the registry.