Phoenix vs Sparrow Wallet
Phoenix has the higher grade on both axes: Safety 8.5 against 7.0, and Privacy 8.6 against 8.5.
Phoenix
Self-custodial mobile Lightning wallet from ACINQ with automatic channels and swaps
Privacy
8.6/ 10
Excellent
Safety
8.5/ 10
Excellent
ID never required KYC 0 Docs reviewed Full review →
Sparrow Wallet
Desktop Bitcoin wallet focused on transparency, coin control and hardware wallets
Privacy
8.5/ 10
Excellent
Safety
7.0/ 10
Strong
ID never required KYC 0 Docs reviewed Full review →
Side by side
| Phoenix | Sparrow Wallet | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Wallets | Wallets |
| KYC policy | ID never required | ID never required |
| Custody | Non Custodial | Non Custodial |
| Sign-up | No account needed | No account needed |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Tor onion address | No | No |
| Coins | BTC | BTC |
| Fees | Sending via Lightning 0.4% + 4 sat; receiving with existing liquidity free; receiving with insufficient liquidity or requesting liquidity 1% + mining fees; channel creation 1,000 sat; on-chain sends pay user-chosen mining fees. | Not published |
| Limits | By default incoming payments are rejected if the fee exceeds 5,000 sat or 50% of the amount (adjustable). | Not published |
| Founded | 2019 | Not published |
| Jurisdiction | France | Decentralised / none |
| Incidents on record | 0 | 0 |
| Published tests (180 days) | 0 | 0 |
Only Phoenix
Accepts LightningLegal entity disclosed5+ years operating
Both
No registrationNo email neededNo phone neededOpen sourceNon-custodial
Only Sparrow Wallet
Nothing distinct
Where they sit among wallets
Questions
Is Phoenix or Sparrow Wallet safer?
Phoenix has the higher Safety grade: Phoenix 8.5, Sparrow Wallet 7.0, out of 10.
Does Phoenix or Sparrow Wallet require KYC?
Phoenix is KYC level 0 (ID never required). Sparrow Wallet is KYC level 0 (ID never required).
Which has more incidents on record?
Phoenix has 0 and Sparrow Wallet has 0 documented incidents in the registry.