Phoenix Wallet vs Proton Wallet
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Phoenix Wallet
This app offers a fast, easy, and secure way to manage Bitcoin. It leverages the Lightning Network for near-instantaneous payments with minimal fees, making it ideal for everyday transactions like buying coffee. It's a non-custodial, open-source wallet designed for user-friendliness.
- Instant Bitcoin payments
- Minimal transaction fees
- Secure Bitcoin storage
- Automatic Lightning channel management
- Non-custodial wallet
- Open source
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Phoenix makes using bitcoin easy, fast and safe. Payments are nearly instantaneous, and fees are minimal. You can use it to send payments (e.g. buy a cup of coffee), receive payments, and store your bitcoin safely for day-to-day spending. The bitcoin lightning network means faster payments and smaller fees. Lightning is 100% bitcoin - an open standardized payments layer, engineered to improve speed while maintaining security and decentralization. And Phoenix makes it possible for everyone to use. Lightning channels are managed for you automatically. And inbound liquidity is automatically handled too. If you don't know what any of that means, then this is the wallet for you! Phoenix is a non-custodial wallet, and is fully open source. It was created by ACINQ, one of the pioneering companies in the bitcoin lightning network. And the same company that runs the largest lightning node in the world. Bitcoin is for everyone. Enjoy.
Proton Wallet
This app provides a secure and user-friendly way to manage Bitcoin, giving users full control over their funds. It offers features like multi-device support, encrypted transactions, and a unique email-based sending option for enhanced privacy and ease of use.
- Sole control of BTC
- Intuitive experience for newcomers
- Seamless multi-device support
- End-to-end encryption
- BIP39 standard seed phrase
- Bitcoin via Email feature
- Automatic BTC address rotation
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Proton Wallet is a secure, easy-to-use crypto wallet that gives you sole control of your BTC. We designed Proton Wallet for Bitcoin newcomers, offering an intuitive experience while ensuring only you can access your BTC. Unlike other self-custodial wallets, Proton Wallet offers seamless multi-device support so you can use your wallet from any mobile device or web browser. Similar to how Proton Mail made encrypted email easy-to-use for 100 million users, we hope Proton Wallet can help everyone around the world safely use Bitcoin in a peer-to-peer and self-sovereign way. ** Not your keys, not your coins ** Proton Wallet creates your wallet using a BIP39 standard seed phrase, ensuring seamless recovery and interoperability with other self-custodial wallets, including hardware wallets. This also means you can easily import existing wallets or recover your Proton wallets on other services. Your encryption keys and wallet data are protected with end-to-end encryption, so no one else — not even Proton — can access them. Proton Wallet makes storing and transacting with Bitcoin simple while encrypting all your sensitive data, giving you financial sovereignty and privacy. Proton servers cannot access your BTC and do not even know your historic transactions and balances. ** Freely transact onchain ** The Bitcoin network is the most decentralized, censorship-resistant and secure financial network. Every transaction from Proton Wallet is mined by the Bitcoin network and recorded forever on the Bitcoin blockchain so no one can dispute it. You will pay the current network fee to Bitcoin miners to include your transaction in the blockchain, but no transaction fee is charged by Proton Wallet. Proton Wallet is free for everyone because we believe financial freedom and privacy should be available to all. ** Send Bitcoin via Email ** Bitcoin transactions are permanent and there's no bank you can call if you make a mistake. Copying the wrong 26-character Bitcoin address can be catastrophic. Proton Wallet's unique Bitcoin via Email feature means you only need to verify another Proton Wallet user's email instead, reducing the likelihood of errors. Each BTC address is cryptographically signed with PGP by the recipient's app, ensuring that it belongs to the recipient. ** Keep transactions and balances private ** Due to our incorporation in Switzerland, your data is protected by some of the world's strictest privacy laws. We also minimize data on servers by encrypting all transaction metadata (including amounts, senders, recipients, and notes) on user devices. Each time you receive BTC from someone with Bitcoin via Email, we automatically rotate your BTC addresses, protecting your privacy and making it difficult to connect your transactions on the public blockchain. ** Multiple BTC wallets and accounts ** Proton Wallet makes it easy for you to create multiple wallets, each with its own 12-word seed phrase for recovery. Inside each wallet, you can also create multiple BTC accounts to organize and separate your assets for better privacy. After the default wallet, subsequent wallet creations support an optional passphrase as another layer of protection. Free users can have up to 3 wallets and 3 accounts per wallet. ** Protect your Bitcoin with Proton ** Choose a crypto wallet that's transparent, open source, optimized for Bitcoin, and puts you in control. You can protect your wallet with two-factor authentication and activate Proton Sentinel, our AI-powered advanced account protection system that identifies and blocks malicious logins. Our 24/7 specialist support team is always ready to assist you. Download Proton Wallet now and start protecting your financial freedom. For more information, visit our website: https://proton.me/wallet To learn more about Bitcoin, read our guide: https://proton.me/wallet/bitcoin-guide-for-newcomers
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Proton Wallet at 4.8 against Phoenix Wallet's 4.2. Proton Wallet also leads on ratings volume (272 vs 75). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Proton Wallet holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 75 and 272 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 57% of Phoenix Wallet's written reviews are positive against 65% of Proton Wallet's.
Phoenix Wallet ships an update monthly, Proton Wallet every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Phoenix Wallet | Proton Wallet |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (75 ratings) | 4.8 (272 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | 64.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 75 | 272 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 163 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | ACINQ | Proton AG |
Customer experience
Phoenix Wallet
Proton Wallet
User reviews
Phoenix Wallet
From 75 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Fast transactions
- 💡 Innovative features (splicing, client-side keys)
- 🔒 Non-custodial
- ✅ Reliable performance
Room to improve
- 💸 High fees
- 🐛 Funds stuck/not received
- ⚠️ Scam accusations
- 🤷♂️ Confusing for new users
- ❌ App not opening/crashing
Proton Wallet
From 272 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 🚀 Fast transaction speed
- 🔒 Highly secure
- 💡 Integrates with other Proton services
- 👍 Easy to navigate for beginners
Room to improve
- 🐛 Issues with buying/ordering process
- 🌙 Lack of dark mode option
Bugs and requests
Phoenix Wallet
Reported bugs
18 issues- Money not reflecting in account
- Crypto locked in wallet
- Bitcoin sent without user action
- App not opening on iOS
- Funds never arrived after transaction
Show 13 moreShow fewer
- UI display incorrect for amounts
- Transaction pending for over 30 hours
- Seed backup to iCloud not resolved
- Funds stuck for months
- App deleted wallet after upgrade
- Restoring connections indefinitely
- Sat incoming message with 3 z
- Ghost notification badge
- V2 broken, 'restoring connections'
- Receiving not working for days
- Transactions not going through
- App offline, no internet message
- Malware activity warnings
Requested features
7 requests- Add LN Address
- Show preimage in detail
- Add Portuguese language
- Add CZK fiat currency
- Option to connect via TOR on iOS
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Ability to open own channels
- QR code receiving for bleskomat
Proton Wallet
Reported bugs
2 issues- Locking users out of the app
- Order cancellations after long wait times
Requested features
2 requests- Ability to hide real credit card details
- Support for Ethereum, Solana, and XRP
In-app purchases
Phoenix Wallet
No in-app purchases
Proton Wallet
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Phoenix Wallet free?
Is Proton Wallet free?
Which has better reviews, Phoenix Wallet or Proton Wallet?
Do Phoenix Wallet or Proton Wallet have ads?
Which is updated more often, Phoenix Wallet or Proton Wallet?
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