Comparison

Firefly vs Wave

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Firefly

Explore on-chain activity by aggregating social networks, NFT platforms, and Web3 communities. Stay informed on product launches, collect NFTs, and manage community proposals. Cross-post content to expand your audience across multiple networks.

Highlights
  • Explore on-chain social activity
  • Collect free NFTs and track drops
  • Manage community proposals and voting
  • Cross-post content across networks
  • Follow various address types
  • Sync follows across networks
Features
Read full description

Firefly is a social app for exploring what’s happening onchain. Developed by Mask Network, Firefly seamlessly combines centralized social networks like X (Twitter) with Web3 social networks and NFT platforms such as Lens, Farcaster, Mirror, Gitcoin, Snapshot, and the Ethereum ecosystem. DIVE INTO WEB3 · Stay informed with product launches and alpha through Firefly’s powerful social feeds. · Collect free NFTs and stay updated on trending drops in the NFT feed. · Keep track of your community proposals and voting through Snapshot. SOCIAL LIKE A PRO · Cross-post to reach your followers and expand your audience across all networks. · Follow @username handles, .eth addresses, 0x addresses, and more. · Improve your feed by logging in to X to see what the profiles you follow are posting and minting in Web3. Optionally, you can sync your follows across networks. Have feedback? Email us at feedback@firefly.land or send us a message on any network. @thefireflyapp on X (Twitter) @fireflyapp on Farcaster @fireflyapp on Lens

About

Wave

A privacy-focused messaging app offering end-to-end encrypted chats without requiring sign-ups or personal information. It utilizes a decentralized network for enhanced user control and supports both one-to-one and group conversations.

Highlights
  • End-to-end encryption
  • No sign-up required
  • Decentralized network
  • One-to-one and group chats
  • Optional Bluesky integration
  • Ad-free and tracker-free
Features
Read full description

Wave is a privacy-first messaging app built for people who value security, simplicity, and control. Chat, call, and send photos and videos without signing up, sharing personal details, or trusting centralized servers. You can start messaging instantly. Wave uses end-to-end encryption, ensuring only you and the people you're chatting with can see your messages, calls, photos, and videos. Everything is encrypted on your device and decrypted only by recipients. Powered by XMTP, Wave is built on a decentralized messaging network, reducing reliance on central servers and giving users more control over their conversations. Wave supports fast one-to-one messaging and secure group conversations in a clean, minimal interface with no clutter or distractions. Send voice notes, photos, videos, and albums of up to 10 photos and videos. Reply to messages, react with emoji, and share GIFs and stickers, including ones made from your own photos. Make one-to-one voice and video calls with anyone you chat with. Answer from the Lock Screen, keep chatting while a call floats in a small window, add live filters to your video, and find past and missed calls in call history. Stay in control of every conversation. Set messages to disappear after 30 seconds up to 7 days, unsend any message you've sent, and pin, archive, or mute your chats. Choose how much your notifications show, block anyone, and get alerts about suspicious accounts. Give your groups admins, a description, and a custom photo. Pick your own profile photo and share your profile with a QR code or a link you can reset anytime. Chat Backup saves your chats to iCloud automatically, daily, weekly, or monthly, so you can restore them when you reinstall Wave or get a new iPhone. Your backup is encrypted before it leaves your device. You can optionally connect your Bluesky account to message people you already know, or simply use Wave on its own without linking any account. Wave is designed with privacy at its core, with end-to-end encrypted messages and calls, a privacy-first architecture, and no ads or trackers.

Screenshots

Firefly4 screens
Wave4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Wave at 5.0 against Firefly's 4.3. Firefly's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly) and ratings volume (27 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Wave holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Firefly has 27 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Firefly ships an update weekly, Wave monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Firefly versus Wave: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFireflyWave
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (27 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings27 — better1
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS1716.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size221 MB157 MB
Age rating9+12+
DeveloperSUJITEKU LIMITED LIABILITY CO.Simhadri Bogula

Customer experience

Firefly

All ratings27 ratings
Positive81.5%
Neutral3.7%
Negative14.8%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

Wave

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Firefly

No in-app purchases

None

Wave

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Firefly free?
Firefly is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Wave free?
Wave is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Firefly or Wave?
Wave is rated higher. Firefly averages 4.3 out of 5 from 27 ratings, while Wave averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Firefly or Wave have ads?
Neither Firefly nor Wave shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Firefly or Wave?
Firefly ships an update weekly, and Wave monthly. Most recently, Firefly was updated on November 7, 2026 and Wave on October 30, 2026.

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