Electrum vs Sparrow Wallet Sparrow Wallet leads by 2 points.
Sparrow Wallet scores 2 points above Electrum, led by account recovery. Electrum ranks #9 and Sparrow Wallet #7 of 11 published wallets. Every term of the gap is on the ledger below; the inputs are on the audit receipt.
ELElectrum66
vs
SPSparrow Wallet68
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #9 and #7 of 11
Sparrow Wallet scores 2 points above Electrum, led by account recovery.
ELElectrum #9 of 1166
SPSparrow Wallet #7 of 1168
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99; a bar is empty at 41 and full at 99.
Why, term by termSparrow Wallet leads on 1 of 4 published criteria; Electrum on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
TermSparrow WalletElectrumWeightPoints
Incident record5/106/105.8−1.5for Electrum−0.8 of 32
Account recovery9/106/104.3+3.4for Sparrow Wallet+1.7 of 32
Net of the terms+1.9
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+1.8
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below6866+2.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
Sparrow Wallet's lead rests on lighter criteria: Electrum is ahead on incident record, which carries more weight (24) than any criterion Sparrow Wallet leads on (18).
Sparrow WalletScore 68A Bitcoin-only desktop wallet built for coin control, multisig and hardware signers: BIP-39 with the derivation path shown, every input and output decoded before signing, no bounty and no audit.Strength: Recovery exit — 9/10Watch-out: Sparrow is desktop-only and Bitcoin-only, and it is built for users who want to see every input and output: a newcomer should expect a transaction editor, not a one-tap send. No Sparrow page documents exporting a single private key (read 2026-10-28), and its security policy says "There is currently no bug bounty programme for Sparrow." It has published no security advisory and no fund-loss incident was found.ElectrumScore 66The reference Bitcoin desktop and Android wallet since 2011: open source, its own published seed standard, private-key export and a self-disclosed 2018 phishing incident, with a plain preview rather than a scanner before signing.Strength: Key export — 6/10Watch-out: Electrum does not create BIP-39 seeds. Its own seed format is published ("Electrum does not generate BIP39 seeds", electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/seedphrase.html, read 2026-10-28), but fewer wallets import it than import BIP-39, so check that the wallet you might move to reads Electrum seeds before relying on the phrase alone. Download it only from electrum.org: in December 2018 malicious servers pushed a fake "update" through the client's error popup, the maintainers disclosed it on their own repository (github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/4968), and versions from 3.3.3 on no longer render that text. Bitcoin only.
Quick facts
At a glance
3 of 4 rows read the same for both.
FactElectrumSparrow Wallet
PricingSnapshot"Electrum is distributed under the MIT licence by Electrum Technologies GmbH." (electrum.org, fetched 28 October 2026). The same page is the download page for Linux, Windows, macOS and Android and states no price, subscription or service fee; the only cost of a payment is the network fee the user sets. Electrum has no in-app token swap; its submarine swaps between on-chain bitcoin and Lightning run through swap servers whose fees electrum.org does not state."Sparrow is licensed under the Apache 2 software licence." (sparrowwallet.com/download/, fetched 28 October 2026). The download page lists installers for Windows, macOS and Linux with no price, and the site asks for donations. The features page lists no in-app swap or purchase; the only cost of a payment is the network fee, chosen against the fee chart Sparrow shows.
Asset coverageEditorial——
Region fitSnapshotglobalglobal
Custody modelEditorialSelf-custody: the vendor cannot move funds without your keySelf-custody: the vendor cannot move funds without your key
From the published criteria
Which should you pick?
EL
Electrum
66#9 of 11
Pick it when
Pick Electrum if incident record matters most — it scores 6/10 to Sparrow Wallet's 5/10 there (weight 24).
Strength
Key export — 6/10
Tradeoff
Electrum does not create BIP-39 seeds. Its own seed format is published ("Electrum does not generate BIP39 seeds", electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/seedphrase.html, read 2026-10-28), but fewer wallets import it than import BIP-39, so check that the wallet you might move to reads Electrum seeds before relying on the phrase alone. Download it only from electrum.org: in December 2018 malicious servers pushed a fake "update" through the client's error popup, the maintainers disclosed it on their own repository (github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/4968), and versions from 3.3.3 on no longer render that text. Bitcoin only.
SP
Sparrow Wallet
68#7 of 11
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Sparrow Wallet if account recovery matters most — it scores 9/10 to Electrum's 6/10 there (weight 18).
Strength
Recovery exit — 9/10
Tradeoff
Sparrow is desktop-only and Bitcoin-only, and it is built for users who want to see every input and output: a newcomer should expect a transaction editor, not a one-tap send. No Sparrow page documents exporting a single private key (read 2026-10-28), and its security policy says "There is currently no bug bounty programme for Sparrow." It has published no security advisory and no fund-loss incident was found.
Self-identify in 10 seconds
Which one is actually for you?
ELElectrum
Choose Electrum if incident record matters most
Incident record: 6/10 against 5/10 for Sparrow Wallet (weight 24)
ElectrumScore 66The reference Bitcoin desktop and Android wallet since 2011: open source, its own published seed standard, private-key export and a self-disclosed 2018 phishing incident, with a plain preview rather than a scanner before signing.Strength: Key export — 6/10Watch-out: Electrum does not create BIP-39 seeds. Its own seed format is published ("Electrum does not generate BIP39 seeds", electrum.readthedocs.io/en/latest/seedphrase.html, read 2026-10-28), but fewer wallets import it than import BIP-39, so check that the wallet you might move to reads Electrum seeds before relying on the phrase alone. Download it only from electrum.org: in December 2018 malicious servers pushed a fake "update" through the client's error popup, the maintainers disclosed it on their own repository (github.com/spesmilo/electrum/issues/4968), and versions from 3.3.3 on no longer render that text. Bitcoin only.
SPSparrow WalletLeads
Choose Sparrow Wallet if account recovery matters most
Account recovery: 9/10 against 6/10 for Electrum (weight 18)
Sparrow WalletScore 68A Bitcoin-only desktop wallet built for coin control, multisig and hardware signers: BIP-39 with the derivation path shown, every input and output decoded before signing, no bounty and no audit.Strength: Recovery exit — 9/10Watch-out: Sparrow is desktop-only and Bitcoin-only, and it is built for users who want to see every input and output: a newcomer should expect a transaction editor, not a one-tap send. No Sparrow page documents exporting a single private key (read 2026-10-28), and its security policy says "There is currently no bug bounty programme for Sparrow." It has published no security advisory and no fund-loss incident was found.
Criterion by criterion
Scorecard
Published criteria · weight in points of 868 of 8 cells scored. Strength is read from the evidence file; the weight is the published one. Methodology
Key export
weight 6.7 of 86Tie
Electrum6/10 out of 10
Sparrow Wallet6/10 out of 10
Clear signing
weight 7.2 of 86Tie
Electrum5/10 out of 10
Sparrow Wallet5/10 out of 10
Incident record
by 1 of 10weight 5.8 of 86Electrum leads
Electrum6/10 out of 10
Sparrow Wallet5/10 out of 10
Account recovery
by 3 of 10weight 4.3 of 86Sparrow Wallet leads
Electrum6/10 out of 10
Sparrow Wallet9/10 out of 10
Score dimensions
weights sum to 86
The published score is five dimensions, each weighted for the category. "Published criteria" is the criteria block above; the other four are the engine's own terms — availability, friction, trust record, measured data. Each bar is one side's points out of that dimension's maximum; the weight beside the name is its points of the 86-point weighted total. The published criteria above can fill 24 of the block’s 30. A weight marked “constant here” belongs to a dimension every ranked product in the category holds at the same value: it still counts in the total, and it orders nothing here.
Availabilityweight 20 of 86 · constant here
Electrum14/20Sparrow Wallet14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Electrum13.7/30Sparrow Wallet14.4/30
Sparrow Wallet leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Electrum2.7/10Sparrow Wallet2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Electrum3.2/8Sparrow Wallet3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Electrum8.3/18Sparrow Wallet8.3/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Sparrow Wallet unless the term Electrum leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick Electrum if incident record matters most — it scores 6/10 to Sparrow Wallet's 5/10 there (weight 24).
The published order weighs every criterion the same way for everyone. To weigh them your way, run .
From the published order
Next best action
If this isn't your case
Other matchups worth comparing
How you can lose money here, and what the ranking scores
Key failure: your own keys are made, shown or recovered unsafely.
Scored by Can I export my own keys and use them elsewhere? · 28% (Electrum 6/10, Sparrow Wallet 6/10)
Scored by Can I see exactly what I am signing? · 30% (Electrum 5/10, Sparrow Wallet 5/10)
Scored by What has gone wrong, and did they publish it? · 24% (Electrum 6/10, Sparrow Wallet 5/10)
Scored by If I lose my device, how do I get back in? · 18% (Electrum 6/10, Sparrow Wallet 9/10)
Sparrow Wallet scores 2 points above Electrum, led by account recovery. Published scores, out of 100: Electrum 66 (rank 9 of 11 wallets), Sparrow Wallet 68 (rank 7 of 11).
ReviewedRe-read in progressOverdue; re-read by 10 November 2026.Methodology v2026.10.18
How this page is reviewed
Reviewed means both products compared here was read against its sources on or after that date; every ranked category is re-read at least every 45 days. Models research, extract and parse. A deterministic engine ranks. Every quote passes an adversarial refute pass.
Answer a few quick questions and get one clear recommendation based on how you actually plan to use crypto — with rationale, tradeoffs, and a path to monitor the decision.
No signup·Free first pass · Private·No spam · No account
Not financial advice · Independent · Always do your own research
Not financial advice · For informational purposes only · Always do your own research