Phantom vs Sparrow Wallet Phantom leads by 10 points.
Phantom scores 10 points above Sparrow Wallet, led by clear signing, key export, and incident record. Phantom ranks #4 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.
Phantom78
vs
SPSparrow Wallet68
Scores are out of 100; published scores fall within 41–99 · ranks #4 and #7 of 11
Phantom scores 10 points above Sparrow Wallet, led by clear signing, key export, and incident record.
Phantom #4 of 1178
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 termPhantom leads on 3 of 4 published criteria; Sparrow Wallet on 1. The terms sum to the gap.
TermPhantomSparrow WalletWeightPoints
Clear signing7/105/107.2+3.7for Phantom+1.9 of 32
Key export8/106/106.7+3.5for Phantom+1.8 of 32
Incident record8/105/105.8+4.5for Phantom+2.3 of 32
Account recovery7/109/104.3−2.2for Sparrow Wallet−1.2 of 32
Net of the terms+9.5
Criteria roundingThe criteria block is rounded to whole points before it is spread−0.1
Reproduced gap+9.4
Published gapAfter score rounding and bounds — see the note below7868+10.0
Weight is in points of the 86-point weighted total. Points are score points of the gap between the two.
PhantomScore 78The Solana-native software wallet turned multichain money app, whose default new-user account now keeps its private key in a Phantom-run enclave that will not export it.Strength: Key export — 8/10Watch-out: Read 'Understanding Phantom KMS' before you commit, because the wallet a new user actually gets is not the wallet the reviews describe. The documented default is "create a new wallet with Google or Apple", and those wallets run on Phantom KMS, where "Wallet keys are stored remotely in a secure enclave, not on your device" and "the Show Private Key option is not available for these accounts." Every signature on that account is a request to Phantom's KMS API, authorised in a vendor-run Policy Engine enclave before a Signer enclave returns the signature - and no published audit covers KMS, because the audit repository has not been pushed since 2024-07-05. Since the August 2026 migration your Google or Apple account is the single factor protecting the wallet, and the vendor's own documentation has not caught up: one page (2026-08-15) says the four-digit PIN is gone while three others (2026-06-12, 2026-07-12 and the 2026-08-16 sign-in page itself) still require or prompt for it. The mitigation is real, portable and easy to skip: export the 12-word BIP-39 phrase from Settings > Security & Privacy > Show Recovery Phrase the day you install, because Phantom states it "works in any compatible wallet app" and, without it, "If you are logged out of Phantom on all devices and can't access your Google or Apple account, your wallet cannot be recovered." Two further traps: restoring by Google or Apple "restores only your first account automatically, regardless of how many accounts your wallet had before", so a multi-account user should restore from the phrase instead; and if you want keys on your own device from the start you must onboard on the browser extension, because a recovery-phrase wallet cannot be created in the mobile app at all.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.
Quick facts
At a glance
3 of 4 rows read the same for both.
FactPhantomSparrow Wallet
PricingSnapshotSwap fees, from help.phantom.com/articles/5985106844435 (fetched 28 October 2026): Phantom fee "0.85%, applies to most swaps. Some flows, such as deposits to your perps balance, and swaps from USDC , USDT , USDG , PYUSD into your Cash account, do not carry this fee." Network fee "Varies, and may be sponsored if the swap is gasless." The same page sets a floor: "Cross-chain swaps and swaps on Robinhood Chain may have a minimum of $2 (USD value)." The client itself is free: "Download Phantom for free on iOS, Android, or as a browser extension at phantom.com/download ." (help.phantom.com/articles/36482144712083, fetched 28 October 2026). Cash-account rails are priced separately on help.phantom.com/articles/44800531617939 (fetched 28 October 2026): add cash by debit card "1.75%", credit card "3.50%", direct deposit from a US bank account "0.30%", domestic wire from a US bank account "1.00%", standard ACH withdrawal "Free", fast ACH withdrawal "$1.00 flat + 0.75% (min $1.50)"."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?
Phantom
78#4 of 11
Leads
Pick it when
Pick Phantom if clear signing matters most — it scores 7/10 to Sparrow Wallet's 5/10 there (weight 30).
Strength
Key export — 8/10
Tradeoff
Read 'Understanding Phantom KMS' before you commit, because the wallet a new user actually gets is not the wallet the reviews describe. The documented default is "create a new wallet with Google or Apple", and those wallets run on Phantom KMS, where "Wallet keys are stored remotely in a secure enclave, not on your device" and "the Show Private Key option is not available for these accounts." Every signature on that account is a request to Phantom's KMS API, authorised in a vendor-run Policy Engine enclave before a Signer enclave returns the signature - and no published audit covers KMS, because the audit repository has not been pushed since 2024-07-05. Since the August 2026 migration your Google or Apple account is the single factor protecting the wallet, and the vendor's own documentation has not caught up: one page (2026-08-15) says the four-digit PIN is gone while three others (2026-06-12, 2026-07-12 and the 2026-08-16 sign-in page itself) still require or prompt for it. The mitigation is real, portable and easy to skip: export the 12-word BIP-39 phrase from Settings > Security & Privacy > Show Recovery Phrase the day you install, because Phantom states it "works in any compatible wallet app" and, without it, "If you are logged out of Phantom on all devices and can't access your Google or Apple account, your wallet cannot be recovered." Two further traps: restoring by Google or Apple "restores only your first account automatically, regardless of how many accounts your wallet had before", so a multi-account user should restore from the phrase instead; and if you want keys on your own device from the start you must onboard on the browser extension, because a recovery-phrase wallet cannot be created in the mobile app at all.
SP
Sparrow Wallet
68#7 of 11
Pick it when
Pick Sparrow Wallet if account recovery matters most — it scores 9/10 to Phantom's 7/10 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?
PhantomLeads
Choose Phantom if clear signing matters most
Clear signing: 7/10 against 5/10 for Sparrow Wallet (weight 30)
Key export: 8/10 against 6/10 for Sparrow Wallet (weight 28)
Incident record: 8/10 against 5/10 for Sparrow Wallet (weight 24)
PhantomScore 78The Solana-native software wallet turned multichain money app, whose default new-user account now keeps its private key in a Phantom-run enclave that will not export it.Strength: Key export — 8/10Watch-out: Read 'Understanding Phantom KMS' before you commit, because the wallet a new user actually gets is not the wallet the reviews describe. The documented default is "create a new wallet with Google or Apple", and those wallets run on Phantom KMS, where "Wallet keys are stored remotely in a secure enclave, not on your device" and "the Show Private Key option is not available for these accounts." Every signature on that account is a request to Phantom's KMS API, authorised in a vendor-run Policy Engine enclave before a Signer enclave returns the signature - and no published audit covers KMS, because the audit repository has not been pushed since 2024-07-05. Since the August 2026 migration your Google or Apple account is the single factor protecting the wallet, and the vendor's own documentation has not caught up: one page (2026-08-15) says the four-digit PIN is gone while three others (2026-06-12, 2026-07-12 and the 2026-08-16 sign-in page itself) still require or prompt for it. The mitigation is real, portable and easy to skip: export the 12-word BIP-39 phrase from Settings > Security & Privacy > Show Recovery Phrase the day you install, because Phantom states it "works in any compatible wallet app" and, without it, "If you are logged out of Phantom on all devices and can't access your Google or Apple account, your wallet cannot be recovered." Two further traps: restoring by Google or Apple "restores only your first account automatically, regardless of how many accounts your wallet had before", so a multi-account user should restore from the phrase instead; and if you want keys on your own device from the start you must onboard on the browser extension, because a recovery-phrase wallet cannot be created in the mobile app at all.
SPSparrow Wallet
Choose Sparrow Wallet if account recovery matters most
Account recovery: 9/10 against 7/10 for Phantom (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
by 2 of 10weight 6.7 of 86Phantom leads
Phantom8/10 out of 10
Sparrow Wallet6/10 out of 10
Clear signing
by 2 of 10weight 7.2 of 86Phantom leads
Phantom7/10 out of 10
Sparrow Wallet5/10 out of 10
Incident record
by 3 of 10weight 5.8 of 86Phantom leads
Phantom8/10 out of 10
Sparrow Wallet5/10 out of 10
Account recovery
by 2 of 10weight 4.3 of 86Sparrow Wallet leads
Phantom7/10 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
Phantom14/20Sparrow Wallet14/20
Tie
Published criteriaweight 30 of 86
Phantom18/30Sparrow Wallet14.4/30
Phantom leads
Frictionweight 10 of 86 · constant here
Phantom2.7/10Sparrow Wallet2.7/10
Tie
Trust recordweight 8 of 86 · constant here
Phantom3.2/8Sparrow Wallet3.2/8
Tie
Measured dataweight 18 of 86 · constant here
Phantom8.3/18Sparrow Wallet8.3/18
Tie
Decision rulePublished order
Choose Phantom unless the term Sparrow Wallet leads on is the one you are buying.
Pick Sparrow Wallet if account recovery matters most — it scores 9/10 to Phantom's 7/10 there (weight 18).
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% (Phantom 8/10, Sparrow Wallet 6/10)
Scored by Can I see exactly what I am signing? · 30% (Phantom 7/10, Sparrow Wallet 5/10)
Scored by What has gone wrong, and did they publish it? · 24% (Phantom 8/10, Sparrow Wallet 5/10)
Scored by If I lose my device, how do I get back in? · 18% (Phantom 7/10, Sparrow Wallet 9/10)
Phantom scores 10 points above Sparrow Wallet, led by clear signing, key export, and incident record. Published scores, out of 100: Phantom 78 (rank 4 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.
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