Types of Monero Wallets

You cannot hold Monero without a wallet, but "wallet" is a confusing word — it does not actually store your coins (those live on the blockchain). A wallet stores your keys and lets you create transactions. In this lesson you will meet the main kinds of Monero wallets — desktop, mobile, web, and hardware — learn the important differences (including which to avoid), and see how your wallet connects to the network, which matters just as much for your privacy.

What a Wallet Actually Does

A Monero wallet is software (or a device) that holds your secret keys, scans the blockchain for funds that belong to you, shows your balance, and signs the transactions you send. If you are fuzzy on what a wallet is in general, revisit What Is a Wallet. The keys themselves are generated from a single backup phrase, which we cover in Your Seed Phrase.

Wallets differ mainly in where they run (the platform), how they connect to the network, and who holds the keys. None of these choices changes your actual coins — you can move the same funds between wallets by restoring the same seed.

Wallets by Platform

The clearest way to sort wallets is by where they run: on a desktop computer, on a mobile phone, in a web browser, or on a dedicated piece of hardware. Each has different convenience and safety trade-offs.

Desktop Wallets

Installed programs that run on your computer. The Monero project publishes two official desktop wallets on the official downloads page:

• Monero GUI — a friendly graphical wallet for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Great for beginners who want buttons and menus.
• Monero CLI — a command-line wallet for advanced users, scripts, and servers. Same power, no graphics.
• Feather — a popular lightweight, fast open-source desktop wallet with handy built-in privacy features.

Desktop wallets are a strong default: you download and verify them once, they run locally, and they can even run their own node. The trade-off is that they live on a general-purpose computer, so keep that machine free of malware.

Mobile Wallets

Apps you install from an app store and that run on your phone:

• Cake Wallet — a polished iOS/Android wallet (also on desktop) with built-in swaps.
• Monerujo — a long-standing, well-regarded Android wallet that also supports hardware devices.

Mobile wallets are perfect for spending on the go. Like most light wallets they connect to a remote node so your phone does not download the whole blockchain — convenient, with a privacy trade-off we explain below that you can reduce with your own node or Tor.

Web Wallets — Use With Caution

A web wallet runs inside your browser, served fresh from a website every time you open it. This convenience hides two real risks:

• You re-download the code on every visit. If that website is ever hacked, malicious, or served to you by an attacker, it can ship code that quietly steals your seed phrase or keys. An installed desktop or mobile wallet is downloaded and verified once; a web wallet asks you to trust it anew each time.
• They usually rely on a light-wallet server that holds your view key, so that server can see your incoming transactions and amounts — a larger privacy give-up than a normal wallet.

For these reasons, web wallets such as MyMonero are generally discouraged for holding real funds. If you must use one, treat it like pocket change only. For anything you care about, prefer an installed desktop or mobile wallet — and a hardware wallet for savings.

Hardware Wallets

A hardware wallet is a small dedicated device that keeps your secret spend key offline, signing transactions internally so the key never touches your internet-connected computer. Monero works with devices such as Ledger and Trezor, paired with a desktop wallet like the GUI, Feather, or Monerujo as the "viewer." Hardware wallets are the gold standard for protecting larger balances, covered in depth in Hardware and Cold Storage.

How Your Wallet Connects: Node Types

Every wallet must talk to a Monero node (a copy of the blockchain) to see your funds and broadcast transactions. How it connects is a privacy decision in its own right:

• Your own node — your wallet talks to a copy of the blockchain that you run (on your computer or a home device). Nobody else sees your wallet's requests or your IP, and you trust no one's word about the chain. This is the most private and trustless option; the cost is downloading and storing the blockchain.
• A remote (public) node — your wallet connects to someone else's node, so there is nothing to sync. Convenient, and the default for most phone wallets. The trade-off: that node operator can see your IP address and the requests your wallet makes, though they cannot see your keys or spend your money. You can reduce this by connecting over Tor or, best of all, running your own node.
• A light-wallet server — used by web and some light wallets, this server scans the chain for you using your view key, so it can see your incoming transactions and amounts. That is a bigger privacy give-up than an ordinary remote node (it still cannot spend), and another reason to be wary of web wallets.

The rule of thumb: the more of the work your own device does, the more private you are. Running your own node is covered later in Running Your Own Node.

Custodial vs. Non-Custodial

One distinction matters more than any brand: who holds the keys. A non-custodial wallet (everything above) gives you the seed phrase, so you and only you control the funds. A custodial wallet — like the balance on an exchange — means a company holds the keys for you. That is convenient but it is not really your money in the self-custody sense. We explore why in Self-Custody Philosophy.

Which Should You Pick?

• On a computer, want a safe default? The official Monero GUI, or Feather for something light.
• Mostly on your phone? Cake Wallet or Monerujo.
• Protecting significant savings? Add a hardware wallet.
• Tempted by a web wallet? Prefer an installed app instead — keep web wallets to small, throwaway amounts.

Whatever you choose, always download from the official source for that wallet and verify it where possible — fake wallet apps are a common scam, as we cover in Phishing and Scams.

There is no single "best" wallet — only the best fit for how you use Monero. Many people use more than one: a phone wallet for spending and a hardware-backed desktop wallet for saving. Next, let's open the hood and look at the keys every one of these wallets is really protecting in Public and Private Keys.