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You must have opened this article either because you’ve been fascinated by the privacy of Monero or you see it as a good investment. Using XMR for these and other purposes requires different wallet features, so we brought together a list of Monero wallets to show how they can suit different needs and use cases. Today, we will help you choose a Monero wallet that will be the best specifically for you.
We will start with a quick overview and then describe the wallets in more detail.
What are the types of Monero wallets?
Hot wallets store your private keys on a device connected to the internet: PC or mobile phone. You don’t need any extra devices to access your Monero and can easily move your coins. Hot wallets are good if you want to trade XMR or regularly send it to other users.
Cold wallets store the private keys offline on an encrypted flash drive or simply a piece of paper. These wallets are nearly impossible to hack, so they are good for storing large amounts of Monero and long-term investments. Daily use or XMR with cold wallets is less convenient: you have to connect the device to your PC or phone.
Let’s take a look at the examples.
Monero hot wallets
Cake Wallet
Cake Wallet has been developed by Monero enthusiasts: it’s free, open-source, and runs on donations. In 2018, Cake became the first open-source Monero wallet for iOS; the Android version was created in 2020.
Cake Wallet was initially focused on Monero only, but the developers listened to their community and made it possible to also store Bitcoin and Litecoin. Overall, there are two main goals of Cake Wallet: first, to let newcomers enjoy an intuitive interface and usability (for example, you can see what your crypto savings are worth in fiat). Second, Monero strives to offer advanced features to crypto-savvy users (e.g. choosing the XMR node to sync with).
Guarda Wallet
Guarda Wallet allows you to store your Monero together with your entire crypto portfolio: it supports over 500 different cryptocurrencies. Accessibility is king in Guarda: the wallet is available for all major desktop and mobile operating systems. And this is secure enough: Guarda is non-custodial, which means the private keys are stored on your devices in an encrypted form and the developers can’t access them.
In Guarda, you can swap your Monero with other coins or buy it with a credit card right inside the app. Staking some coins and accessing dApps of Ethereum and BINANCE Smart Chain is possible.
Use Guarda Wallet if Monero is a part of your short- or mid-term investment portfolio.
Monerujo
Monerujo is the first Android wallet for Monero. Same as Cake, it’s community-driven and open-source. The wallet is lightweight and syncs well with the blockchain, which ensures fast transaction processing. Although Monerujo is a Monero-only wallet, you can leverage the SideShift.ai feature to pay on BTC addresses.
If you want to store or use Monero on your Android phone, Monerujo is for you.
MyMonero
MyMonero is the official XMR wallet developed by the coin’s team. It is a web wallet — you don’t have to download or install anything and can access your crypto in a web browser. This is quite convenient; however, the Monero team itself warns against storing large amounts of XMR in this wallet since it’s hard for MyMonero to deliver its code to the browser securely enough. Treat MyMonero as a regular wallet: keep it safe but don’t store too much money in it.
Monero GUI Wallet
Monero GUI Wallet is the official Monero desktop wallet available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Compared to all the previous ones on this list, Monero GUI is a full-node wallet: instead of syncing with a Monero node via a third party, you run your own one, which eliminates middlemen and adds security. However, the wallet requires downloading the whole Monero blockchain that is over 60 GB in size, and initial syncing with it will last for several hours.
Use Monero GUI Wallet if you trust the XMR team and want to make the most of your Monero.
Monero cold wallets
Ledger Nano S
Ledger Nano S is a hardware wallet: it is a flash drive that stores your private keys offline. The keys are encrypted, and you access them with a 2FA and a PIN code. In the crypto community, this is considered the most secure way of storing your digital assets.
Ledger supports over 1000 crypto assets, so you can HODL Monero together with the rest of your investments. Managing them is possible via LEDGER Live App: to send a transaction, you’ll need to connect the wallet to your mobile device or PC, but simply tracking your portfolio is possible without the physical device.
Trezor T
Trezor T is another hardware wallet for Monero. It costs the same $59 as Ledger Nano S and supports over 1000 crypto assets as well. The difference is in its appearance: TREZOR is made of plastic and has a different design. It has a touchscreen compared to the OLED display in Ledger; security measures for entering the wallet are slightly different.
Monero offline wallet
Monero offline wallet is a paper wallet where your public and private keys are written. Here’s its core advantage: unlike in all wallets above, you don’t have to worry about the security of software and hardware, you simply have to keep a piece of paper in a secure place, and that’s it. However, there’s a risk, especially if you are prone to losing small things.
We recommend using a paper wallet for Monero only if you are planning to store it in the long term and not going to move it much — the latter is quite difficult and requires special tech skills. Making a Monero offline wallet is possible with a special generator online.
OK, so what Monero wallet should I use?
To choose the best Monero wallet for your needs, consider the way you are going to use your coins:
- If it is a long-term investment or simply a significant sum of money, store it on Ledger or Trezor,
- If you want to have fast access to your Monero from numerous devices, download Guarda Wallet,
- If the mobile version is enough for you, get Cake Wallet or Monerujo,
- If the PC alone is just fine and you want to use the official wallet, download MyMonero or Monero GUI Wallet.
We hope this article helped you understand better which Monero wallet you need. If you are also looking where to store other coins, check out our wallet choice articles for Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum & ERC20 tokens, and TRON & TRC20 tokens.
