Cake Wallet vs Feather Wallet (2026)

Cake Wallet and Feather are two of the most used Monero wallets, and both are free, open source and non-custodial. They rarely compete directly: Feather is a desktop wallet, while Cake Wallet is built first for iPhone and Android. This comparison reflects October 2026. Frosting Guide is independent of both projects.

At a glance

Phone or computer?

This is usually the deciding question. Feather has no phone app; its documentation covers Linux, Tails, Windows, macOS and Raspberry Pi. Cake Wallet runs on iPhone, iPad and Android, plus macOS (through the Mac App Store or GitHub) and Linux. Cake Wallet's Windows releases are paused while the desktop app is redesigned, so Windows users will find Feather more practical right now. See Cake Wallet on desktop for the current status.

Feather's latest version, 2.8.1, came out on 14 April 2025 and was still the current release on its website in October 2026. It is built on the official Monero code, so it keeps working with the network, but feature releases have been infrequent since then.

Fees

Neither wallet charges a fee to send or receive Monero. You pay the Monero network fee, set by the priority you choose. Feather does not include a swap service in its current documentation, so there are no swap fees to compare. In Cake Wallet, the swap provider's spread is built into the quote, and Cake's open-source code passes affiliate or markup settings, with unpublished amounts, to several of its current swap providers (Cake Wallet source code, October 2026). More in Cake Wallet fees.

Privacy

Feather is designed for privacy-focused desktop users. It ships with its own Tor binary, and by default it routes all traffic except wallet synchronisation through Tor, switching to Tor after the first sync (Feather docs, 2026). It also runs well on Tails and Whonix, where all traffic goes through Tor.

Cake Wallet added an experimental built-in Tor in v5.1.0 (June 2025), now available on iOS, Android, macOS and Linux, plus Tor-only modes for price and swap services. It is off by default. Both apps let you connect to your own Monero node, which removes the need to trust a public node with your IP address and sync requests. See Cake Wallet privacy and Tor and custom nodes.

The Monero transactions themselves are equally private in both apps. Cake Wallet's extra features (swaps, buying, Cake Pay) involve third parties when you use them; Feather has fewer of these by design.

Safety

Both are open source. Feather signs its releases with a published key, and its documentation explains how to check signatures. Cake Wallet started signing SHA-256 checksums with a release key in September 2026 and says its builds are not yet reproducible. Check any Cake Wallet download with our download checker.

In October 2024, Feather 2.7.0 fixed a bug where the transaction details could show the base address instead of the integrated address for payments with a payment ID; repeating such a payment from that view could send funds to the wrong place. The reporter received a 2.5 XMR bounty. Cake Wallet's biggest incident affected Bitcoin: weak 12-word Bitcoin seeds created in 2020–2021, disclosed by Cake in May 2021. Monero wallets were not affected. See Cake Wallet security history.

Both support Ledger and Trezor for Monero. On a phone, Cake Wallet can also pair with Cupcake, an app that turns a spare phone into an offline signer.

Features compared

• Coin control. Feather can freeze and thaw individual outputs. Cake Wallet has Monero coin control too.
• Seeds. Both support 16-word Polyseed and 25-word seeds. Cake Wallet also offers 12-word BIP39 seeds shared with other coins.
• View-only wallets. Feather documents view-only wallets in detail; Cake Wallet supports view-only wallets as well.
• Everything else. Cake Wallet adds swaps, other coins, Cake Pay and buying through third parties. Feather focuses on a fast, configurable Monero desktop experience.

Syncing and nodes

Both wallets scan the Monero blockchain on your device, so they never hand your view key to a server. Feather on a desktop usually syncs faster than a phone and can connect to a node on your own computer, which it never routes over Tor. Cake Wallet connects to Cake's nodes by default and lets you add your own; only nodes shown as connected will work. If sync stalls in Cake Wallet, switching node is the first fix (not syncing guide). Both apps need a correct restore height when you restore an old 25-word seed; Polyseed wallets store their creation date, so the height is set for you.

Using both

A common setup is Feather on a computer for savings and Cake Wallet on the phone for spending. You can restore the same Polyseed or 25-word seed in both, but they will scan the chain separately. Set the restore height correctly in each (restore height guide).

Which should you choose?

Choose Cake Wallet if…

• you want Monero on your phone;
• you also hold Bitcoin, Litecoin or stablecoins;
• you want built-in swaps and are willing to pay the spread.

Choose Feather if…

• you manage Monero on Windows, Linux or Tails;
• you want Tor on by default and fine control over outputs;
• you prefer a Monero-only app with no extra services.

For other options see Cake Wallet alternatives.

Frequently asked questions