Monero GUI vs Sparrow Wallet Comparison

Monero's own 25-word seed: 24 words encode the private spend key and the 25th is a checksum. It is not BIP39, but it is the most widely used seed format among Monero wallets. The GUI creates and restores only this format, and can also restore a wallet from its private keys or from a hardware wallet.

Creates BIP39 phrases of 12 to 24 words. It can also restore from SLIP39 shares, and it can hold no seed at all when the keys live on a hardware wallet.

The Monero Project calls itself a loose collective of individuals; the GUI has no company behind it. The terms of use of getmonero.org, last revised in June 2017, are governed by the laws of South Africa.

Sparrow is built by one developer, Craig Raw, who is based in South Africa. No company stands behind the project, and Sparrow runs no wallet servers of its own.

Built by volunteer and crowdfunded contributors under the oversight of the Monero Core Team. No part of the block reward goes to development; the project is funded by donations to its General Fund and through the Community Crowdfunding System.

Built and maintained by a single developer since 2020, with code contributions from others. Sparrow is free and is funded by donations; it has no support team, only a community-run Telegram group.