Phantom vs Backpack
Phantom is cheaper: a $1,000 buy-and-sell costs $15.30 in platform fees vs $17.00 on Backpack. Pick Phantom if you are solana-first users who want one self-custodial app for swaps, cross-chain swaps, Hyperliquid perps and predictions. Pick Backpack if you are solana and EVM users who want a self-custodial wallet tied to the Backpack/Mad Lads ecosystem and an optional regulated exchange. For US users: Backpack is available; Phantom is partly available.
Checked 2026-10-16 · both venues' fee pagesPhantom is a self-custodial multi-chain wallet (Solana, Ethereum, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Bitcoin, HyperEVM and others) with built-in swaps, cross-chain swaps, Hyperliquid-powered perps, prediction markets and a Cash stablecoin account. It charges a 0.85% Phantom fee on most swaps.
Backpack Wallet is a self-custodial multi-chain wallet (Solana, Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Base, Sonic and more) from Backpack Technologies Ltd., with built-in swaps and bridging at a flat 0.85% swap fee. The same company group runs Backpack Exchange, a separate KYC'd centralized exchange regulated in the EU through Backpack EU, which Backpack says returned funds to 110K former FTX EU clients in September 2025.
Phantom saves $1.70 per $1,000 round trip.
Side by side
| Phantom | Backpack | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Wallet | Wallet |
| Status | live | live |
| Chains | Solana, Ethereum, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Bitcoin, HyperEVM, Robinhood Chain, Arc | Solana, Ethereum, Optimism, Arbitrum, Polygon, Base, Sonic, Monad |
| Platforms | ios, android, extension, web | ios, android, extension |
| Custody | non-custodial | non-custodial |
| KYC | onramp-only | none |
| Platform fee, round trip | 1.7% | 1.7% |
| $1,000 round trip | $17.00 | $17.00 |
| Sign-up perk | 10% of own eligible trading fees rebated for 3 months, paid in CASH | — |
| Perps taker / maker | 0.095% / — | — |
| United States | Partly available | Available |
| United Kingdom | Partly available | Available |
| European Union | Partly available | Available |
| Launched | — | — |
| Reported incidents | 3 | 1 |
What your trade costs on each
Cost of a round trip (buy + sell). Platform fee only; network and pool fees are extra.
Features
| Feature | Phantom | Backpack |
|---|---|---|
| swaps | ✓ | ✓ |
| cross-chain swaps | ✓ | — |
| perps | ✓ | — |
| prediction markets | ✓ | — |
| copy trading | ✓ | — |
| limit orders | ✓ | — |
| gasless transactions | ✓ | — |
| cash account | ✓ | — |
| debit card | ✓ | — |
| staking | ✓ | ✓ |
| hardware wallet support | ✓ | ✓ |
| mobile app | ✓ | ✓ |
| browser extension | ✓ | ✓ |
| web terminal | ✓ | — |
| bridge | — | ✓ |
| nft locking | — | ✓ |
| multisig | — | ✓ |
| moonpay on/off-ramp | — | ✓ |
"—" means the feature was not in the sources we checked, not proof it's missing.
Phantom: watch out for
- 0.85% swap fee on most swaps (1.7% for a buy-and-sell round trip), on top of network fees and price impact.
- Perps are unavailable in the US and UK; tokenized stocks are blocked in the US, UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
- Dropped Monad (Aug 2026) and Sui (Sep 2026) support; Arbitrum, Optimism and Avalanche are not supported.
Backpack: watch out for
- 0.85% wallet swap fee means a 1.7% buy-and-sell round trip before DEX and network fees.
- Referral rewards apply to Backpack Exchange trading, not wallet swaps.
- Company says it lost 88% of its corporate treasury in the 2022 FTX collapse.
FAQ
Is Phantom better than Backpack?
Phantom is cheaper: a $1,000 buy-and-sell costs $15.30 in platform fees vs $17.00 on Backpack. Pick Phantom if you are solana-first users who want one self-custodial app for swaps, cross-chain swaps, Hyperliquid perps and predictions. Pick Backpack if you are solana and EVM users who want a self-custodial wallet tied to the Backpack/Mad Lads ecosystem and an optional regulated exchange. For US users: Backpack is available; Phantom is partly available.
Which is cheaper, Phantom or Backpack?
Phantom. On a $1,000 round trip: Phantom $15.30 vs Backpack $17.00, platform fees only.
Can I use Phantom or Backpack in the US?
Phantom: partly available. Backpack: available. Based on each venue's own terms.
Sources
Last checked . Fees and terms change often; the venue's own page wins if it disagrees with ours.
- Swap crypto in Phantom (Phantom Help) — checked 2026-10-16
- Trade perps in Phantom (Phantom Help) — checked 2026-10-16
- Understanding perp trading in Phantom (Phantom Help) — checked 2026-10-16
- Supported networks (chains) in Phantom — checked 2026-10-16
- Ending support for Monad in Phantom — checked 2026-10-16
- Ending support for Sui in Phantom — checked 2026-10-16
- Backpack app homepage — checked 2026-10-16
- Backpack Wallet Terms and Conditions — checked 2026-10-16
- What is Backpack Wallet? — checked 2026-10-16
- Backpack Wallet: Add Network — checked 2026-10-16
- Backpack Wallet: Supported Browsers and Platforms — checked 2026-10-16
- Backpack Wallet: Swap Tokens — checked 2026-10-16