Your first wallet: Phantom and the others
Set up a Solana wallet step by step, and see how Phantom, Solflare, Backpack, Jupiter and hardware wallets compare.
Words in this lesson
On this page
Every wallet in this lesson is self-custodial: you hold the keys. They all use the same kind of Solana address, so you can switch later by importing your seed phrase into another app. Your coins come with you, because they were never in the app. If a balance looks missing after an import, the new app may be showing a different account made from the same words. Most wallets let you pick the right one in their import settings.
Phantom
Phantom is a popular Solana wallet and the one this guide uses in its examples. It runs as a phone app on iOS and Android and as a browser extension on your computer. It also holds coins on other networks, such as Ethereum, Base and Bitcoin. Nearly every Solana trading site lets you connect it.
Setting up Phantom on your phone
This is the recovery phrase route, as Phantom's help pages describe it in October 2026. Apps change their buttons now and then, so follow the screen if it looks different.
- Step 1: Go to phantom.com by typing it yourself, and use its links to the real App Store or Google Play page. Never install from an ad or a link someone sent you.
- Step 2: Open the app. The first screen offers to continue with Google or Apple. For a wallet with written words, tap More Options, then Create Recovery Phrase.
- Step 3: Write the 12 words on paper, in order. Then tap OK, I Saved It and confirm.
- Step 4: Pick a username. The other extras are optional and you can skip them.
- Step 5: Turn on Face ID or fingerprint when the app offers it. This only locks the app on this phone. It does not replace your 12 words.
- Step 6: Copy your Solana address. The app shows it when you choose to receive. That is where your SOL will go in the next lessons.
On a computer the extension works the same way with one extra step: a password of at least eight characters, with a capital letter, a number and a special character. That password only unlocks Phantom in that browser. Your 12 words are still the real backup.
What Phantom charges
Holding and sending SOL in Phantom costs only the network fee. Swapping one token for another inside the app carries a Phantom fee of 0.85% on most swaps, according to its help center in October 2026, on top of the network fee.
What 0.85% means in dollars
You swap $50 of SOL for a memecoin inside Phantom.
- Step 1: Phantom's fee: $50 x 0.85% = about $0.43.
- Step 2: Do that 20 times in a month and you have paid about $8.50 in swap fees, before any network fees.
- Step 3: Small per trade, real over time. The last lesson of this track adds up every cost of getting started.
The other wallets
| Wallet | What it is | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Phantom | Phone app and browser extension. Solana plus several other networks. | 0.85% fee on most in-app swaps. 12-word phrase or Google and Apple sign-in. Works with a Ledger. |
| Solflare | Solana-focused wallet: phone app, browser extension and web. | 12-word phrase or Google and Apple sign-in for new wallets. Imports 12- and 24-word phrases. Works with a Ledger, a Keystone or its own Shield card. |
| Backpack | Phone app and Chrome extension, from the team behind the Backpack exchange. | 12-word phrase. Says it adds no wallet fee to Solana swaps (its own claim). |
| Jupiter Mobile | Solana-only phone wallet from the Jupiter swap app. | A recovery phrase, or a quick sign-in account that has no phrase. Swaps and limit orders built in. |
| Ledger, Trezor | Hardware wallets: small devices that keep keys offline. | Best for savings. Ledger connects to Phantom and Solflare. Trezor lists Solana on the Safe 3, Safe 5 and Safe 7, through Trezor Suite, Backpack or NuFi. |
Many trading apps also make a wallet for you when you sign up. It is a real Solana wallet, but unlike the wallets above, the app signs your trades for you, so you are trusting the app as well as yourself. Treat it as a trading wallet: keep only your trading money in it and your savings in a wallet you control. If the app lets you export the private key, save it offline the same way as your seed phrase. The trading platforms track explains how these wallets work.
Compare wallets, exchanges and trading appsCheck what you learned
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This guide is for learning. It is not financial advice. Most memecoins go to zero and most people who trade them lose money. Only ever trade what you can afford to lose.