Zeus review: a Lightning node on your phone or your own
Zeus is a free, open-source Lightning wallet that either runs a node on your phone or acts as the remote control for a node you already run.
Zeus is the Lightning wallet I'd pick if you run your own node, or if you want a real node on your phone with channels you control. It is Bitcoin-only, open source under AGPLv3, and free to install. The trade-off is complexity, plus a detail many reviews miss: new installs start on Cashu ecash, which Zeus itself calls custodial, until you upgrade to a channel of your own. If you only want to scan and pay, Phoenix asks less of you.
I have not used Zeus day to day. This review is built from Zeus's documentation, its source code and release notes on GitHub, and the company's own incident reports.
Disclosure: I work at Blockstream, the company that makes the Jade wallets mentioned here. I joined after many years as a satisfied user. There are no affiliate links on this site.
What Zeus is and who makes it
Zeus is a mobile Lightning wallet for iPhone and Android, published by Atlas 21 Inc. Its README describes it as a Bitcoin-only, self-custodial wallet with no KYC, fully open source under AGPLv3. It began as a remote control for your own LND or Core Lightning node and grew into a wallet that can run a node on the phone itself.
The current release is v13.2.4, from October 29, 2026, which ships embedded LND v0.21.5-beta and LDK Node v0.7.1. Android users can install it from Google Play, F-Droid, Zapstore, or a direct APK, and iPhone users from the App Store, per the download links in the README.
The four ways to hold money in Zeus
Which mode you use decides who holds your money and which seed phrase you write down.
| Mode | Who holds the money | Seed phrase | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| LDK Node, the default for new wallets | You, in channels on your phone | 12 words, BIP39, or 24 words since v13.2.0 | Most phone users |
| Embedded LND | You, in channels on your phone | 24 words in the aezeed format | Hardware wallet accounts and Taproot channels |
| Remote node | You, on your own node | Lives on your node | People who already run LND or Core Lightning |
| Cashu ecash | A mint, which Zeus calls custodial | Derived from your wallet seed | Tiny first balances |
Version 13 made LDK Node the default for new users and introduced what Zeus calls the graduated wallet: you start on Cashu ecash with a Lightning address right away, and the app pushes you to open a real channel as your balance grows. Zeus is open about the trade-off. Its own docs say Cashu carries a risk of the mint stealing your funds. If you install Zeus for self-custody, finish the upgrade to a channel before you keep real money in it.
LDK Node is the lighter engine. Zeus's comparison puts it at about 9 to 10 MB of data and 3 to 5% battery a day in persistent mode, against 1 to 5 GB and 9 to 15% for embedded LND. Embedded LND keeps a few features LDK lacks, including Taproot channels, hardware wallet accounts, and a path to migrate to a full remote node.
Who it is for, and who should pick something else
Zeus fits two kinds of people. The first already runs a Lightning node on a box like Start9, Umbrel, or RaspiBlitz and wants to manage it from a phone. Zeus publishes connection guides for StartOS, Umbrel, RaspiBlitz, myNode, and Nodl. The second wants a real node on the phone with channels they choose themselves.
If you just want to scan a QR code and pay, Phoenix manages its own channel and asks less of you, which is why my Lightning wallet rankings put it first. Zeus's own docs say you need to be running your own Lightning node to use it, on the phone or remotely.
Setting it up
Zeus's onboarding changes between releases, so follow the Zeus documentation for the current screens.
- 1Install Zeus only from the links in its README, and check that the developer is Atlas 21 Inc. Fake wallet apps get into both stores, and my security incident log tracks the ones that stole funds. Android builds are reproducible and PGP-signed if you want to verify the APK yourself.
- 2Choose a wallet on the phone, or a connection to your own node over Tor or Lightning Node Connect.
- 3Write the seed phrase on paper before you receive anything. Zeus prompts you after your first payment, which is later than it should be.
- 4Get a channel. On the phone, the Olympus LSP can open one the first time you receive, or you can open one yourself with on-chain funds to any peer that accepts it.
- 5Set a PIN. Zeus also has a duress PIN, and since v13.2.0 it wipes all wallet data when entered.
Backups work differently per engine. LDK Node writes channel state to a remote Versioned Storage Service, encrypted with keys from your seed, so a restore from the seed phrase brings your channels back. Embedded LND uploads encrypted disaster recovery data to Olympus by default, but restoring from that data force-closes your channels and can mean waiting up to two weeks for the funds. For a planned phone swap, use its channel migration export instead.
Hardware wallet support
A Lightning balance has to stay online to sign payments, so no hardware wallet holds it, in Zeus or anywhere else. What Zeus can do is use a hardware wallet for on-chain funds. Since v0.9.0, you can import an air-gapped signer that scans PSBT QR codes, use it to fund channel opens and on-chain sends, and have closed channels pay back to it. Zeus tested Foundation Passport and SeedSigner, and its first list also named Krux. Zeus's engine comparison shows this works with embedded LND only.
That lets you open channels straight from a SeedSigner, Passport, or Krux, and close them back to it. For regular sweeps, see my guide to moving bitcoin to a hardware wallet.
Privacy
Zeus computes payment routes on your phone, so its LSP does not learn who you pay, and the LSP wraps your invoices to hide your node's public key from payers. Embedded LND syncs with Neutrino block filters, which keeps your addresses away from any server. LDK Node syncs through Esplora, which Zeus calls faster but less private, and the docs suggest pointing it at your own Esplora server. Since v13.2.0 you can also send fee and block lookups to your own Mempool instance instead of mempool.space.
With a remote node, your phone talks only to your node, over Tor if you like. My Bitcoin privacy basics explain why that matters.
Fees and costs
The app is free, and you pay only when you buy liquidity. Olympus, Zeus's LSP, charges 10,000 sats to open a channel of up to 1 million sats, and 1% for 1 to 5 million when on-chain fees are low, and more when they are high. A wrapped invoice paid over a channel you already have costs 2 sats. Buying a channel in advance is cheaper, but you wait for an on-chain confirmation.
ZEUS Pay Lightning addresses cost nothing. ZEUS Pay+, the optional subscription, is 80,000 sats a year and takes 20% off LSP channel leases. Swaps between on-chain and Lightning have been indefinitely suspended since Boltz, whose software they run on, suspended its own service in August 2026.
Lightning addresses after August 2026
Zeus used to offer a self-custodial Lightning address on mobile through a scheme called Zaplocker. After the August 2026 incident, Zeus disabled Zaplocker, saying its safety depended on every receiving service implementing its payment checks correctly. That leaves two address types: a Cashu address, which is custodial, and an NWC address that creates invoices from your own remote node.
Security record
On August 5, 2026, an attacker got into Zeus's company infrastructure through a BTCPay Server vulnerability and took the admin credential for a connected LND node. Zeus's post-mortem says the attacker closed most of its LSP channels, which returned each customer's side to them on-chain, and stole funds from Zeus's own operational wallets. Zeus says no customer funds were lost. Olympus came back on August 8 and channel services on August 10, per the incident updates, and customers whose channels were closed can get a replacement at no cost.
The wallet app was not the entry point. The v13.2.0 release that followed shipped dozens of security fixes and a published vulnerability disclosure policy. Zeus's GitHub repository lists no published security advisories. I track incidents across wallet makers on my security incident log.
How Zeus compares
| Zeus | Phoenix | Blixt | Alby | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone | App Store | App Store | TestFlight beta only | Alby Go in the App Store |
| Where the node runs | Your phone, or your own node | Your phone, with ACINQ as its only peer | Your phone | Alby Hub on your computer or server |
| Pick it if | You run a node or want full channel control | You want the simplest self-custody | You want a full LND node on Android | You want one wallet for apps and the web |
Read the full reviews of Phoenix, Blixt, and Alby for the details. If you would rather run the node at home and use Zeus as the remote, start with how to run a Lightning node and my node rankings.
Verdict
Zeus is the most capable Bitcoin-only Lightning wallet on a phone, and the best remote for a node you run yourself. It earns its place behind Phoenix on my list because it asks more of you: you choose an engine, manage channels, and need to move past the custodial Cashu starting point to get real self-custody. Keep only spending money in it, and keep your savings on a hardware wallet.
Frequently asked questions
Is Zeus wallet self-custodial?
Its node wallets are: you hold the keys to your channels on the phone or on your own node. The Cashu ecash balance that new users start on is custodial, and Zeus says so in its own docs.
Is Zeus free?
The app is free and open source. You pay the LSP when it opens a channel for you, from 10,000 sats in low-fee periods, and ZEUS Pay+ is an optional 80,000 sats a year.
Can Zeus connect to my own Lightning node?
Yes. Zeus connects to LND and Core Lightning nodes, and its docs have guides for StartOS, Umbrel, RaspiBlitz, myNode, and Nodl.
Was Zeus hacked?
Zeus's company infrastructure was breached on August 5, 2026 through a BTCPay Server vulnerability. Zeus says the attacker stole from its own operational wallets and that no customer funds were lost.
What seed phrase does Zeus use?
LDK Node wallets use a standard BIP39 seed phrase of 12 or 24 words. Embedded LND wallets use a 24-word aezeed phrase, which other LND-based wallets can restore but most BIP39 wallets cannot.
Zeus or Phoenix?
Phoenix if you want the simplest self-custodial Lightning wallet. Zeus if you run your own node or want to manage channels yourself.