# BitBanana vs Zeus

[Zeus](https://zeusln.com/) is probably the closest alternative to BitBanana. It’s a great app built by a different team, and the two share many features, though each has its own unique strengths. BitBanana emphasizes user experience and focuses on remote controlling a node, while Zeus tends to move faster in adopting new features, includes an embedded node and offers integrated paid services to simplify node management.\
If you are not missing a specific feature it most likely comes down to the User Experience and personal taste.\
\
The following comparison is intended to help you choose the right app for you. If anything should be wrong or missing in the tables, please let me know.

**Compatibility and connection**

|                                      |                         BitBanana (1.0.0)                         |                           Zeus (0.11.3)                           |
| ------------------------------------ | :---------------------------------------------------------------: | :---------------------------------------------------------------: |
| Android Support                      | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>Android 8 or higher</p> | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>Android 9 or higher</p> |
| iOS Support                          |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Run local node on phone              |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Connect to LND (gRPC[^1])            |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |
| Connect to LND (REST)                |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Connect to LND (LNC)                 |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Connect to Core Lightning (gRPC[^1]) |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |
| Connect to Core Lightning (REST)     |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| LndHub support                       |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Nostr Wallet Connect support         |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |

**Security & Privacy features**

|                                                  |                                        BitBanana (1.0.0)                                        |                                                   Zeus (0.11.3)                                                  |
| ------------------------------------------------ | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: |
| Open Source                                      |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| Reproducible                                     |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| Available on F-Droid                             |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                        <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark> </p><p>custom repository</p>                       |
| Self-custodial                                   |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| ZERO data collection                             | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>BitBanana doesn't even know you are using the app</p> | <p><mark style="color:orange;"><strong>—</strong></mark><br>Using their services shares some data with Zeus.</p> |
| Tor                                              |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| PIN access protection                            |                   <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>4 - 10 digits</p>                   |                            <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>4 - 8 digits</p>                            |
| Scrambled PIN field                              |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| Password access protection                       |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| [Emergency password/PIN](#user-content-fn-2)[^2] |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| Biometrics (optional)                            |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| Coin Control                                     |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| Supports self-hosted block explorer              |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| Supports self-hosted exchange rate provider      |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                       <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                                      |
| Supports self-hosted fee estimation provider     |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                       <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                                      |
| [User guardian](#user-content-fn-3)[^3]          |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |     <p><mark style="color:orange;"><strong>—</strong></mark><br>Yes, but not as consistent as BitBanana.</p>     |
| Screen recording protection                      |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                       <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                                      |
| Hide balances                                    |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                        <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                                       |
| [Stealth mode](#user-content-fn-4)[^4]           |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                       <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                                      |
| Security summary on connection status indicator  |                               <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                               |                                       <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                                      |

**Node management features**

|                                        |           BitBanana (1.0.0)           |                                 Zeus (0.11.3)                                 |
| -------------------------------------- | :-----------------------------------: | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------: |
| Manage peers                           |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>yes, but only for embedded node</p> |
| Manage channels                        |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  |                      <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |
| Batch channel opening                  | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> |                      <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |
| Open channels from cold storage        | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> |                      <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |
| Rebalance channels                     |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  |      <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>yes, but inconvenient</p>      |
| Show pending HTLCs                     | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> |                      <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |
| View routing summary                   |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  |      <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>yes, but less metrics</p>      |
| View UTXOs                             |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  |                      <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |
| View addresses                         | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> |                      <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |
| Sign / Verify message with node Pubkey |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  |                      <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |
| Manage watchtowers                     |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  |                     <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                     |
| View backend logs                      |  <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>  |                     <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                     |

**Wallet features**

|                                             |                         BitBanana (1.0.0)                         |                           Zeus (0.11.3)                           |
| ------------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------: | :---------------------------------------------------------------: |
| Bolt11 receive                              |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Bolt11 send                                 |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Keysend                                     |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Bolt12 receive                              | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>Core Lightning only</p> | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>Core Lightning only</p> |
| Bolt12 send                                 | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>Core Lightning only</p> | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>Core Lightning only</p> |
| LNURL Pay                                   |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| LNURL Pay: Payer identity (Lud 18)          |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |
| LNURL Withdraw                              |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| LNURL Channel                               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| LNURL Auth                                  |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Pick first Hop                              |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Display lightning payment route             |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| On-Chain receive                            |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| On-Chain send                               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Transaction fee bumping                     |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Send All (On-Chain)                         |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Coin Control                                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Simplified UTXO consolidation               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |
| Lock / Unlock UTXOs                         |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |
| BIP 353 (DNS Payment Instructions)          |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Scan QR-Code from image file                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| NFC support                                 |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Label transactions & UTXOs                  |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Filter transaction history                  |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Export transaction history                  |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |
| Sign / Verify message with On-Chain address |               <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>               |                <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                |

**Convenience and UX**

|                                                   |                                BitBanana (1.0.0)                               |                                        Zeus (0.11.3)                                        |
| ------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: |
| Detailed in-app help                              |                       <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |   <p><mark style="color:orange;"><strong>—</strong></mark><br>sometimes, but way less</p>   |
| [Feature customization](#user-content-fn-5)[^5]   |                       <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |                            <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                            |
| [VPN automation](#user-content-fn-6)[^6]          |                       <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |                            <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                            |
| [Certificate conversion](#user-content-fn-7)[^7]  |                       <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |                            <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                            |
| Proper right-to-left support for Arabic languages |                       <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |                            <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark>                            |
| NFC                                               | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>just position your phone... beep</p> | <p><mark style="color:green;">✔</mark><br>yes, but needs to be activated using a button</p> |
| Contacts                                          |                       <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                      |                             <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark>                             |

**Services**

|                                  |           BitBanana (1.0.0)           |            Zeus (0.11.3)            |
| -------------------------------- | :-----------------------------------: | :---------------------------------: |
| Liquidity Service Provider (LSP) | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> | <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark> |
| Create/get LnAddress             | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> | <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark> |
| Create twelve.cash address       | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> | <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark> |
| Swaps                            | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> | <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark> |

**Other**

|                     |           BitBanana (1.0.0)           |            Zeus (0.11.3)            |
| ------------------- | :-----------------------------------: | :---------------------------------: |
| POS[^8] integration | <mark style="color:red;">**✕**</mark> | <mark style="color:green;">✔</mark> |

[^1]: gRPC is faster and more efficient than REST

[^2]: An emergency password or PIN is designed for situations where you are being forced to unlock your wallet by someone else. If you enter an emergency password or PIN instead of your regular one, the app will appear to unlock normally while quietly performing additional protective actions like deleting sensitive data etc.

[^3]: The app warns you when you are about to perform a potentially dangerous or privacy leaking action.

[^4]: Protection against physical phone searches

[^5]: Allow users to remove features for a personalized, simplified experience.

[^6]: When you use a VPN to connect to your node, VPN automation will always start and stop the VPN whenever you open or close the node.

[^7]: When entering connection details manually, any certificate format is allowed. The app handles conversion so users don’t have to bother about the right format.

[^8]: Point of Sale