“Install a wallet” is too wide. Here is a map so you do not install five “just in case” and keep everything in one Chrome extension.
Hot
Keys on a device that goes online.
- Browser extension — MetaMask, Rabby. Convenient for Uniswap. Risk: a phishing site and a malicious extension.
- Mobile app — Phantom, Tonkeeper, Trust Wallet. Convenient for everyday transfers. Risk: a fake app store listing and screenshots of the seed in the cloud.
- Desktop — rarer, same idea: hot while the computer is online.
Cold
Keys live on hardware or paper and do not sit on the network.
- Hardware — Ledger, Trezor. The signature happens on the device; the phone or PC only shows the request. For amounts you would miss.
- Paper / stamped — the seed on paper in a safe. Not for daily swaps. One fire, or one photo in WhatsApp, and the model is broken.
Custodial
An exchange account. Separate piece: an exchange wallet. That is not “a kind of MetaMask”. It is a different legal and technical animal.
Smart accounts and multisig
The account is a contract: limits, co-signers, social recovery. Useful for teams and people who hate a single slip of paper. More complex. Usually too early for a first wallet.
Where to get each app without downloading a fake: where to download a wallet.