MetaMask and WATS Wallet are both non-custodial wallets with a browser extension and a mobile app, and the gap between them is narrower than it used to be: MetaMask is the older, more widely installed wallet, now has native Solana, Bitcoin and Tron, offers gas-included swaps on select EVM networks, and pairs with third-party hardware wallets such as Ledger, Trezor and Keystone. WATS Wallet adds TON, one ATS fee balance on BSC (BNB Chain) that pays network fees on every supported EVM network (Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain), and an optional NFC Metal Card that authenticates by tap and holds no keys; Solana transactions pay their own native fee in SOL and fees on TON are paid in ATS too, and the user holds the keys throughout — WATS never holds a key. Choose MetaMask if Bitcoin or Tron has to live in the same wallet or your keys have to sit on a separate offline device; WATS Wallet fits if your activity sits on EVM chains, Solana and TON and you want one fee balance across the EVM networks (MetaMask details as of October 2026).
Disclosure: WATS Wallet publishes this comparison, and WATS Wallet is our own product. We say plainly where it fits and name the wallet that fits better where it does not.
WATS Wallet and MetaMask are both non-custodial wallets that ship as a browser extension and a mobile app and that cover EVM chains plus Solana. The differences are structural rather than cosmetic. WATS pays EVM network fees in a single token (ATS) using gas abstraction, adds TON, and includes a physical NFC Metal Card that authenticates access to the WATS apps. MetaMask keeps the conventional model — hold each chain's native gas token, with gas-included swaps on select networks — and in exchange gives you native Bitcoin and Tron and pairing with third-party hardware wallets. This page compares them on chains, fees, custody, hardware and recovery, and says plainly where each one is the better answer.
WATS Wallet vs MetaMask at a glance
| Feature | WATS Wallet | MetaMask |
|---|---|---|
| Products / form factor | Three products under one identity — Chrome Extension, Mobile App (iOS/Android) and a physical NFC Metal Card. | Browser extension (Chrome/Firefox/Brave/Edge) and a mobile app (iOS/Android); no official standalone desktop app. |
| Chains | Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana and TON. No native Bitcoin. | Ethereum and EVM chains, plus native Solana, native Bitcoin and native Tron. No TON. |
| Fee model | One fee token on EVM: ATS pays network fees on the EVM chains through ERC-4337 account abstraction. Your ATS balance sits on BSC (BNB Chain), so whichever EVM network the transaction runs on, the fee comes out of that one balance. Solana pays its own native fee (SOL), while fees on TON are paid in ATS too. It changes which token pays, not what the network charges. | Default accounts require holding each chain's native gas token (ETH/SOL/BTC); optional Smart Accounts can pay gas in an ERC-20 such as USDC or DAI on select EVM chains, and swaps on select EVM networks can be gas-included, with the fee taken from the token you swap. |
| Physical / NFC card | Yes — an NFC Metal Card (military-grade metal, IP68, MIL-STD-810, NTAG 216) with a unique card ID that pairs to exactly one device and is tapped to authenticate. It does not store private keys. | No authentication card. The separately issued "MetaMask Card" is a Mastercard debit card for spending crypto, not a security device. |
| Custody & recovery | Fully non-custodial — the user holds the keys and WATS never holds a key. Recovery is the user's responsibility. | Self-custodial; recovery via one 12-word Secret Recovery Phrase. If it is lost, MetaMask cannot restore it either. |
| dApp access | dApp connection and in-browser signing through the WATS Chrome Extension on Chromium browsers (Chrome, Edge, Brave). | dApp connection and signing across EVM dApps; the most widely detected wallet interface on the web, so compatibility is rarely in question. |
| Hardware | The NFC Metal Card is a tap-to-authenticate factor bound to one device — closer to a physical security key than to a cold-storage vault. Keys stay in the WATS apps. | Pairs with third-party hardware wallets — Ledger, Trezor, Lattice, Keystone, NGRAVE, AirGap — on the extension, which keeps keys on a separate offline device. MetaMask sells no hardware of its own. |
Custody: identical model, different second factor
Neither wallet is a custodian. WATS is fully non-custodial: the user holds the keys and WATS never holds a key — the same guarantee MetaMask makes with its Secret Recovery Phrase, and the same responsibility. Where they diverge is the optional second factor. WATS's is first-party: the NFC Metal Card carries a unique card ID, pairs to exactly one device on first tap, and is then required as a physical tap-to-authenticate step on that device. It does not store private keys and it is not cold storage — functionally it is a security key. MetaMask's is third-party hardware you source yourself: pair a Ledger, Trezor, Keystone or NGRAVE and your keys move off the phone or laptop entirely, which is a stronger isolation model than any authentication card can offer. If keys-fully-offline is your requirement, that is a genuine point for MetaMask; see what non-custodial actually means and how the NFC card's threat model differs.
One fee token instead of one per EVM chain
This is the clearest structural difference. On WATS, every action on an EVM network is charged in ATS: ERC-4337 account abstraction handles it on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain. The practical effect is that you stop maintaining a dust balance of ETH on Arbitrum and Base, the native gas token on Polygon and BNB on BNB Chain just to be able to transact. Solana and TON are fully supported for sending, swapping and bridging, and fees on TON are paid in ATS too; Solana sits outside the single-fee-token system, and its transactions pay their own native fee, in SOL. One honest caveat: this is not a discount. The network still charges what it charges — ATS changes which token pays, not the underlying cost. Collected ATS is burned, so supply moves from 100M toward a 30M floor as the wallet is used. MetaMask's default accounts work the conventional way and require each chain's native gas token; its opt-in Smart Accounts can pay gas in an ERC-20 like USDC or DAI, but only on select EVM chains and only once enabled, and its swaps can be gas-included on select networks (the fee is deducted from the token you swap, which does not work when the swap is worth less than the gas), so the per-chain top-up habit largely survives for other actions. Background: how gas fees work and the ATS fee model.
Chain coverage: complementary, not lopsided
WATS covers Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana and TON from one identity, which is the set most everyday EVM, Solana and Telegram-ecosystem activity actually lives on — see EVM vs Solana vs TON. MetaMask covers Ethereum and EVM chains and now covers native Solana, native Bitcoin and native Tron as well, with Solana and Bitcoin derived from the same 12-word phrase; it does not list TON. So the gap runs both ways: MetaMask has Bitcoin and WATS does not, WATS has TON and MetaMask does not. If you hold BTC and refuse to use a second app for it, that decides the question in MetaMask's favour on its own. If you do not, the chain lists overlap enough that fees and setup are the real deciders.
The NFC Metal Card, and what MetaMask offers instead
The WATS NFC Metal Card is built in military-grade metal to IP68 and MIL-STD-810, on an NTAG 216 chip, and each card has a unique ID. On first tap it pairs to exactly one device, and from then on it authenticates access to keys that live in the WATS apps. It is important to be precise about this: the card does not store private keys, so it is not a cold-storage vault and should not be compared to one — it is a physical authentication factor, closer to a hardware security key. MetaMask has no equivalent and does not try to; its answer is third-party hardware, and Ledger or Trezor pairing genuinely does something the card does not, which is take the key material offline. The "MetaMask Card" you may have seen advertised is a Mastercard debit card for spending crypto and plays no part in wallet security. More on the category: NFC crypto cards explained.
Ecosystem and recovery
MetaMask has the longer track record, the larger installed base and a long list of interface languages, and it is the wallet dApps test against first — an advantage worth naming plainly. WATS concentrates instead on keeping the extension, mobile app and NFC Metal Card consistent with each other rather than on maximising surface area. Recovery is the same story on both sides: self-custody means nobody can restore your access for you. MetaMask derives its EVM, Solana and Bitcoin addresses from one 12-word Secret Recovery Phrase; WATS keeps recovery in the user's hands too, with the card acting as a device-bound access factor rather than a backup. Neither model rescues you from losing your own backup.
Which should you choose?
Choose MetaMask if you need Bitcoin or Tron in the same wallet as your EVM assets, if you want to pair an existing Ledger or Trezor so keys sit offline, or if maximum dApp familiarity matters more than fee mechanics. Those are real reasons and they decide the question for some readers. If instead your assets are on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana and TON, and you transact often enough that per-chain gas top-ups are a chore, WATS Wallet fits: one non-custodial identity across three products, EVM fees paid in a single token via ERC-4337, and an NFC Metal Card that adds a device-bound tap-to-authenticate step without asking you to carry a second gadget. If Solana depth or raw chain count is your priority, the same comparison against Phantom and Trust Wallet is worth reading.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between WATS Wallet and MetaMask?
WATS Wallet can fit as an everyday wallet for multi-chain use, because on its EVM networks — Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain — it pays network fees in a single token (ATS) using ERC-4337 account abstraction, while TON runs in the same app with fees also paid in ATS and Solana pays its own native fee in SOL, and it ships three products under one non-custodial identity: Chrome Extension, Mobile App and an NFC Metal Card that pairs to one device for tap-to-authenticate. MetaMask keeps the conventional model for most actions, where you hold each chain's native gas token (with gas-included swaps on select networks), and in return covers native Solana, Bitcoin and Tron and pairs with third-party hardware wallets such as Ledger and Trezor. Both are non-custodial and both run as an extension and a mobile app. Pick WATS if you want fewer moving parts per transaction; pick MetaMask if Bitcoin, Tron or offline key storage on a separate device is the requirement.
Does MetaMask support Solana, Bitcoin and TON?
WATS Wallet supports Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain, Solana and TON, and does not support Bitcoin natively. As of October 2026, MetaMask covers native Solana, native Bitcoin and native Tron as well, with Solana and Bitcoin derived from the same 12-word Secret Recovery Phrase, and does not list TON. The gap therefore runs in both directions rather than favouring one wallet outright: MetaMask has BTC, WATS has TON. Unless Bitcoin in the same app is non-negotiable, the fee model and the number of products you have to keep in sync are the more useful deciders.
Can I pay fees in one token instead of holding each chain's gas?
WATS Wallet does this on EVM by default: ATS is the fee token on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Polygon and BNB Chain, handled by ERC-4337 account abstraction, so you do not keep a separate native gas balance on each of those networks. Your ATS balance sits on BSC (BNB Chain), so whichever EVM network the transaction runs on, the fee comes out of that one balance. Solana and TON are fully supported too, but Solana transactions pay their own native fee in SOL and fees on TON are paid in ATS too. It is worth stating clearly that this is not a discount — the network charges what it charges, and ATS only changes which token pays. MetaMask's default accounts require each chain's native gas token; its opt-in Smart Accounts can pay gas in an ERC-20 such as USDC or DAI, but only on select EVM chains and only after you enable them, and its swaps can be gas-included on select networks, with the fee taken from the token you swap.
Is the WATS NFC Metal Card a hardware wallet like a Ledger?
WATS Wallet's NFC Metal Card is an authentication device, not a cold-storage vault, and the distinction matters: it does not store private keys. Each card has a unique ID, pairs to exactly one device on first tap, and is then required as a physical tap-to-authenticate factor — functionally closer to a hardware security key than to a Ledger. A Ledger paired to MetaMask does something different, keeping the key material on a separate offline device. If offline key isolation is your threat model, that pairing is the right tool; if your concern is someone reaching your phone or your session, the card addresses that without a second gadget to charge and carry.
Is WATS Wallet a safe MetaMask alternative?
WATS Wallet is fully non-custodial — the user holds the keys and WATS never holds a key — which is the same custody model MetaMask uses, so switching does not hand your assets to anyone. The security difference is in the optional second factor: WATS includes a device-bound NFC Metal Card, while MetaMask relies on third-party hardware wallets you buy separately. In both cases you are responsible for your own backup, and neither vendor can restore access if you lose it. The trade-off to weigh is not custody, it is Bitcoin support and offline key storage on MetaMask's side against one-token EVM fees and a unified three-product setup on WATS's.