Different jobs, different failures
An exchange is built for matching, liquidity and account-level onboarding. A wallet is built for holding keys or instructing transactions. Mixing the two in one comparison hides the main risk: who can move the asset without you.
Self-custody wallets give you recovery responsibility. Custodial wallets and exchange balances give the operator operational and counterparty responsibility. Neither model is universally safer; they fail in different ways.
A working decision rule
If you need frequent conversion, fiat ramps or order types, an exchange account may be the operational fit — provided you accept venue risk and only keep what you intend to trade.
If you need long-term control of keys, a wallet with a documented recovery path is the relevant product. Compare seed/backup design, device security, supported assets and the vendor’s update process rather than bonus-style marketing.