The Awesome Lightning Network

January 29, 2026

This list is republished and was originally posted on Reddit /LightningNetwork by user jcfy.

Introduction

If you’re not on Reddit, you might be unaware that there’s a small but active subreddit focused on Lightning. As you might know, Reddit is known to be a bit of a “messy” spot. Nontheless over 8 Million users are part of the /Bitcoin forum and 1.7k users have joined /LightningNetwork.

There’s no doubt that it’s essential that we keep educating the “Reddit generation” and hence we’d invite you to join the discussion as well.

We’re also starting a Reddit community for Lightning related news under /LightningNews. Feel warmly invited to subscribe and join the community.

Without further ado, let’s dive into this phenomenal collection of links and resources on Lightning.

Implementations of the Lightning Network Protocol

LND – Lightning Network Daemon (Golang)
eclair – A Scala implementation of the Lightning Network (Scala)
lit – Lightning Network node software (Golang)
c-lightning – A Lightning Network implementation in C
rust-lightning – A Lightning Network implementation in Rust
lightning-onion – Onion Routed Micropayments for the Lightning Network (Golang)
ptarmigan – C++ BOLT-Compliant Lightning Network Implementation

Specifications / White Papers

Applications

Desktop Interfaces

lightning-app – Cross-platform Lightning Desktop Application
lnd-gui – Lightning MacOS GUI Wallet
eclair-node-gui – Cross-platform desktop GUI for Lightning
zap-desktop – Lightning Network desktop application
Presto – c-lightning based desktop wallet
Lightning Peach Wallet – Bitfury Lightning Wallet
spark-wallet – Minimal GUI for c-lightning; available as web, mobile and desktop application
Voltage – Voltage is a macOS GUI for c-lightning
Node-launcher – Quickly install BTC and launch the LN desktop app
Sparkswap Desktop – Buy BTC using USD and LND
ShockWizard – Install a Shockwallet LND node on any Desktop/Laptop in just a few clicks.

Web Interfaces

fulmo – A minimalist c-lightning UI
Joule – A browser extension for lnd that enables payments and other interactions with lightning apps (similar to MetaMask)
kWh – A browser extension that connects to c-lightning or Eclair nodes and enables interactions with Lightning apps (similar to Joule)
kugelblitz – A simple UI for the c-lightning daemon lightningd and bitcoind
lncli-web – Light-weight web client for the lnd daemon written in NodeJS / Angular
Ride The Lightning – Web Client for LND Daemon written in NodeJS / Angular 7
LND-For-WP – WordPress plugin for managing & using your LND Node; WordPress Plugin Directory
ThunderHub – Web UI for managing (multiple) LND Nodes written in TypeScript / React

Command Line Interfaces

bos – Balance of satoshis – Advanced tool for LND with powerful rebalancing options and telegram bot support written in NodeJS
charge-lnd – policy based fee manager for LND
lntop – TUI-based interactive channels dashboard for Unix systems
rebalance-lnd – A script that can be used to balance lightning channels of a lnd node
suez – Tool for pretty printing and optimizing Lightning Network channels

Mobile applications

rawtx – A lightning network wallet (Android, iOS); Homepage
Swift Lightning – LN wallet build on top of LND for iOS
Globular – cross-implementation LN Android remote wallet, connects to a Lighter instance (see Libraries section)
Muun – A Lightning Network wallet for Android. (Github)
Shockwallet – A Lightning SuperApp and Decentralized Social Network. (Github)
Zebedee – Bitcoin gaming wallet

Best Lightning Wallets 2025

Explorers

1ML – 1ML explorer (mainnet + testnet)
Amboss.space – Amboss.space explorer
Bitcoin Exchange Rate – Lightning network explorer (testnet and mainnet)
Lightblock – lightning network explorer mainnet.
Lightning network explorer – Lightning network explorer (testnet)
List of explorers – meta list of visualisers and metrics sites
lngraph – Personal private Lightning Network explorer using Neo4j Browser.
Robtex Bitcoin Lightning Explorer – Robtex Bitcoin Lightning Explorer (mainnet)

Misc

lightning-address-nodejs – Simple server for your personal Lightning Address
bitcoin-kit-makefile – Easy installation of full bitcoin and lightning nodes from sources
ifpaytt – IFTTT (If Pay Then This) based on Lightning payments; Blog Post
lightning-faucet – A faucet for the Lightning Network
lightning-jukebox – A Lightning powered Jukebox; Blog Post
LightningBuddy – Twitter relay for Lightning JSON-RPC interface.
LightningTip LND focused Lightning Tip too, embed in webpage.
ln-tip-slack – Lightning Slack Tipbot
lnplace – Purchase pixels with lightning payments – Submission of L2 Summit Hackathon
nanotip – Lightning Tip Box (based on c-lightning); Blog Post
Satoshis.Stream – Earn Lightning sats as a podcaster, easily

Developer Resources

Lightning Overview
LND Developers Site
LND Developer Guide
Rusty Russell’s BOLT Blog Series
LN in a box – Project that aims to quickly have lnd + btc setup for playing
Lightning Dissector – A wireshark plugin to analyze the communication between lightning network nodes. Currently compatible with ptarmigan and Eclair implementations
C-lightning-plugins – Collection of plugin scripts to control c-lightning

Tools

Polar – One-click Bitcoin Lightning networks for local app development & testing

Libraries

FileBazzar – Sell digital files with Lightning
Lighter – LN node wrapper for c-lightning, eclair and LND (Python)
lightning-charge-client-js – JavaScript client for lightning-charge
lightning-charge-client-php – PHP client for lightning-charge
lightning-charge – A simple drop-in solution for accepting lightning payments (Javascript)
lightning-integration – Lightning Integration Testing Framework
lightning-payencode – Minimal QR-code-ready encoding for requesting lightning payments
lightning-php – PHP client for direct RPC-based access to the c-lightning daemon
LightningJ – LND Integration API for Java
ln-paywall – Go middleware for monetizing APIs on a per-request basis with Lightning
ln-service – Lightning REST Service
lncall – LND implementation of paypercall
lnrpc – Auto-generated LND RPC interface with Typescript type definition support
lseed – A DNS seed for the Lightning Network
paypercall – Charge for HTTP APIs on a per-per-call basis with Lightning
webln – An app library & set of standards for communication between apps and Lightning clients in the browser (similar to Web3)
woocommerce-gateway-lightning – A WooCommerce gateway for lightning payments
wordpress-lightning-publisher – Lightning Publisher for WordPress
glightning – Golang based plugin for c-lightning
lightningd-gjson-rpc – gjson-based RPC client for c-lightning.
Sitzprobe – A c-lightning plugin that actively sends test payments through the lightning network allowing finding and/or deprecating channels for the payments
get-lightning-paid – A Flask REST API to generate lightning invoices and payment confirmations
lnd-sql – Output the lnd node data in a relational SQL database
Dazaar – A library for selling data over a P2P network.

Tutorials

Setting up a local Lightning cluster
Using the LND gRPC Client
Integrating Lightning into a server-side web application
How to use a Python gRPC Client with LND
How to use a Javascript gRPC Client with LND
Setting up and Testing LND with the Testnet Lightning Faucet
How to Send Payments via CLI on the Lightning Network
Using the LND Web Client
Setup LND and Bitcoind on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS – Install guide for LND, bitcoind, on Ubuntu, with startup scripts with email alerts.

Example Projects

ilp-lightning-demo – Demo sending payments between Bitcoin and Litecoin Lightning Networks using Interledger
lightning-coindesk – An example news app exemplifying Lightning Network micropayments integration