LNbits

LNbits is a Lightning wallet account system that sits in front of an existing Lightning node and turns it into a multi-user platform. A single backend node can fund any number of independent wallet accounts, each with its own balance, API key, and access controls. Shops, kiosks, hosted services, and family setups use it to keep separate books on top of one node without having to run a channel for each user.

The core stays small on purpose. Almost every visible feature lives as an optional extension: point-of-sale terminals, payment links, paywalls, BOLT cards, LNURL services, NIP-05 hosting, vending-machine controllers, vouchers, subscription billing, crowdfunding pages, and dozens more. Operators install only the extensions they need, and the same instance can serve a coffee shop and a nostr zap relay at the same time. The funding-source abstraction lets the same extensions work against LND, Core Lightning, BTCPay Server, Eclair, Phoenix, LNbits-as-a-funding- source, and other backends without rewriting the application code on top.

LNbits is also widely used by hardware tinkerers. Lightning ATMs, point-of-sale devices, DIY hardware wallets, and nostr signing devices like LNBits Box build on top of its HTTP and LNURL APIs. The project ships a hosted instance at my.lnbits.com for users who do not want to run their own server.

Why fund it?

Most ways to accept Lightning payments push the merchant onto somebody else's custodial service. LNbits is the standard way to put a self-hosted multi-tenant layer on top of a Lightning node, which means a small business or a community operator can give every cashier, vending machine, or sub-organization its own wallet without writing custom code or trusting a third-party processor. Because it is free software with no business model layered on top, the project depends on grants and donations to keep paying its contributors and to keep the extension ecosystem moving.

OpenSats funded LNbits in August 2023 and has renewed its support to the project multiple times since then.

What's next?

Recent work has focused on the extension marketplace, signed extension releases with ratings and reviews, and a richer admin UI for operators running larger multi-tenant deployments. The team also maintains the LNbits Box, a plug-and-play hardware bundle that runs LNbits locally for users who do not want to deal with self-hosting from scratch. New funding-source backends keep landing, so the same set of extensions follows the operator if they switch from LND to Core Lightning or to a hosted node.