Comparison
Alby vs Wallet of Satoshi
The two most common 'first Lightning wallet' picks. They solve different problems — and Alby's custody model has changed.
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Alby and Wallet of Satoshi are the two wallets new Lightning users hear about most. They both ship a Lightning Address. They both make receiving sats easy. They are no longer in the same custody category, though.
Short answer: Wallet of Satoshi if you want the absolute fastest custodial onboarding and you’re not US-based. Alby (Alby Hub or hosted Alby Cloud) if you want a self-custodial Lightning Address with the strongest creator and Nostr tooling in the ecosystem.
At a glance
| Alby | Wallet of Satoshi | |
|---|---|---|
| Custody | Self-custodial (Alby Hub; Alby Cloud is hosted Hub, keys still yours) | Fully custodial |
| Platforms | Web, browser extension, Alby Hub (self-hosted), Alby Cloud (hosted) | iOS, Android |
| Lightning Address | Yes (name@getalby.com or custom domain) | Yes (name@walletofsatoshi.com) |
| Nostr Wallet Connect | Yes — native | No |
| US availability | Yes | Removed from US app stores Nov 2023 |
| Pricing | Self-host Hub: free. Alby Cloud: from $9.90/month | Free |
| Setup time | Minutes (Cloud) / hours (self-hosted Hub) | < 1 minute |
| Best for | Creators, developers, Nostr users, self-custody seekers | Beginners, low-stakes tips (outside the US) |
What’s changed recently
Two facts changed the picture for this comparison since 2024:
- Alby retired the custodial “Alby account” product and pivoted to Alby Hub, an open-source self-custodial Lightning node. You can run it yourself, on Umbrel, Start9, or any server. Alby Cloud is the same Hub, hosted by Alby for ~$10/month, but with the keys still on your device. So Alby is now firmly in the non-custodial camp.
- Wallet of Satoshi was withdrawn from US app stores in November 2023 and remains unavailable to US customers. A self-custodial successor product is in beta via a partnership with Spark, but it’s a different product from classic Wallet of Satoshi.
If you read older comparisons describing Alby as “custodial with a Hub option,” those are out of date.
Where Wallet of Satoshi wins
The single best feature of Wallet of Satoshi is that it does not make you think about Lightning. Install, set a username, you have a Lightning Address. Send it to a friend. They send you sats. Done.
For a beginner who wants to try receiving Lightning before deciding whether they care about the protocol, that’s the right experience. There’s no other wallet currently in the same league for absolute frictionlessness.
The trade-off is full custody — Wallet of Satoshi holds your sats — plus the US unavailability. Both are reasons not to use it for large balances or as a long-term home for funds.
Where Alby wins
Alby is broader. It’s an ecosystem rather than a wallet:
- Alby Hub — open-source self-custodial Lightning node software. Run on a desktop, Raspberry Pi, Umbrel, Start9, or any server.
- Alby Cloud — managed hosting of Alby Hub from $9.90/month. Always-online clearnet node, customizable Lightning Address, Podcasting 2.0 credentials.
- Alby browser extension — pay LNURL/Lightning Address links inline on the web.
- NWC (Nostr Wallet Connect) — connect any Nostr client to your wallet, keys staying with you.
For a creator who wants tips today and self-custody from the start, Alby is now the clear answer. For developers, Alby’s APIs and extension model make it the natural starting point.
When you should pick neither
If you’re a merchant taking payments at the counter or online, you don’t want a personal Lightning wallet as your payment infrastructure. You want a payment processor — either BTCPay Server (self-hosted) or one of the hosted options like OpenNode or Speed.
If self-custody is non-negotiable and you don’t want to manage a node, Phoenix is the cleanest pure-mobile answer in the ecosystem — Lightning Address out of the box, never holds your keys, predictable fee model since the splicing update.
Migration paths
The most common migration story we expect to see in 2026:
- Creator starts with Wallet of Satoshi or Alby Cloud, gets a Lightning Address.
- Audience grows, daily tips become non-trivial.
- Creator moves to self-hosted Alby Hub (or Phoenix), updates their Lightning Address everywhere.
- Eventually pairs with their own domain (
me@mysite.com) via Alby Hub custom domain or BTCPay Server.
Each step is reasonable. The mistake is assuming step 1 is the final destination.
What we did not test
This page is an editorial draft. Verify current Wallet of Satoshi country availability and Alby pricing tiers with each provider before relying on either for production use. See our methodology.
Next step
- Beginner picking a first wallet? Read Lightning Address explained first.
- Decided on Alby? Visit our Alby review.
- Want self-custody and willing to do a bit more setup? Look at Phoenix.
FAQ
Are both wallets custodial? +
No — this is the biggest change recently. Wallet of Satoshi is fully custodial. Alby, however, pivoted away from custodial Alby in 2024 and now centers on Alby Hub, a self-custodial Lightning node. Alby Cloud is hosted Alby Hub at $9.90/month, but your keys stay on your device. The wallets now sit at opposite ends of the custody spectrum.
Will my Lightning Address keep working if I switch wallets? +
Not automatically. Lightning Addresses are tied to the hosting wallet's domain (e.g., name@walletofsatoshi.com or name@getalby.com). If you switch wallets, you get a new address. The durable solution is to host your own Lightning Address on your own domain via BTCPay Server or Alby Hub with a custom domain.
Which one has better Nostr support? +
Alby, by a wide margin. It was designed around Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) and integrates cleanly with most Nostr clients. Wallet of Satoshi has Lightning Address support but no native Nostr tooling.
Is Wallet of Satoshi available in the US? +
Not currently. Wallet of Satoshi was removed from US Apple and Google app stores in November 2023. A self-custodial version built on Spark is in beta as the pathway back to the US market, but is not the same product as classic WoS.