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Experiment with us - visit Alby Labs👨‍🔬⚗️🔬

Explore the innovative tools from Alby Labs designed to enhance your experience with the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Various unique tools that are results of our experiments with micropayments.

• 6 min read
Experiment with us - visit Alby Labs👨‍🔬⚗️🔬

In the evolving landscape of bitcoin lightning network, innovation often happens in unexpected places. Alby Labs is our name for a casual playground where we tinker with open technologies like WebLN and Nostr Wallet Connect, testing the boundaries of what's possible with lightning payments, and… having some fun! These tools and applications emerge from dedicated after-hours exploration by team members who share a vision of making the lightning network more accessible and practical for everyday use. Through these experiments, we're not just building tools; we're testing and shaping the future of how people interact with bitcoin and expand the scope of fun and useful things one can do with Alby products. 

Take a visit to our Alby Labs and find your own use for those various free tools that we released for you.

SATurn: Your Boostagram Command Center

SATurn enriches content creators’ outlook about their lightning network revenue streams. This dashboard tool provides detailed insights into your received boostagrams - those special lightning payments carrying messages from your audience. After connecting your Alby wallet, you can track top contributors, analyze which episodes resonate most with listeners, and watch live zaps roll in real-time. 

The platform offers comprehensive analytics that help creators understand their audience better, recognize their most engaged supporters, and track the performance of different content pieces. Designed for podcasters and content creators participating in Value-4-Value movement, can be used by anyone receiving zaps and regular lightning payments. 

SATurn is a nice extension to Alby’s set of products, providing more insights into lightning income streams, helping creators (and not only) make data-driven decisions about their content strategy.Fly to SATurn, explore your received boostagrams and zap comments at https://saturn.fly.dev

ZapPlanner: Automate Your Lightning

Managing recurring lightning payments doesn’t have to be complicated. ZapPlanner enables you to schedule regular transfers - perfect for subscriptions, creator support, or automated donations. Through Nostr Wallet Connect integration, you can set up payments like "100 sats every hour" or "1,000 sats per day" with minimal friction. 

This tool simplifies how we think about recurring payments in the lightning network ecosystem, making it possible to automate support for your favorite creators, maintain regular donations to open source projects, or handle recurring payments for services. The flexibility of ZapPlanner allows users to create custom payment schedules that match their needs, while the integration with Nostr Wallet Connect ensures secure and reliable transaction execution.

Visit ZapPlanner, connect your NWC wallet and set up regular payments to Lightning Address at https://zapplanner.albylabs.com/

PkgZap: Supporting Open Source Development, One Sat at a Time

This npm package allows reimbursing developers of dependencies used in your code for their work.

PkgZap brings Value-4-Value to the ecosystem of open source code development. This clever tool allows developers to tip the maintainers of their project dependencies using bitcoin lightning. By adding a lightning address to your package.json, you make it possible for others to support your work. 

One simple command - npx @getalby/pkgzap-cli - is all it takes to distribute sats across your dependency tree. The tool analyses your project's dependencies, identifies packages with lightning addresses, and facilitates the distribution of payments to multiple developers simultaneously. PkgZap creates a direct support channel between developers and users, encouraging sustainable open-source development through micro-payments. Package maintainers can easily participate by adding their lightning address to their package.json file, making their work eligible for receiving tips from grateful users.

Tip the developer whose work you use and let yourself be tipped! Visit https://pkgzap.albylabs.com/ to learn more and participate in Value-4-Value movement.

BuzzPay: Lightning-Fast Point of Sale

Simple, minimalistic and very quick point-of-sale web app that lets you easily and securely receive payments.

For merchants seeking simplicity, BuzzPay delivers a streamlined point-of-sale solution that prioritizes speed and security. This minimalist PoS connects to lightning wallets through Nostr Wallet Connect in read-only mode, making it ideal for bars, shops, and festivals. Its intuitive keypad interface ensures quick transactions without compromising security. Each PoS created with BuzzPay also generates an individual URL that makes it very easy to onboard any seller or a whole team of waiters!

Start one interface on your own, sell goods and services for bitcoin or onboard local merchant at https://pos.albylabs.com/

Bitcoin Lightning Publisher: Monetize Your WordPress Content

Next tool from Alby Labs is a… Wordpress plugin. Bitcoin Lightning Publisher enables content creators to implement paywalls, receive donations, and participate in the value-for-value ecosystem. It supports various payment models, from pay-per-post to time-based access, all powered by the lightning network's instant microtransactions. The plugin offers extensive customization options, including crowdfunding features, time-based access controls, and multiple currency support with real-time exchange rates. Content creators can configure paywalls using either shortcodes or Gutenberg blocks, and the plugin integrates seamlessly with existing WordPress setups. It ensures one-click payments for users, while supporting multiple Lightning node connections provides flexibility in how creators receive their payments.

Install it on your Wordpress website and start earning satoshis on your content: https://wordpress.org/plugins/bitcoin-lightning-publisher/

WebLN Experiments: The Developer's Playground

This collection of WebLN tools serves as both a testing ground and inspiration source for developers. From simple lightning address payments to sophisticated donation widgets, these experiments showcase the potential of browser-based lightning interactions.

Created by our cofounder René, this platform allows users to test various WebLN capabilities, including invoice generation, keysend payments with attached messages, scroll-to-earn mechanisms, and lightning authentication. Developers can generate and implement donation widgets for their websites, while users can experiment with different lightning network functionalities in a safe, controlled environment.

Play around on your own, test your Alby Extension, create a widget to accept bitcoin payments on your own website at https://webln.twentyuno.net/

ZappyBird: Gaming timekiller Bitcoin-Connect

A lightning-powered twist on the classic Flappy Bird, ZappyBird demonstrates how games can integrate with Bitcoin payments. Each jump costs sats, paid directly from your own wallet - a great showcase of micropayments and Nostr Wallet Connect.  

This game serves as both entertainment and a practical demonstration of how the lightning network can be integrated into interactive experiences. Through simple game mechanics combined with real bitcoin transactions, ZappyBird provides the simplest example of how traditional gaming concepts can be enhanced with micropayments, paving the way for new forms of interactive entertainment.

Kill your time and donate some bitcoins to our creative developer Roland, who created this in his spare time to demonstrate the power of Bitcoin Connect at https://rolznz.github.io/zappy-bird/

Why Experiment with Alby Labs?

By experimenting with different use cases and interfaces, we're learning how to make bitcoin payments more accessible and intuitive for everyone and what use cases can these technologies cater to. Each tool addresses specific needs within the ecosystem, from content monetization to merchant solutions, creating a comprehensive toolkit for lightning network utilization. Spending some effort on Alby Labs helps us understand user needs better, identify technical challenges, and develop solutions that make Alby (and the whole ecosystem) more practical for everyday use.

We encourage you to explore these tools, test their capabilities, and perhaps find unexpected ways to incorporate them into your projects or daily activities. nnovation starts with experimentation, and these tools provide the perfect starting point for your journey into the world of bitcoin payments.

Alby Labs also embraces the open-source ethos that's fundamental to bitcoin's philosophy. Our repositories are publicly available, documented, and welcome contributions from developers worldwide. If you want to enhance existing features, fix bugs, or experiment with new Lightning Network implementations - please do! - you'll find a collaborative community ready to support your journey. Together, even in such small steps, we can drive the innovation of bitcoin payments forward.