I can totally relate to this. It seems like you can't really rely on any provider. And that "run your own node" argument doesn't cut it. I personally have not time and not enough use cases (except zapping here) to invest into an LN node.
Discussion
In defense of the run-your-own-node argument: it works.
If youāre looking for custodial zaps, consider Primal. They havenāt discontinued service yet.
Not in every case. I see a lot of notes here complaining about false configs or shortages. And opening a channel costs. So it's really not a no-brainer.
Agreed itās not trivial. But it also doesnāt get discontinued without notice.
Iāve been running the same friends-and-family Lightning node for 5 years, with LndHUB service for Blue Wallet clients.
You're right that's the way to go. I have to step up and become Uncle Jim, and rely on the likes of Blue for reasonable UX/UI.
I've been running a raspiblitz forever, not the most reliable hardware or intuitive software, but maybe I'll take another look in Q1.
What's your node setup nostr:nprofile1qqsxzsz83jdwztcapd2qulzhspnyjvn6jxcypvrl0w3aahp40j4smfgpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqzyrhwden5te0dehhxarj9emkjmn976av6t?
My friends-and-family Lightning server is a BTCPayServer hosted by Luna node. If you want to go this route, itās pretty easy. Instructions: https://docs.btcpayserver.org/Deployment/LunaNode/
My instance size is c.1, for the storage space. It had been some smaller/cheaper VM, but I ran out of storage after ~4 years and had to upgrade. The upgrade process was painlessāhandled entirely from LunaNodeās web UI.
The LndHUB plugin isnāt installed in BTCPayServer by default, but itās easy to enable. Once you have that, you can use Blue Wallet to create custodial accounts. The Blue Wallet user funds their wallet using an onchain TX, then immediately has a Lightning balance to use.
BTCPayServer comes with Ride the Lightning (RTL) and ThunderHub. Either can be used for channel management. I tend to use ThunderHub, but Iāve used both.
You can also connect to your BTCPayServer Lightning node from Zeus for mobile management. I use this to check on flows in-and-out and to make sure I still have enough liquidity.
When I send zaps, itās from Damus. Clicking the zap button opens Blue Wallet, which uses the above for the outgoing zap. For incoming zaps, they donāt appear in Blue Wallet, but they do appear in Zeus, because my zap address is my BTCPayServer. Since Iām the only person currently receiving zaps, this works for me.
I havenāt looked deeply into what it would take to have friends-and-family zap receipts. Iām sure thereās a way to do it, maybe LNbits? Maybe someday Iāll figure it out.