Wallet of Satoshi doesn't do swaps, it's a fully custodial wallet. Fees for lightning are unaffected by high on chain fees, but your not actually in control of your sats, they are. Best to be used for small amounts only, then move to a self custody wallet once the amount is high enough.

Muun uses swaps, and is self custody. Aqua wallet is another option that uses swaps as well, but on the liquid L2 network, and therefore has lower fees.

You're definitely on the right track. There are many types of Lightning wallets, and they work a bit differently based on how they interface with the network and the user.

Some are fully custodial like nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcpz9mhxue69uhk6mnv9emrqmpwd9hj7qpqhcwcj72tlyk7thtyc8nq763vwrq5p2avnyeyrrlwxrzuvdl7j3use4zreu and nostr:nprofile1qyx8wumn8ghj7cnjvghxjmcpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqqgzn9kpsmllqnsf7wh5tz3wgy4cclsftqqplv8tpayrhwgw8llunevgnmdf3, and others are mostly or fully self-custodial, like nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7ct5d3shxtnwdaehgu3wd3skueqpzemhxue69uhky6t5vdhkjmn9wgh8xmmrd9skcqpqxnf02f60r9v0e5kty33a404dm79zr7z2eepyrk5gsq3m7pwvsz2s7szjpe, nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qqsyv47lazt9h6ycp2fsw270khje5egjgsrdkrupjg27u796g7f5k0s0pfy4z, and Phoenix. I wouldn't put Muun in the category of a Lightning wallet, but it does offer a higher degree of self custody than WoS.

You have a choice on how you want to use them, and you can always use more than one, since there are usually some trade-offs either in features or security.

I think you will like Alby and NWC, and there are some easy ways to boostrap onto it without running your own node to start. Check out how nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqyw8wumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytfsxyh8jcttd95x7mnwv5hxxmmdqqszpxr0hql8whvk6xyv5hya7yxwd4snur4hu4mg5rctz2ehekkzrvcsuxfmc has implemented their wallet. It's technically custodial, since it depends on their Alby Hub, but I like that it lets you spin up a Lightning address quickly and it can be connected directly to Alby Go and most Nostr clients.

Also check out the newest release from nostr:nprofile1qyt8wumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgtcpzamhxue69uhkvun2daekstnwdaehgu339e3k7mgqyzt3r5dt4qr28g59lulg05t4jqkz7fg8gxrqm8r9jq7gkh5x867cz3f3ytq which uses Liquid swaps instead of channels, and I hear is looking to implement NWC soon.

Have you tried Aqua? I like it a lot. Very simple and user friendly

nostr:nprofile1qqsda2memtapc2lykjnd8t9px4ake2stw39lg6k49xj6u3jz3pteu6qpz9mhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejj7qgmwaehxw309amk7apwv3hhwmnfwdhkuargv46hqtnrvyhsz9thwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjme0qydk9r is correct about WoS.

The new version of nostr:nprofile1qqsfwyw34w5qdgazshlnap73wkgzcte9qaqcvrvuvkgrez67scltmqgpzamhxue69uhkvun2daekstnwdaehgu339e3k7mgpzemhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgqghwaehxw309aex2mrp0yhxummnw3exxm3wvdhk6zylwpx (Misty Breez) is a self custodial Lightning wallet and supports Lightning addresses, BOLT12 and more. It's still in early access but looks promising

A lot of people have responded about the WoS difference so I won't go there... But the reasoning behind Alby:

If you run your own node like a start9 server or umbrel... Alby hub let's you get more under the hood with channel management and take advantage of their partners for inbound liquidity. Zeus itself requires channel management as well.

With Alby hub you can link your hub to their servers just with an account. This gets you access to a LNURL username@getalby.com. This doesn't allow them access to your node, it's just for routing purposes only. You can also link it to your phone with Alby Go. Spend from your own node from anywhere.

So you can receive payments without needing to generate an invoice. I had access to old PCs at work which allowed me to build a start9 server for about $150. I really like their interface and I've not tried Umbrel.

You can use Zeus to get a LNURL as well, the only problem I found was setting up a channel earlier was much more difficult. I think it has gotten better now though.

I always thought Lightning was built to make bitcoin easie, more convenient amd faster to transact. I thought it would make life easier to onboard newbies but its been a nightmare tbh. From my experience so far it's been a web of experimentation and is just as technical as layer 1, if not worse.

https://darthcoin.substack.com/p/lightning-wallets-comparison

nostr:nprofile1qqspnzgrfett3asxcuj0gksje6z2zxzpvgd27uvz58m9vsuqh8zzw6cprdmhxue69uhkvet9v3ejumn0wd68ytnzv9hxgtm5dah8jqgkwaehxw309a3x2arp9ehx7um5wf5kctnrv9ks9s5de4 has tutorials for custodial and self custodial Lightning wallets 🤙🏽

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxdf8G0kzsUUE7HHNTGTWBFxzt2oudiyS&feature=shared