Alby

Bitcoin Lightning wallet and Nostr signer in your browser. Send sats and sign events without exposing your keys.

Overview

Alby is a browser extension that brings Lightning payments and Nostr to the web. It acts as both a Bitcoin wallet and a Nostr key manager, enabling seamless payments and authentication across compatible websites.

Key Features

Lightning Payments

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    Alby Extension                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                          │
│  💰 Balance: 50,000 sats                                │
│                                                          │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│  │  Website requests payment                           ││
│  │  ⚡ 1,000 sats to merchant                          ││
│  │                                                      ││
│  │  [Approve]  [Deny]  [Set Budget]                   ││
│  └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│                                                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

• WebLN support — Pay invoices from any WebLN-enabled site
• LNURL — Auth, pay, and withdraw
• QR scanning — Pay Lightning invoices
• Budgets — Set spending limits per site
• On-chain — Swap to on-chain via deezy.io

Nostr Integration (NIP-07)

Sign Nostr events without sharing your nsec:

// Website requests signature
const pubkey = await window.nostr.getPublicKey();
const signedEvent = await window.nostr.signEvent(event);

// Alby handles the signing
// Website never sees your private key

Features:

• Multiple accounts — Separate Nostr identities
• Per-site permissions — Control which sites can sign
• Event filtering — Approve by event kind
• Key derivation — Generate keys from seed

Wallet Flexibility

Wallet Type	Description
Alby Wallet	Custodial, instant setup
Alby Hub	Self-custodial Lightning node
LND	Connect your own node
Core Lightning	Connect your own node
Umbrel	One-click connection
Start9	Embassy integration
NWC	Any NWC-compatible wallet

Budgets & Permissions

Set granular controls:

Site: primal.net
├── Lightning budget: 1,000 sats/day
├── Nostr signing: Allowed
│   ├── Kind 1 (posts): Auto-approve
│   ├── Kind 4 (DMs): Ask each time
│   └── Kind 7 (reactions): Auto-approve
└── Session: Remember for 7 days

Installation

Browser Extensions

Browser	Link
Chrome	Chrome Web Store
Firefox	Firefox Add-ons
Edge	Chrome Web Store (compatible)
Brave	Chrome Web Store (compatible)

Mobile

• Alby Go — Companion mobile app for payments

Usage

Initial Setup

1. Install extension
2. Create account or connect existing wallet
3. Import Nostr key or generate new one
4. Start using compatible sites

Paying with Lightning

1. Visit WebLN-enabled site
2. Click "Pay with Lightning"
3. Alby popup shows amount
4. Approve payment
5. Done!

Signing Nostr Events

1. Visit Nostr client (Snort, Coracle, etc.)
2. Click "Login with Extension"
3. Alby requests permission
4. Grant access
5. Events sign automatically (per your settings)

Tipping on Social Media

Alby adds tipping buttons to:

• Twitter/X
• YouTube
• GitHub
• Reddit
• Substack

Alby Hub

Self-custodial Lightning node for power users:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      Alby Hub                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                          │
│  Your own Lightning node                                │
│  ├── Full custody of funds                              │
│  ├── Channel management                                 │
│  ├── NWC connections                                    │
│  └── Works with browser extension                       │
│                                                          │
│  Deploy on:                                             │
│  ├── Umbrel                                             │
│  ├── Start9                                             │
│  ├── VPS                                                │
│  └── Local machine                                      │
│                                                          │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

NWC (Nostr Wallet Connect)

Connect any NWC wallet to Alby extension:

// NWC connection string
nostr+walletconnect://pubkey?relay=wss://relay&secret=secret

// Extension uses this to communicate with wallet
// Payments route through your connected wallet

Security

Feature	Description
Local storage	Keys encrypted on device
No key export	Private keys never leave extension
Per-site budgets	Limit potential exposure
Permission prompts	User approval required
Open source	Auditable code

Supported Platforms

Lightning

• Any WebLN website
• LNURL-enabled services
• Lightning Address payments

Nostr

• Snort
• Coracle
• Nostrudel
• Primal (web)
• Habla
• Any NIP-07 client

Recent Updates (2025)

• Onchain swaps — Via deezy.io integration
• Faster injection — Improved window.nostr/webln
• NWC enhancements — View pending/failed transactions
• Multiple languages — Sinhalese, Tamil, Russian

Comparison

Feature	Alby	nos2x	Flamingo
Lightning	Yes	No	No
Nostr signing	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multi-account	Yes	Yes	No
Self-custody option	Yes	N/A	N/A
Open source	Yes	Yes	Yes

Links

• Website: getalby.com
• GitHub: getAlby/lightning-browser-extension
• Guides: guides.getalby.com
• Alby Hub: albyhub.com

See Also

• Nostr Protocol — The protocol
• Amber — Android signer
• Snort — Web client
• Habla — Long-form content