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Lightning Network Daemon (LND) vs Eclair: catalog facts
Lightning Network Daemon (LND)	Eclair

Best for: Running your own self-custodial Bitcoin Lightning node	Best for: Operators running a Lightning node on the JVM
Free Free, open-source software with no paid tier.	Free Free and open source.
Self-hosted, Command line	Self-hosted, Command line
Widely used reference implementation of a Lightning node Self-custodial: you run the node and hold the keys Includes channel backup support Active development with a long commit history	Follows the Lightning Network specifications Docker image and build instructions included Grafana dashboard for monitoring
Requires technical knowledge to set up and maintain Needs a Bitcoin backend and an always-on machine No graphical interface of its own	Requires a Bitcoin node and technical setup Runs on the JVM, which some operators may not want
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Lightning Network Daemon (LND) github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Eclair github.com/ACINQ/eclair Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.