Bitcoin tip jar options compared
A bitcoin tip jar is anything that lets people send you a tip in bitcoin: a printed Lightning address, a page on your own server, a button or page from your wallet, or a hosted tip page. Every one of them gets the sats to you. What sets them apart is what the person tipping sees. Do they get amounts to tap, or a box to fill in? Can they add their name? Does anything tell them the tip arrived?
We read each product's own pages and code on 1 October 2026. Here is what a tipper meets on each route, a table to compare them, and which to pick. Search for a crypto tip jar and you'll also find address generators for several coins, so one of those is here too.
What the tipper sees
A bare Lightning address
You print your address, something like you@coinos.io, as a QR code. The tipper scans it and their own wallet takes over. A Lightning address only tells the wallet the smallest and largest amount you'll take, so the wallet asks the tipper to type an amount. If both wallets handle notes, they can add one. Their wallet shows the payment as sent, and that's the only confirmation. It's free, needs nothing else, and works with any Lightning wallet.
LNbits Tip Jar
LNbits is free, open-source software for running Lightning wallets on a server. Its Tip Jar extension gives you a page headed "Tip your name some sats!" with three boxes: the tipper's name or contact (optional), an amount in sats, and a message. Submit opens a payment page with the invoice, which says "Payment received" when the tip lands and then returns to the jar. You need a wallet on an LNbits server, your own or a hosted one.
BTCPay Server: a pay button or a crowdfund
BTCPay Server is free, open-source payment software. You run it on your own server, from about $10 a month, or on a host's, free or paid, where Lightning is off by default. Its pay button goes on your website and can be one fixed amount, a box the tipper types into, or a slider between two amounts you set. Its crowdfund app is a whole page: a goal, the total raised, perks at set prices and an any-amount box. It can also ask contributors for details, through a form you build. Either way the tipper pays at BTCPay's checkout, which says "Invoice Paid" when it's done. BTCPay takes no cut.
A wallet's own pay page: Coinos and Alby
Some wallets give you a public page with the account. Coinos, a web wallet, puts a Pay button on coinos.io/yourname. The tipper types an amount on a keypad in your currency, can add a note, and sees "Payment received!" when it lands. Coinos says receiving is free.
Alby's page, at getalby.com/p/yourname, is closer to a tip jar. It reads "Leave a tip for" your name, offers 1k, 5k, 10k and 25k sats to tap or an amount to type, with its value in dollars, and has a message box. Once the tip lands it shows your thank-you. It needs an Alby account linked to a wallet such as Alby Hub, and Alby adds no fees to payments.
Blink's donate button
Blink, a wallet, makes a donate button you paste into your website. The tipper sees your Blink username, an amount box set to 1,000 sats with a currency menu, and a Donate Bitcoin button. They scan the QR that appears, and the widget says "Payment Successful. Thank you for donating." There's no name field. Since August 2026 the button also works with Blink's non-custodial accounts. It works with Blink addresses only, and Blink says it takes no cut and charges no service fee to receive over Lightning.
A tip jar link generator
PayRequest's free crypto tip jar generator turns a bitcoin, Solana or Base/Ethereum address into a QR code and a share link. Its bitcoin option asks for an on-chain address; there's no Lightning option. The tipper gets a QR code and a copy button. You can show an amount, but it's for information only: the QR doesn't carry it. PayRequest says the page doesn't track or confirm payments. A live page needs a free PayRequest account.
Bitcoin Tip Jar
This site puts a tip page in front of your Lightning address. The tipper sees your name, the amounts you chose with their dollar values, an Other tile for their own number, and a box for their name if your wallet takes notes. They tap an amount and pay the invoice in their wallet. If your wallet confirms payments, the page shows Paid ✓ as the tip lands; with Wallet of Satoshi, Strike or ZBD the tip still arrives, but the page can't tell. There's no account and nothing to host. Claiming a short link asks for an email so it can send you your edit link. Tips go straight from their wallet to yours, and we take no cut of your tips.
Older guides also point to Geyser. Its guide now says you can no longer create a standard project or public fundraiser there.
Side by side
Each row was read on 1 October 2026 from the product's own pages and code.
| Route | Amounts to tap | Tipper's name | Paid confirmation | Account needed | Hosting | Fee | Date read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bare Lightning address | No, they type one | If both wallets take a note | Their wallet shows it sent | Any Lightning wallet | None | Your wallet's own | 1 Oct 2026 |
| LNbits Tip Jar | No, a box in sats | Yes, with a message | Yes, "Payment received" | An LNbits wallet | An LNbits server, yours or hosted | None | 1 Oct 2026 |
| BTCPay Server | One amount, a box, a slider or perks | Crowdfund only, through a form | Yes, "Invoice Paid" | Your own server, or a host's | From about $10 a month, or a host | None | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Coinos pay page | No, a keypad | A note, if they add one | Yes, "Payment received!" | A Coinos account | None | Free to receive | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Alby tip page | 1k, 5k, 10k, 25k, or type one | In the message box | Yes, your thank-you | An Alby account and a linked wallet | None for the page | 0% added | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Blink donate button | No, a box set to 1,000 sats | No | Yes, "Payment Successful" | A Blink account | A snippet on your site | None to receive | 1 Oct 2026 |
| PayRequest (on-chain) | No | No | No | A free account for a live page | None | Free | 1 Oct 2026 |
| Bitcoin Tip Jar | Yours, with dollar values, plus Other | Yes, if your wallet takes notes | Paid ✓, if your wallet confirms | Any Lightning wallet; an email to claim a short link | None | No cut of your tips | 1 Oct 2026 |
Which to pick
- You already run BTCPay Server or LNbits. Use it. Both are free software, take no cut and tell the tipper the payment arrived. BTCPay's crowdfund suits a goal with perks.
- You have a website and a Blink wallet. Blink's button takes about a minute to set up and says when each donation lands.
- Between friends, or for a one-off. A bare Lightning address is enough.
- A counter, a stall or a stream. People tip in seconds there, so amounts to tap matter most. Alby's tip page has four. A jar from this site has the amounts you choose, Paid ✓ with a wallet that confirms payments, and a poster to print. Claim a short link before you print, so the poster keeps working if you change wallets.
- You take other coins too. A generator like PayRequest's makes a QR link for on-chain bitcoin, Solana or Ethereum, though nothing confirms the payment.
Setting one up
To make one, follow how to make a bitcoin tip jar. To pick a wallet that confirms payments and carries names, see the wallet table. And for why amounts to tap change what people leave, read why your bitcoin tip jar needs preset amounts.
Sources: the Lightning address specs LUD-06, LUD-12 and LUD-16; the LNbits site, Tip Jar donor page and payment page; BTCPay Server's apps guide, deployment costs and third-party hosting pages, and the release 2.4.4 code for its pay button, crowdfund and checkout; Coinos and its app and server code; Alby's tip page, pricing and account guide; Blink's donate button, August post, button code and fees; PayRequest's generator; Geyser's guide. All read on 1 October 2026. Fees and features are theirs to change.