Many business types, like Payments Companies, Exchanges, Neo-Banks, are rapidly adopting Lightning Payments as the demand for faster, cheaper, and more efficient transactions grows. In recent years, leading crypto companies like Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, Paxful, Wallet of Satoshi, and Nubank integrated Lightning, driving significant growth across the Lightning Network. As adoption continues to accelerate, 2025 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for network expansion.
Many businesses are opting for Lightning payment providers instead of building their own infrastructure. Why? Providers offer faster time-to-market, reduced costs for implementation, and significantly lower ongoing maintenance expenses. Not to mention the expertise in the technology and the industry that providers, like Voltage, possess.
Among the companies leading the way in Lightning services are Voltage and Lightspark. Both offer solutions to help businesses integrate Lightning, but their solutions, pricing, and platforms vary significantly. Here’s a detailed comparison to help you choose the right partner for your Lightning payments needs.
The Teams Powering Voltage and Lightspark
When evaluating Lightning Network service providers, it’s important to understand the people and vision driving each company. Here’s a look at the teams behind Voltage and Lightspark:
Voltage:
Voltage was founded by long-time Bitcoin enthusiast Graham Krizek who has been actively working on the Lightning Network since its inception. Graham hired a team with deep knowledge of Bitcoin and dedication to the Lightning ecosystem. They built the first Lightning Network infrastructure product and a group of loyal early customers that eventually attracted funding from Craft Ventures, GV (former Google Ventures), Valor Equity Partners (early investors in Tesla), Trammel Venture Partners and Stillmark. Voltage has grown to become the largest provider for lightning payments.
Lightspark:
Lightspark, founded by David Marcus and others, emerged as a new player in the Bitcoin and Lightning ecosystem. Marcus, previously known for his role in leading Facebook’s ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful Libra project, pivoted to focus on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network as a platform for innovation.
Lightspark is backed by $170 million in investment from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). While the team is relatively new to Bitcoin, their approach highlights a desire to explore the network’s potential and leveraging its unique capabilities for scalable and efficient transactions.
Lightspark's efforts reflect a broader trend of institutional interest in Bitcoin and Lightning, emphasizing the growing recognition of its role in the future of payments. However, as with any new entrant, the effectiveness of their solutions and their long-term impact on the ecosystem remain to be seen.
Integration Simplicity: Voltage vs. Lightspark
When integrating Lightning Network solutions, the complexity of the process is a critical factor. Here's a comparison between Voltage and Lightspark:
Voltage:
- Standard APIs: Voltage utilizes standard REST and gRPC APIs, aligning with common industry practices. This approach facilitates straightforward integration for developers familiar with these protocols. Additionally, it enables customers to leverage a large list of SDKs and tools that already exist.
Voltage Cloud Docs - REST API
Voltage Cloud Docs - LND Node API
Lightspark:
- Complex APIs: Lightspark employs a proprietary API set which only supports gRPC with limited SDK options. This necessitates extensive custom development work, potentially increasing integration complexity and time.
Voltage's adherence to implementation native API protocols simplifies the integration process, making it more accessible for developers and reducing the need for extensive custom development. In contrast, Lightspark's custom APIs may lead to increased complexity and longer development timelines.
Value Comparison: Voltage vs. Lightspark
When evaluating Lightning Network service providers, understanding the pricing structures and support levels is crucial. Here's a comparison between Voltage and Lightspark:
Voltage:
- Pricing Plans: Voltage offers flexible pricing starting at $12,000 yearly tailored to various needs:
- Transaction-Only Plans: Allows customers to use Voltage with no commitment and only a transaction-fee model.
- Unlimited Plans: Allows customers to use Voltage for a single fixed licensing fee so they can facilitate an unlimited amount of transactions for a cost that approaches $0 on a per-transaction basis.
- Support: Voltage offers dedicated account experts with half a decade in experience managing Lightning nodes. This ensures robust support across all plans, with higher tiers receiving more personalized assistance, including dedicated Slack channels and infrastructure management. Ultimately, Voltage can be your outsourced Lightning team.
Lightspark:
- Pricing Plans: Lightspark's pricing is structured as follows:
- Starter Plan: No monthly platform access fee; charges a 0.50% transaction fee with a $300,000 monthly volume limit.
- Enterprise Plans: Costs can range from $108,000 to $270,000 yearly before transaction fees with included transaction volumes (e.g., $3 million or $15 million monthly volume) and transaction fees ranging from 0.15% to 0.30%.
- Support: The Starter Plan offers email support, while Enterprise Plans provide varying levels of support options.
Key Differentiator: Voltage offers dedicated account leads for personalized expert customer success. In contrast, Lightspark's Starter Plan limits support to email, potentially leading to slower response times and less personalized assistance.
Voltage's transparent pricing and commitment to dedicated support make it a compelling choice for businesses seeking reliable and responsive Lightning Network service.
Final Comparison: Voltage vs. Lightspark
As the Lightning Network continues to gain traction, the future of both Voltage and Lightspark depends on their ability to meet the needs of businesses looking to integrate Lightning payments. Here’s a breakdown of their focus and differentiation, along with a look at where these companies may be headed.
Comparison Breakdown
Voltage
- Fully focused on the growth and success of the Lightning Network.
- Offers a Lightning Success Playbook to help customers successfully adopt Lightning Payments including an industry leading UX guide to drive awareness and usage.
- Provides 24/7 Infrastructure Management and a Dedicated Account Lead for reliable support.
- Includes out-of-the-box support for Taproot Assets and custom extensibility.
- Builds solutions tailored to each customer’s needs.
- Voltage is SOC 2 Type II certified.
Lightspark
- Developing a proprietary L2 protocol, diverging from the Lightning Network.
- Offers limited support options, with basic email support for lower-tier plans.
- Relies on a rigid and non-standard API, making integrations more complex.
- High cost with no on-chain support or ability to apply custom logic to payments.
- Lacks support for Taproot Assets, limiting its extensibility and adoption within the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Future Outlook
- Voltage:
Voltage remains dedicated to the continued adoption of the Lightning Network, positioning itself as the go-to Lightning platform for payments. With upcoming products like built-in on/off ramps and stablecoin support over Lightning, Voltage is doubling down on innovation within the Bitcoin ecosystem. This forward-thinking approach ensures Voltage will remain a trusted partner for businesses adopting Lightning payments. - Lightspark:
Lightspark’s future direction is less clear. The company has shifted focus to building a new proprietary Layer 2 protocol “Spark”, which is based on the centralized technology called statechains. This divergence from Bitcoin-native solutions raises questions about its commitment to Lightning and its alignment with businesses focused on Bitcoin adoption.
Conclusion
Voltage has unmatched dedication to Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, Voltage and provides the tools, expertise, and support that exchanges and neo-banks need to craft their unique payment solutions.
Lightspark, with its shift toward a proprietary L2, offers a larger suite of features like on/off ramps and foreign currency exchange for those willing to invest in their proprietary architecture.
