Relai vs RoboSats

Relai, founded in 2020 in Zürich, Switzerland, is an app designed for beginners to buy and save Bitcoin easily. It stands out from competitors with its non-custodial wallet, meaning users control their Bitcoin via a 12-word seed phrase. After purchasing Bitcoin, it will be directly sent to your wallet.

Relai offers purchases starting at €50 | 54,205 sats, one free buy up to €100 | 108,409 sats monthly, until you hit €1200. After that you pay a 1% fee for any transaction. For businesses and wealthy individuals Relai offers personal service and expert guidance.

Its app, rated 4.5 stars on iOS, is praised by users for simple onboarding and smooth navigation, though some users report verification delays or high card fees. Relai focuses on privacy and self-custody, with optional KYC for small transactions.

Its vision is to make Bitcoin saving accessible across Europe, with plans to add Lightning Network support for faster payments. Beginners love its straightforward design and security, but it's limited to Europe and lacks advanced savings features.

RoboSats is a privacy‑first, Lightning‑native peer‑to‑peer exchange for buying and selling bitcoin with fiat. It is open‑source, requires no registration or KYC, and runs primarily over Tor (with I2P and an Android app available). Each trade uses a one‑time “robot” identity tied to a secret token you control, and all peer chat is end‑to‑end encrypted with PGP. The flow is simple: make or take an order, both sides lock small Lightning bonds, the seller locks a Lightning hold‑invoice escrow, fiat moves, then sats are released.

What separates RoboSats is how deeply privacy and safety are built into the mechanics rather than bolted on. One‑trade identities reduce linkability across orders, PGP‑sealed chat prevents metadata leakage, and Lightning hold invoices act as both escrow and fidelity bonds to discourage cancellations and fraud. Pricing is transparent and market‑relative, fees are low at 0.2% split between maker and taker, and optional on‑chain payouts are handled via swaps. Clear best‑practice guides help users pick lower‑risk fiat rails and avoid chargeback traps.

The ideal audience is anyone who wants fast, low‑fee, no‑KYC bitcoin for modest amounts and is comfortable using Tor and a compatible Lightning wallet. Trade sizes are tuned to what routes reliably on Lightning today, which suits frequent smaller buys and sells. The UI is straightforward once you learn the token/robot model, and the documentation walks through wallet compatibility, order timing, disputes, and payment‑method hygiene to keep trades quick and clean.

RoboSats’ vision is to keep P2P bitcoin simple, private, and resilient, with a path toward a federated network of coordinators sharing a unified order book to reduce single‑operator risk while preserving the familiar UX.