user-1: I know that software for the Lightning Network can only be used with testnet and not with real Bitcoin yet.
I'm trying to choose one LN software among C-Lightning, ACINQ, AmikoPay, Thunder, Lit and Lnd in order to study and test it. What are the main differences between them?
Thank you!

user60707: Obivously, the question and this answer are subjective based on personal experiences. I've only used LND and C-Lightning, which are arguably the most popular. The following is a summary of my experiences:
LND
LND is built in GO and requires a special version of Bitcoin built in GO as well. The install process is well documented and pretty straightforward. However, I had issues with configuring Glide, which is required to install the dependencies. Additionally, I was hesitant to rely on the GO version of Bitcoin to stay supported. Supposedly, there's a pull request to make the changes needed in the Core version, but still... I considered it a risk. Once past the dependency issues, LND worked great. I would have continued using it, but I wanted to try other implementations.
C-Lightning
Since I run Core's version of Bitcoin and prefer my daemons to be in C (again, an objective position based on personal experiences), I tried C-Lightning next. There weren't any issues with installation on Ubuntu and it's been purring along since. The only problems I've had are around documentation, which I'd say LND has done a slightly better job with so far.

In summary, the above Lightning implementations are great and I would recommend either. Both have fantastic teams behind them and are consistently committing updates.
I ended up sticking with C-Lightning because it had the architecture and dependencies I'm most comfortable with and have the most experience with (Bitcoin Core and C). Since both implementations are still a work in progress and documentation is ongoing, I find myself continuously in the code figuring out errors and options. If I was more of a GO developer, I'd probably choose LND.

-1: <p>I know that software for the Lightning Network can only be used with testnet and not with real Bitcoin yet.</p>

<p>I'm trying to choose one LN software among C-Lightning, ACINQ, AmikoPay, Thunder, Lit and Lnd in order to study and test it. What are the main differences between them?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>
 60707: <p>Obivously, the question and this answer are subjective based on personal experiences. I've only used LND and C-Lightning, which are arguably the most popular. The following is a summary of my experiences:</p>

<p><a href="https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd" rel="nofollow noreferrer">LND</a></p>

<p>LND is built in GO and requires a special version of Bitcoin built in GO as well. The install process is well documented and pretty straightforward. However, I had issues with configuring Glide, which is required to install the dependencies. Additionally, I was hesitant to rely on the GO version of Bitcoin to stay supported. Supposedly, there's a pull request to make the changes needed in the Core version, but still... I considered it a risk. Once past the dependency issues, LND worked great. I would have continued using it, but I wanted to try other implementations.</p>

<p><a href="https://github.com/ElementsProject/lightning" rel="nofollow noreferrer">C-Lightning</a></p>

<p>Since I run Core's version of Bitcoin and prefer my daemons to be in C (again, an objective position based on personal experiences), I tried C-Lightning next. There weren't any issues with installation on Ubuntu and it's been purring along since. The only problems I've had are around documentation, which I'd say LND has done a slightly better job with so far.</p>

<hr>

<p>In summary, the above Lightning implementations are great and I would recommend either. Both have fantastic teams behind them and are consistently committing updates.</p>

<p>I ended up sticking with C-Lightning because it had the architecture and dependencies I'm most comfortable with and have the most experience with (Bitcoin Core and C). Since both implementations are still a work in progress and documentation is ongoing, I find myself continuously in the code figuring out errors and options. If I was more of a GO developer, I'd probably choose LND.</p>
