The Biomembrane Force Probe, BFP, is a sensitive technique that allows the quantification of single molecular bonds. It is a versatile tool that can be used in a wide range of forces (0.1 pN to 1 nN) and loading rates (1–10⁶ pN/s). This article describes the principle of the BFP technique, how to set it up and its various advantages. In order to show that this technique is a powerful tool that can be used on a wide range of systems, two different types of applications are presented. The first example shows how the energy landscape of a single bond can be deduced from the measurements on a well defined pair: the streptavidin–biotin couple. The second example presents a case where cell–cell interactions can be probed at the molecular level: mammalian gametes interactions.