Lago is an open-source billing platform for usage-based, subscription, and hybrid pricing, aimed at SaaS and AI teams that bill on consumption. It combines real-time usage metering, plan management, invoicing, and payment orchestration behind one API, and suits teams that want billing logic they can self-host and control.[1]
Quick verdict
SaaS and AI teams billing on consumption will get the most from Lago, especially when billing data must stay self-hosted. Its open-source platform meters usage events in real time and turns them into subscriptions, prepaid credits, entitlements, taxed multi-currency invoices, and processor collection through one API. The price of that control is engineering ownership: API-first setup needs developers, managed Cloud pricing is sales-led rather than a published monthly figure, and Lago never settles money itself. If you can own billing as code under AGPLv3, choose Lago; if setup must stay developer-light, evaluate the published incumbent Autumn first.[1][2]
Key features
Real-time usage metering: bill API calls, tokens, compute, seats, and custom dimensions from event streams as they happen.[1][2]
Subscription, usage-based, prepaid, and hybrid pricing in one platform: fixed fees, pay-as-you-go, credits, and hybrid plans without separate billing tools.[1]
Invoicing with taxes, credit notes, and multi-currency: rated usage becomes compliant invoices with adjustments and collections attached.[1]
Prepaid credits and entitlements: sell credit packs, draw usage against balances, and gate features by plan entitlements.[1]
Payment collection through Stripe, Adyen, and GoCardless: Lago orchestrates billing while the processor settles the charge.[1]
Revenue analytics: billed revenue, MRR movement, and plan mix from the same metering and invoice data.[1]
REST API with OpenAPI spec plus JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and Go SDKs: define plans and send events from code, with signed webhooks and a CLI for operations.[1]
Self-hosted AGPLv3 core or managed Cloud: run the open-source codebase in your own VPC or on-premise with Docker, with SSO, role-based access, and audit logs on platform access.[1][2]
Who will love it
SaaS and AI teams billing on consumption: tokens, API calls, compute, or seats metered in real time into plans and invoices.[1][2]
Teams that must self-host billing data: the AGPLv3 codebase runs in your own VPC or on-premise instead of a vendor-hosted ledger.[1][2]
Developers owning billing as code: plans, events, entitlements, and dunning flow through the API, SDKs, webhooks, and CLI.[1][2]
Who should avoid it
Teams without developers to spare: API-first setup needs engineering for plans, events, and billing operations.[1][2]
Buyers wanting a published monthly Cloud price today: managed and Premium pricing is sales-led and could not be verified as a monthly figure on the official pages.[1]
Teams wanting a built-in payment processor: Lago orchestrates collection through Stripe, Adyen, or GoCardless and does not settle money itself.[1]
Alternatives and compatibility
Autumn is the published catalogue incumbent; the choice turns on Lago's self-hosted, event-metered billing-platform scope versus Autumn's narrower developer-light billing fit, with full incumbent comparison pending its own evidence.[1]
Portability facts: the open-source core is AGPLv3 with 10,651 stars and 54 contributors, Docker self-hosting is documented, and the same codebase also runs as managed Cloud.[1][2]
If you need self-hosted, event-metered billing with prepaid credits and entitlements behind one API, choose Lago; if billing setup must stay developer-light, evaluate the incumbent first.[1]
Questions worth asking
What is the best Lago alternative for non-technical users?
Teams without developers will struggle with Lago alone, because plans, metering, and billing logic are configured through the API and event pipeline. Evaluate the published catalogue incumbent Autumn as the named candidate where a simpler developer-light billing setup is the goal.[1]
Is Lago really no-code?
How much does Lago cost per month?
The open-source codebase is free to self-host under AGPLv3 with no licence fee; managed Lago Cloud and self-hosted Premium carry vendor pricing that is sales-led and not published as a monthly figure on the pages checked. Lago itself is not a payment processor, so Stripe, Adyen, or GoCardless processing fees apply separately. Prices checked October 9, 2026.[1][2]
Sources and editorial review
Source research. Reviewed on October 9, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.
We have not run or tested this product.
- Lago official site
official · Observed October 9, 2026
Official homepage: open-source usage-based billing scope, metering, subscriptions, prepaid, invoicing, payment orchestration, self-host or Cloud, API, SSO and audit.
- Lago README (official repository)
official · Observed October 9, 2026
Official repository: The open-source billing platform, AGPLv3, 10,651 stars, 54 contributors, 765 forks, Docker self-hosting, SDKs, webhooks, CLI, v1.53.0.
Compared with these products
No explicit proprietary baseline is recorded.