Lago

What it is for

Lago is an open-source usage-billing desk: you open a customer, and self-host of the public app is $0. Use it when the job is plans, usage, and invoices you can start at $0, not when you need a $20 chat seat.

What makes it unique: the cover is the official Lago customer billing overview (Tammy Jones / tammy, Premium+ Active 1 Apr 2024, $443.21 gross / $373.21 overdue on 4 invoices) from the docs still — not a pricing card. The totals themselves are ops of Customers. Lago Cloud is request-an-account (no invented Cloud $). Self-host open source is $0.

Key features

• Customers — a billable account you open (cover still; docs). One customer. Cover Tammy Jones, external id tammy, and USD sit here.
• Invoices — a document you finalize and collect (cover 6 invoices / 4 overdue; docs). An invoice, not a customer. Cover $443.21 / $373.21 sit here.
• Plans — a price you assign to a customer (cover Premium+; docs). A plan, not an invoice. Cover subscription Active 1 Apr 2024 sits here.
• Billable metrics — a usage unit you meter (cover Billable metrics nav). A metric, not a plan. Events you ingest land here.
• Wallets / prepaid credits — a balance you sell up front and apply to invoices (docs; cover Wallets tab). A wallet, not a metric.

The API / CLI / SDK is install. Coupons and add-ons are options of Plans. Lago Cloud vs self-host is the deploy. Progressive billing on the official video is ops of Invoices / usage, not a sixth desk.

Who it's for

Best fit: finance-plus-eng teams who will stay on self-host $0 while they open a first customer billing overview, then request Lago Cloud when they want Lago to run ClickHouse / Kafka and SOC 2 for them.

Pricing

Verified 2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) from getlago.com/pricing plus the Cloud docs. The public HTML we fetched does not print a Cloud dollar tile. Self-host of the open-source edition is $0. Cloud is request an account / book a demo.

• Self-host (open source) — $0. You run the app. Premium features (invoice previews, extra entities, some integrations) are add-ons — do not invent those dollars.
• Lago Cloud — hosted Premium in US or EU. Set up by Lago’s team. Do not invent a Cloud dollar.
• Enterprise / add-ons (SSO, RBAC, NetSuite, Xero, AI assistants) — available on request. Do not invent a dollar.

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Limitations / costs

• Cloud has no printed public $. If you need a hosted invoice desk with a $ tile, look at Autumn’s $0 / $375 cards.
• Self-host $0 means you run ClickHouse / Kafka (or Postgres-only). Cloud is the managed pipeline.
• A billing desk, not a payments processor. Stripe / Adyen still collect. For Polar’s $0 / 1% merchant see Polar.

Alternatives

• Polar — merchant-of-record when you want Polar’s $0 / 1% tiles, not Lago invoices.
• Autumn — hosted usage billing when you want printed $0 / $375 Cloud tiles.
• Stripe is not in this catalog — for a hosted subscription UI already listed see Kinde Billing.

Official tutorial

Official Lago channel video: Introducing Progressive Billing: A Revolution in Usage-Based Billing (oEmbed author: Lago). First-party product clip; the customer billing overview still is the cover. Progressive billing on the video is ops of Invoices, not a second listing.

Written path: getlago.com/pricing plus the customer billing still.

Website

https://getlago.com

Repository

https://github.com/getlago/lago

Source

Catalog row curated for AI Tools Nav. Cover is the official Lago customer billing overview from the docs still. Dollars checked on getlago.com/pricing and Cloud docs (self-host OSS $0; Cloud request-an-account, no invented $). Tutorial oEmbed author: Lago.

Last verified

2026-10-23 (Asia/Shanghai) editorial check.