Overview

Lago connects product usage and commercial terms to customer invoices. Alongside recurring invoices, online payments, reminders, multi-currency invoicing, and a client portal, it supports subscription, usage-based, prepaid, and hybrid billing. That range is useful when a customer’s bill needs to track changing consumption as well as fixed commitments; a company with only a simple fixed subscription may find the broader billing setup unnecessary.

Quotes and order forms can capture commercial terms, while entitlements and quotas set usage boundaries. Prepaid credits and itemized invoices help account for consumption and show how charges add up. These capabilities give teams room to shape complex billing, but require them to connect product activity and terms to the billing workflow.

Key features

Usage metering and integrations

For AI products, Lago can meter input, output, and cached tokens separately, then attribute usage to customers for billing. That separation is valuable when token categories need distinct billing treatment. Listed AI integrations include OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS Bedrock, Google Gemini, Mistral, Ramp Router, Snowflake Cortex, Databricks AI Gateway, and Cloudflare AI Gateway. Payments and finance integrations include Adyen, GoCardless, Stripe, NetSuite, Xero, Anrok, Avalara, HubSpot, and Salesforce.

Developer access and controls

Applications can connect through a REST API, official JavaScript, Python, Ruby, and Go SDKs, and signed webhooks. This makes Lago a natural fit for teams integrating billing into a product rather than relying only on a standalone billing interface. Lago states that it is SOC 2 Type II certified and undergoes regular third-party penetration tests. It also describes single sign-on, role-based access controls, and audit logs, which matter for organizations managing access to billing operations.

Deployment and support

Premium can run in the cloud or be self-hosted; Lago also says it can be run on-premises or in a VPC. Premium includes platform support, business-hours incident management, and implementation guidance. 24x7 incident management and an assigned solution engineer are on-demand add-ons, so teams needing those services should account for them separately.

Pricing

Open source

The Open source plan costs 0.00 USD per free and is AGPLv3-licensed for self-hosted deployment. Open-source self-hosted is also priced at 0.00 USD per free, under AGPLv3, with deployment on your own infrastructure. These are the no-license-cost options for teams prepared to operate Lago themselves; they do not provide the Premium support package described for the paid offering.

Lago Premium

Lago Premium has custom pricing, provided after contacting Lago, and is available as cloud or self-hosted deployment. It is the relevant option for organizations seeking Lago’s Premium support and deployment choices, but buyers should clarify costs before committing. Some features are add-ons or subject to caps, including billing entities and data pipeline volume, so teams should confirm how their expected scale and requirements affect the price.

Platforms

Lago supports API, self-hosted, and web platforms. The combination gives developers integration routes and organizations deployment flexibility; self-hosting entails running it on their own infrastructure, while Premium also offers cloud deployment.

Who it's for

Lago describes its audience as engineering, product, finance, and operations teams, including fast-growing AI companies and global enterprises. It is especially suitable when teams need to translate product usage into customer charges, handle multiple billing models, or distinguish AI token categories. It is less compelling for a business with uncomplicated fixed billing that has no need for this breadth of metering and controls.

Pros and cons

Pros: Multiple billing models, prepaid credits, quotas, and itemized invoices support customer bills that combine commitments and variable usage.
Pros: Separate AI token metering and a broad set of listed AI integrations suit products that need usage-based AI billing.
Pros: REST API, four official SDKs, and signed webhooks provide several routes for product integration.
Cons: Premium pricing is custom, and add-ons or caps on billing entities and data pipeline volume can complicate budgeting.
Cons: The free editions are self-hosted, so they are not a no-cost hosted option.

Alternatives

For a free API-and-web option with an explicit event allowance, Aforo offers a Starter plan at 0.00 USD per month, billed $0/ month, with 50K events / month, one storefront, all six pricing models, basic Revenue Intelligence, Stripe integration, and community support. Choose it when those stated Starter terms fit better than Lago’s self-hosted free editions.

Flexprice is another API-and-web alternative with a free Developer plan at 0.00 USD per free, covering up to 100,000 events/month, one pricing plan, REST API plus one SDK, basic invoice generation, email support, and 14-day data retention. It may suit a team whose needs fit that defined starter allowance.

Solvimon offers an AI Essentials plan free for the first $3M, then 0.4% of volume; qualification criteria apply. Its stated plan includes usage metering for tokens and API calls and unlimited credits and wallets, so consider it when those terms align with your billing needs.

Credyt offers a free To start plan forever for the first 10 active wallets every month, with full feature access in test mode, no credit card, and no time limit. It is an option for building and testing within that wallet allowance.

Sequence CPQ is a paid API-and-web alternative with a Growth plan at 799.00 USD per month for startups with less than $1m in annual revenue; its quote builder is an optional add-on. Consider it when that stated startup plan matches the requirement. OneBill is a paid API-and-web alternative with a free trial.

BillingPlatform Accounts Receivable is a paid API-and-web option with a free trial and quote-based custom pricing. Ubersmith is a paid alternative with a free trial and hosted or self-hosted options.

For category comparisons, see Usage-Based Billing Software, Subscription Billing Software, API Monetization Software, Dunning Management Software, and Invoicing software.

Verdict

Choose Lago if your team needs flexible usage, subscription, prepaid, or hybrid billing, particularly for a product where AI token consumption must be attributed to customers. Its developer interfaces, billing breadth, and deployment choices are strong reasons to shortlist it. Look elsewhere if you need a public Premium price before engaging, or if self-hosting and complex billing are more operational burden than your business needs.

	Lago	zBilling.net
Free plan	Yes	No
Free trial	No	No
Paid from	Free	—
Open source	No	No
Platforms	api, self-hosted, Web	Web
Free plan	Yes	No
Recurring invoices	Yes	—
Online payments	Yes	—
Payment reminders	Yes	—
Multi-currency invoicing	Yes	—
Client portal	Yes	—

Lago vs zBilling.net

Lago

zBilling.net