Lago vs OpenMeter

Lago and OpenMeter are both open-source, Apache/permissive-licensed billing infrastructure tools, but their scope differs: Lago is a full billing platform…

Best for Lago: Lago fits teams that want one open-source system to handle metering, invoicing, credit notes, entitlements, and dunning together, and that need broad integrations with payment providers (Stripe, Adyen, GoCardless), accounting (NetSuite, Xero), and tax software (Avalara, Anrok).
Best for OpenMeter: OpenMeter fits teams that need extremely high-throughput, real-time event processing (millions of events per second) with low-latency usage gating at the edge, and that are comfortable pairing it with a separate invoicing/billing system such as Stripe.

At a Glance

 LagoOpenMeter
Primary categoryFinanceFinance
RatingNot documentedNot documented
Pricing modelOpen SourceOpen Source
Starting priceFree (self-hosted Community Edition); Cloud plans are custom-quotedFree (open-source, self-hosted); managed cloud pricing is custom via Kong sales
Free planYesYes
Free trialNot documentedNot documented
PlatformsWebNot documented
Team collaborationNot documentedNot documented
AI featuresYesNot documented
Public APIYesYes

Key Differences

Scope: Full Billing vs. Metering-Centric

Lago: Lago covers usage metering, invoicing, credit notes, progressive billing, entitlements, coupons, custom contracts, dunning, and revenue analytics dashboards.

OpenMeter: OpenMeter centers on real-time metering, usage limits/gating, and a flexible product catalog (plans, credits, commitments), with revenue insights and CRM integration layered on top.

Teams need to know whether the tool will replace their invoicing system entirely or just feed usage data into one.

Corporate Ownership

Lago: Lago operates independently with its own open-source repository and Lago Premium/Cloud offering.

OpenMeter: OpenMeter was acquired by Kong, Inc. in September 2025, and its pricing page now routes signups through Kong Metering & Billing, per its facts.

Recent acquisitions can signal roadmap or pricing changes for a standalone open-source product.

Throughput Claims

Lago: Lago reports processing 1M events per second and $829M in invoices monthly, as of October 2025.

OpenMeter: OpenMeter is built for high-throughput, real-time event processing described as millions of events per second.

High-volume usage-based products (API metering, AI token billing) need metering infrastructure that won't buckle under event volume.

Free / Self-Hosted Path

Lago: Lago's Open Source (self-hosted) plan is free and includes core billing and usage metering functionality on your own infrastructure.

OpenMeter: OpenMeter is also free to self-host under Apache 2.0, and additionally offers a free tier on its managed Cloud product.

A managed free tier lowers the barrier to trying the product versus requiring infrastructure setup first.

Compliance Certification

Lago: Lago is SOC 2 Type II certified with regular third-party penetration testing, and supports SSO (including Okta), RBAC, and audit logs.

OpenMeter: OpenMeter's cloud deployments are described as SOC2-compliant with RBAC and SSO, though the specific SOC 2 type (I vs. II) is not stated in its facts.

The distinction between SOC 2 Type I and Type II matters to enterprise security reviewers, since Type II reflects sustained operating effectiveness over time.

Feature-by-Feature

Metering & Gating

FeatureLagoOpenMeter
Real-time usage meteringAvailableAvailable
Usage limits and gatingNot documentedAvailable
Flexible product catalog (plans, credits, commitments)AvailableAvailable

Billing & Invoicing

FeatureLagoOpenMeter
Invoice generation & credit notesAvailableNot documented
Progressive billingAvailableNot documented
Dunning workflowsAvailableNot documented
Entitlements and prepaid creditsAvailableNot documented

Access, Deployment & Compliance

FeatureLagoOpenMeter
Open-source self-hostingAvailableAvailable
Managed cloud free tierUnavailableAvailable
SOC 2 certificationAvailableAvailable
CRM integrationNot documentedAvailable

Pricing Compared

Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.

Lago

Community Edition — Free Free (self-hosted)
Lago Cloud Business — Custom pricing Custom / annual contract
Lago Cloud Enterprise — Custom pricing Custom / annual contract

OpenMeter

Open Source (Self-Hosted) — Free N/A
Kong Metering and Billing (Cloud) — Custom Custom

Pros & Cons

Lago

Pros

  • Genuinely free, full-featured open-source core that can be self-hosted indefinitely
  • Handles complex usage-based, hybrid, and credit-based pricing models natively
  • Strong API and webhook coverage for deep integration into existing product stacks
  • Backed by well-known investors and founders with direct billing-industry experience
  • AGPLv3 licensing gives full code transparency and avoids vendor lock-in

Cons

  • Self-hosted Community Edition lacks the customer portal, dunning, and tax integrations found in Cloud
  • Lago Cloud pricing is not published and requires a sales conversation to obtain a quote
  • Self-hosting requires infrastructure and DevOps resources most small teams may lack
  • Smaller ecosystem and community than long-established billing platforms like Stripe Billing
  • AGPLv3 license terms may require legal review for companies building on top of the self-hosted core

OpenMeter

Pros

  • Purpose-built for AI and API usage-based billing use cases
  • Open-source, self-hosted option avoids vendor lock-in
  • Backed by Kong's enterprise API infrastructure since the 2025 acquisition
  • Developer-friendly SDKs across TypeScript, Python, and Go
  • No-code pricing catalog speeds up plan and pricing changes

Cons

  • Managed cloud pricing now requires contacting Kong sales, reducing transparency
  • Product direction is shifting toward Kong's Konnect ecosystem post-acquisition
  • Open-source self-hosted community is smaller than dedicated billing platforms like Stripe Billing
  • Still a relatively new product with limited long-term track record at massive scale
  • Recent rebrand to Kong Metering and Billing may cause confusion for existing OpenMeter users

Use Cases

Choose Lago: Lago fits teams that want one open-source system to handle metering, invoicing, credit notes, entitlements, and dunning together, and that need broad integrations with payment providers (Stripe, Adyen, GoCardless), accounting (NetSuite, Xero), and tax software (Avalara, Anrok).
Choose OpenMeter: OpenMeter fits teams that need extremely high-throughput, real-time event processing (millions of events per second) with low-latency usage gating at the edge, and that are comfortable pairing it with a separate invoicing/billing system such as Stripe.
Need both: There is no realistic scenario for running both together productively — they overlap directly on usage metering, and a team would typically choose one as its metering and billing backbone rather than run two competing open-source metering engines in parallel.

Lago

  • Usage-based SaaS billing — AI platforms and infrastructure providers bill customers based on API calls, tokens, or compute consumed, using real-time metering.
  • Self-hosted billing infrastructure — Companies with strict data control or compliance requirements self-host the open-source billing engine on their own infrastructure.
  • Hybrid subscription and consumption pricing — Businesses combine flat subscription fees with usage-based overages and prepaid credits on a single customer plan.

OpenMeter

  • AI and LLM usage billing — AI companies use OpenMeter to bill customers per token or per API call for LLM-powered products.
  • SaaS usage-based pricing — SaaS platforms implement usage-based or hybrid pricing models using OpenMeter's metering and quota infrastructure.
  • Infrastructure and API metering — Infrastructure providers meter compute, storage, or API consumption to support consumption-based pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Lago and OpenMeter both open source?

Yes. Lago is open source with a public GitHub repository (10,223+ stars) and can be self-hosted, and OpenMeter is available on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 license for self-hosted deployments.

What's the difference in scope between Lago and OpenMeter?

Lago covers the full billing lifecycle: metering, invoicing, credit notes, entitlements, dunning, and analytics. OpenMeter is more centered on real-time metering, usage gating, and a flexible product catalog, and is often paired with a separate invoicing system.

Did OpenMeter get acquired?

Yes, as of September 2025, OpenMeter was acquired by Kong, Inc. Its pricing page now routes signups through Kong Metering & Billing, which may signal future changes to the standalone product.

Which handles more usage events?

OpenMeter's facts describe processing 'millions of events per second,' while Lago's facts cite 1M events per second and $829M in monthly invoices as of October 2025. Both are built for high-throughput usage-based billing.

Does either tool have a free tier without self-hosting?

OpenMeter offers a Cloud Free Tier for its managed offering. Lago's free option, per its facts, is limited to the self-hosted open-source edition, which requires infrastructure to run.

Which one is SOC 2 certified?

Lago explicitly states SOC 2 Type II certification with regular third-party penetration testing. OpenMeter's cloud deployments are described only as 'SOC2-compliant' without specifying the type.

Read the full Lago review · Read the full OpenMeter review