Aforo vs Lago

Aforo9.4Visit Lago9.3Visit

Higher score Aforo #1 in Usage-Based Billing Software 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit Aforo

vs

Lago #2 in Usage-Based Billing Software 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Lago

• Aforo fits best

  AI and API businesses needing broad billing

• Lago fits best

  Teams wanting open-source usage billing

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Side by side

Feature	Aforo 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Lago 9.3/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	9.3
Ranking	#1 in Usage-Based Billing Software	#2 in Usage-Based Billing Software
Best for	AI and API businesses needing broad billing	Teams wanting open-source usage billing
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Web
Integrations	20+ integrations	7 integrations
Features Aforo 4/4 · Lago 0/4
API metering	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Event ingestion	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Prepaid credits	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Invoice generation	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Specs
Billing model	Hybrid	Not checked yet
Rating methods	per-unit, tiered, volume, graduated, flat, percentage, included quota, hybrid	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Six pricing models plus quota, entitlement, and margin controls Prepaid wallets, invoicing, payment retries, and dunning Integrations across API gateways, ERPs, payments, and AI platforms	AGPLv3-licensed self-hosting with usage metering Supports hybrid pricing, invoices, wallets, portals, and analytics REST API, SDKs, webhooks, tax tools, and seven integrations
Cons	Starter is limited to 50K events per month Starter includes one storefront and Community support Growth and Enterprise pricing requires contact with sales	Does not process payments directly Lago Premium pricing requires contacting Lago Automatic dunning is limited to Lago Premium
Our verdict	Aforo is a usage-based monetization platform for companies selling APIs, AI services, agent workflows, and MCP servers. It ingests usage events through API gateways and SDKs, applies configurable rate plans, enforces quotas and… Read the review →	Lago is an open-source billing platform for companies using usage-based, subscription, prepaid, or hybrid pricing. It captures product usage, applies pricing rules, generates invoices, connects with payment providers, and provides billing… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Aforo — where it wins

  • Six pricing models plus quota, entitlement, and margin controls
  • Prepaid wallets, invoicing, payment retries, and dunning
  • Integrations across API gateways, ERPs, payments, and AI platforms

  Where it doesn't

  • Starter is limited to 50K events per month
  • Starter includes one storefront and Community support
  • Growth and Enterprise pricing requires contact with sales

• Lago — where it wins

  • AGPLv3-licensed self-hosting with usage metering
  • Supports hybrid pricing, invoices, wallets, portals, and analytics
  • REST API, SDKs, webhooks, tax tools, and seven integrations

  Where it doesn't

  • Does not process payments directly
  • Lago Premium pricing requires contacting Lago
  • Automatic dunning is limited to Lago Premium

• Aforo9.4/10 · Free plan

  A broad usage-billing platform with a free entry tier and advanced metering.

  Visit AforoFull verdict →
• Lago9.3/10 · Free plan

  A broad billing platform for teams building programmable usage and subscription workflows.

  Visit LagoFull verdict →