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Stripe Billing vs Lago(2026)

Stripe Billing is better for teams that need seamless with stripe payments. Lago is the stronger choice if open source (self-host free). Stripe Billing is paid (from 0.7% of billing volume) and Lago is open-source (from $500/month (Lago Cloud)).

Full feature breakdown, pricing details, and pros & cons below.

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Stripe Billing logo

Stripe Billing

paid

Stripe Billing is Stripe's native subscription and invoicing product for SaaS companies already using Stripe Payments.

Starting at 0.7% of billing volume

Visit Stripe Billing
Lago logo

Lago

open-source

Lago is an open source billing API for usage-based and metered billing, allowing you to self-host your billing infrastructure.

Starting at $500/month (Lago Cloud)

Visit Lago

How Do Stripe Billing and Lago Compare on Features?

FeatureStripe BillingLago
Pricing modelpaidopen-source
Starting price0.7% of billing volume$500/month (Lago Cloud)
Subscription management
Metered billing
Trials
Smart dunning
Customer portal
Invoicing
Usage-based pricing
Invoice generation
Tax handling
Open source

Stripe Billing Pros and Cons vs Lago

S

Stripe Billing

+Seamless with Stripe Payments
+No separate integration needed
+Smart dunning
+Customer portal included
Less specialized than Chargebee
Per-billing-volume fee
Limited revenue analytics
L

Lago

+Open source (self-host free)
+Best for usage-based pricing
+Full ownership of billing data
+Modern API
Newer product
Complex self-hosting
Smaller ecosystem than Stripe Billing

Should You Use Stripe Billing or Lago?

Choose Stripe Billing if…

  • Seamless with Stripe Payments
  • No separate integration needed
  • Smart dunning

Choose Lago if…

  • Open source (self-host free)
  • Best for usage-based pricing
  • Full ownership of billing data

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