Lago: Free Open Source Metering and Usage Based Payment Platform
Tags: lago, opensource, elestio, metering
Published: 2023-11-13 06:40:52

---
title: Lago: Free Open Source Metering and Usage Based Payment Platform
published: true
date: 2023-11-12 23:10:17 UTC
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bo7kfcf5b92slyxy3lo2.jpeg
tags: lago, opensource, elestio, metering
canonical_url: https://elestio.hashnode.dev/lago-free-open-source-metering-and-usage-based-payment-platform
---

Based on your business model, charging customers can be a real brain teaser for both developers, sales, and customers. [Lago](https://elest.io/open-source/lago?ref=blog.elest.io) emerges as a remedy to this, offering a free, open-source solution for metering and usage-based billing.

Whether self-hosted or on the cloud, Lago boasts a scalable and modular architecture designed to address the persistent challenges in metering and billing.

This article delves into how Lago transforms the billing paradigm at every stage of a company's growth.

[https://youtu.be/djoClTbsY7c](https://youtu.be/djoClTbsY7c)

## **Billable Metrics**

Lago understands that not all metrics are created equal. From metering per second to pre-aggregation, data clean-up, and customizable plans, Lago ensures that every billable metric is covered, eliminating the nightmares associated with constant pricing changes and looming scalability issues.

## **Plans**

Explore the flexibility of Lago's plan models, allowing subscription fees to be billed at the beginning or end of the billing period. Dive into how Lago's automatic invoice generation simplifies the billing process, including fees, taxes, and customer information, providing a hassle-free experience for both business teams and customers.

## **Add Ons**

Lago handles one-time fees seamlessly with its instant add-ons feature. It allows you to create one-time charges that are invoiced on the fly. Add-ons can be used to charge consulting fees, implementation fees or premium services to customers.

## **Coupons**

Delve into the world of promotional strategies with Lago's coupon feature. Uncover how Lago enhances user engagement and loyalty through strategically designed coupon offerings.

## **Developers**

For developers seeking efficiency, Lago introduces plug-and-play metering, eliminating the need for data pre-aggregation and cleanup. Learn how Lago's open-source nature allows developers to build on top of the platform, ensuring full control over data security and infrastructure.

## **Integrations**

Lago's native integrations with payment providers offer a seamless payment collection experience. Whether through native integrations or triggering payments on any Payment Service Provider (PSP), Lago ensures a flexible and secure integration process.

## **Taxes**

Unravel the complexities of tax handling with Lago. Its automated system includes taxes in every invoice, providing a comprehensive solution for finance teams and eliminating the anxiety associated with manual addressing of details.

## Conclusion

Lago is the best alternative to Chargebee, Recurly, or Stripe Billing, empowering companies to handle complex billing logic effortlessly.

With its open-source foundation, Lago propels businesses toward a future where billing is a strategic advantage rather than a hindrance.

[Deploy your instance on Elestio and give a try to Lago](https://elest.io/open-source/lago?ref=blog.elest.io)