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Usage-based charges can be either charged in advance or in arrears

Arrears vs Advance

Lago is an open-source software for metering and usage-based billing. It's the best alternative to Chargebee, Recurly or Stripe Billing for companies that need to handle complex billing logic.

Welcome to Lago

Why billing is a nightmare

Deploy Lago seamlessly on your infrastructure, compatible with both free and premium editions.

Overview

Docker is the easiest way to get started with the self-hosted version of Lago.

Docker

Tracking & Analytics

Versions update

Useful commands

Lago Cloud is the fully hosted version of our open-source billing API.

Lago Cloud

Billable metrics define how incoming events are aggregated in order to measure consumption.

Create billable metrics

Recurring vs metered

When setting up your pricing, you may want to filters events according to their property. To do so, you can create filters for your billable metric.

Filters

Delete billable metrics

If Billable metrics are made to measure customer usage, Plans are made to apply prices to this usage.

The plan model defines when and how much a customer is charged.

Plan model

Commitments

Customer management

Customer metadata

Invoice a customer

The customer portal

Coupons allow you to offer discounts to your customers. When you apply a coupon to a customer,  its value will be deducted from their next subscription invoice(s).

Coupons

A subscription is created when a plan is assigned to a customer.  You can assign a plan to a customer at any time (i.e. when the customer record is created or later on).

Assign a plan to a customer

Customers have the flexibility to easily upgrade or downgrade their plan at any given moment.

Upgrades and downgrades

You can edit a subscription at any time, whether it's active or pending.

Edit a subscription

You can terminate a subscription at any time, whether it's active or pending.

Terminate a subscription

Add-ons are a useful feature that allows you to add a fixed charge that is not recurring to one-off invoices.  This can be used to apply one-time fees such as a setup fee, one-time payment, or customer success fee.

Create add-ons

One-off invoices allow you to bill immediately one or several add-ons to a customer.  This guide will show you how to create a one-off invoice for a specific customer using the add-ons.

Issue one-off invoices

This guide explains how Lago ingests usage-based events coming from your application.

Ingesting usage

By ingesting events, you can see them flowing in the Lago application by using the events list. It allows you to take a deeper look at ingested events and detect possible warnings.

Events list

Learn how to retrieve usage data for both current and past billing periods.

Retrieving usage

Lago automatically generates invoices for each customer according to the plan model.

Fees

When generating invoices, you may need to apply vat or other taxes. By creating taxes and applying them to the organization or/and customers,  their invoices will be directly affected.

Taxes

Grace period

Net payment term

Download invoices

Invoice metadata

Void invoices

Connect Lago to any payment providers by using native integrations or webhook messages.

Lago's native integration with GoCardless allows you to collect payments via direct debit.

GoCardless integration

Lago's native integration with Stripe allows you to collect payments automatically when new invoices are generated.

Stripe integration

Lago's native integration with Adyen allows you to collect payments automatically when new invoices are generated.

Adyen integration

Payment retries

Credit notes

Since usage-based charges can be calculated at the end of the billing period, you often need to wait to collect payments. With prepaid credits, you can now unlock recurring revenue opportunities for pay-as-you-go pricing models.

Add and void credits, to the customer's wallet.

Top-up and void credits

Webhooks

Send automatic emails when issuing an invoice or any billing documents.

Emails

Gross revenue

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Invoice collection

Entitlements

This step-by-step integration guide will help you get started with Lago.

Integration testing

Single Sign-On (SSO)

SOC 2 Type 2

Lago OpenAPI

Migration to v1.2.0

Lago API allows your application to push customer information and metrics (events) from your application to the billing application.

Getting started

This object represents an add-on, a one-time fee that can be applied on one-off invoices.

The add-on object

This endpoint is used to create an add-on that can be then attached to a one-off invoice.

Create an add-on

This endpoint is used to update an existing add-on.

Update an add-on

This endpoint is used to delete an existing add-on.

Delete an add-on

This endpoint is used to retrieve a specific add-on.

Retrieve an add-on

This endpoint is used to list all existing add-ons.

List all add-ons

Gross revenue is the sum of monthly `finalized` invoice payments and fees paid in advance that are not invoiceable. This total is calculated after deducting taxes and discounts.

Retrieve gross revenue

Retrieve MRR (monthly recurring revenue)

Reports a monthly analysis focused on the revenue generated from all usage-based fees. It exclusively accounts for revenue that has been formally invoiced. Importantly, this report does not include revenue related to the usage in the current billing period, limiting its scope to previously invoiced amounts.

Retrieve invoiced usage

Represents a monthly aggregation, detailing both the total count and the cumulative amount of invoices that have been marked as `finalized`. This report sorts invoices categorically based on their `payment_status`.

Retrieve invoice collection

This object represents a billable metric that is a pricing component of your application.

The billable metric object

This endpoint creates a new billable metric representing a pricing component of your application.

Create a billable metric

This endpoint updates an existing billable metric representing a pricing component of your application.

Update a billable metric

This endpoint deletes an existing billable metric representing a pricing component of your application.

Delete a billable metric

This endpoint retrieves an existing billable metric that represents a pricing component of your application. The billable metric is identified by its unique code.

Retrieve a billable metric

This endpoint retrieves all existing billable metrics that represent pricing components of your application.

List all billable metrics

This endpoint retrieves all groups for a billable metric.

List all billable metric groups

This object represents a coupon. This coupon can be applied to a customer with overriden values.

The coupon object

This endpoint is used to create a coupon that can be then attached to a customer to create a discount.

Create a coupon

This endpoint is used to update a coupon that can be then attached to a customer to create a discount.

Update a coupon

This endpoint is used to delete a coupon.

Delete a coupon

This endpoint is used to retrieve a specific coupon.

Retrieve a coupon

This endpoint is used to list all existing coupons.

List all coupons

This object represents a coupon applied to a customer. It can override the initial values of a coupon.

The applied coupon object

This endpoint is used to apply a specific coupon to a customer, before or during a subscription.

Apply a coupon

This endpoint is used to delete a specific coupon that has been applied to a customer.

Delete an applied coupon

This endpoint is used to list all applied coupons. You can filter by coupon status and by customer.

List all applied coupons

This object represents a credit note, used to refund or credit back a customer for a fee or an invoice.

The credit note object

Create a credit note

This endpoint downloads the PDF of an existing credit note.

Download a credit note

This endpoint updates an existing credit note.

Update a credit note

This endpoint voids the available credit linked to a specific credit note.

Void available credit

This endpoint retrieves an existing credit note.

Retrieve a credit note

This endpoint list all existing credit notes.

List all credit notes

This object represents the usage-based charges associated with one of your customers for a defined billing period. It allows you to monitor customer usage throughout the period.

The customer usage object

Retrieve real-time customer usage data for the current open billing period.

Retrieve current usage

Fetch historical customer usage data for closed billing periods.

Retrieve past usage

This object represents a customer of your business. It lets you create or update a customer, but also track usage and create invoices for the same customer.

The customer object

Create a customer

Update a customer

This endpoint regenerates the Payment Provider Checkout URL of a Customer.

Regenerate checkout URL

This endpoint deletes an existing customer.

Delete a customer

This endpoint retrieves an existing customer.

Retrieve a customer

This endpoint retrieves all existing customers.

List all customers

Retrieves an embeddable link for displaying a customer portal.

This endpoint allows you to fetch the URL that can be embedded to provide customers access to a dedicated portal

Retrieve customer portal URL

Events represents usage measurement sent to lago application that will then be aggregated into invoice line items.

The event object

This endpoint is used for transmitting usage measurement events to either a designated customer or a specific subscription.

Send usage event

This endpoint can be used to send a batch of usage records. Each request may include up to 100 events.

Batch usage events

Estimate the fees that would be created after reception of an event for  a billable metric attached to one or multiple pay in advance charges.

Estimate an upcoming fee

This endpoint is used for retrieving a specific usage measurement event that has been sent to a customer or a subscription.

Retrieve an event

This object represents a line item of an invoice, handling amount, billed units and item description.

The fee object

This endpoint is used for updating a specific fee that has been issued.

Update a fee

This endpoint is used for retrieving a specific fee that has been issued.

Retrieve a fee

This endpoint is used for retrieving all fees that has been issued.

List all fees

Lago automatically generates invoices for each of your customers at the end of a billing period. They list and summarize the fees generated by Lago for your customers. Subscription, usage-based and recurring fees are listed as invoice items.

Introduction

Guides

Migration

Arrears vs Advance

Charges paid in arrears

Charges paid in advance

Introduction

Guides

Migration

​Charges paid in arrears

​Charges paid in advance

Charges paid in arrears

Charges paid in advance