What Lago reviews are saying in 2024

Sarah Goomar

Lago has been gaining popularity and funding, signaling it could be a solid billing solution in 2024. The question is: What are actual users saying? In this post, you’ll learn:

What Lago is and why customers choose it
What customer reviews are saying about where Lago is falling short
Why an alternative like Orb may be the ideal billing management platform

Let’s start by talking about what makes Lago a solid tool.

Lago's biggest benefits

Lago is a modern billing solution designed to tackle the challenges of usage-based pricing. It's particularly aimed at companies embracing the SaaS model.

It provides a platform that aims to be adaptable. Lago tries to cater to both startups testing out pricing and established companies seeking to improve their billing.

What are Lago’s features and pricing structures?

Lago's core functionality revolves around managing various pricing structures. Here's a breakdown of its capabilities:

Usage metering: Lago tracks customer usage through real-time events and periodic triggers. It attempts to provide a view of how your product or service is being used.
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Plans: With the Lago billing platform users can build plans with defined features, prices, and invoicing schedules.
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Coupons and discounts: Lago includes features for creating and managing coupons and discounts.
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Add-ons and one-time charges: The platform supports billing for non-recurring items. Think setup fees or other one-time charges.
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Automated invoicing: Lago aims to reduce manual effort by automating invoice generation.
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Prepaid credits and wallets: The option for prepaid credits and wallets provides an alternative payment method and the potential for upfront revenue.

What do Lago reviews say about its offerings?

While Lago boasts a range of features, Lago reviews highlight both strengths and areas for improvement:

Out-of-the-box billing system: Lago offers both an API and a user interface. However, the learning curve and lack of a smooth onboarding pose challenges for non-technical users.
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Open source and customizable: The open-source nature provides the potential for customization. The issue is that leveraging open-source tools requires technical skills and resources.
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Handles complexity: Lago's ability to manage complex pricing models is a strength. On the flip side, issues with error handling and lack of clear guidance might be a deterrent for some.

The biggest challenges of using Lago

Lago presents itself as a flexible billing solution. However, Lago reviews highlight challenges that adopters should consider. Let’s look at some of those shortcomings in more detail:

Challenge 1: The difficult learning curve

Lago's open-source nature and emphasis on customization are a double-edged sword. Lago offers the potential for tailoring the platform to specific needs. The issue is it also demands a certain level of technical skill.

Setting up the open-source version, deploying it, and troubleshooting errors can be daunting for experts. It can be even harder for those without a strong technical background.

Even one of Orb’s competitors said, “To get started with it locally as a test environment, you have to have docker installed and be able to use command lines. It’s not something you would expect a non-technical person to be able to handle.”

That sentiment echoes throughout user feedback. Lago reviews suggest that it isn’t the most accessible solution for those without technical expertise.

Challenge 2: Cost concerns

The path to unlocking Lago's full potential can lead to high costs. The core billing features are available for free. Premium features like the customer portal require a subscription to the premium version, which comes with a price tag.

Their tiered pricing structure might pose challenges for businesses with limited budgets. Such a structure can especially affect those in the early stages of growth — it stifles it.

One user highlighted this concern. They said that the absence of the customer portal in the open-source version and the cost of the premium version made them look for other platforms.

They also noted a potential advantage of Lago's pricing model, which doesn't rely on percentage-based fees. Lago's flat price is a more predictable cost than Stripe Billing, which charges a percentage of transaction volumes.

However, it also means that the base price for Lago's premium features remains fixed regardless of your revenue.

This distinction is vital:

Stripe Billing: As your business grows and transaction volume increases. Consequently, the percentage-based fees charged by Stripe Billing will also rise.
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Lago: The cost of Lago's premium features remains constant, even if your transaction volumes are low.

This option could be good for businesses with high transaction volumes, as they won't see their billing costs scale with their revenue. For businesses with lower transaction volumes, the fixed cost of Lago's premium features might be a dealbreaker.

Challenge 3: Integration hurdles

Lago strives to offer a comprehensive billing solution. However, some integration aspects present challenges for some users:

Limited payment gateway options: Lago allows for connecting to a payment gateway via its web UI. The issue is the range of supported gateways can be narrower than some businesses require. This limitation is problematic for companies targeting specific regions or those who just want to offer various payment options.

One Lago user explicitly mentioned the lack of support for Chinese wallets like Alipay and WeChat as an obstacle for businesses operating in those markets.

Testing and validation issues: Lago doesn’t have advanced testing features. These include simulating subscription lifecycles or testing billing scenarios with different usage patterns. Orgs that focus on in-depth testing before deploying changes to their billing system best look elsewhere.

Challenge 4: Customer support

Lago reviews on its customer support are varied. Some reviewers praised the responsiveness and technical depth of the support team. Others expressed frustration with transparency about pricing and licensing for the premium version.

One reviewer mentioned struggling to get clear information about upgrading their license, which might suggest that their customer support isn’t up to par with competitors in the same space.

Next steps: Consider Orb's more flexible billing solutions for SaaS companies

So far, we've examined Lago's offerings and Lago reviews to analyze feedback from its users. While Lago presents a potential solution, it's clear that it isn’t the perfect fit for every business.

That’s when Orb comes into the picture.

Orb is a done-for-you billing platform designed to empower SaaS businesses. It's engineered to handle the intricacies of hybrid and usage-based pricing. We cater to both developers and finance teams.

With Orb, you can ingest product usage data at scale, speed up product launches, and access detailed financial reporting. Plus, Industry leaders like Perplexity and Vercel trust Orb to build pricing engines that fuel their growth.

Here's how Orb can transform your billing experience:

Effortless data integration: Connect Orb with your existing data infrastructure. We include popular sources like S3 and Segment. You can also leverage our REST API. We help with usage tracking and invoice generation without disrupting your operations.
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Custom usage metrics: Define and monitor the usage metrics that are crucial to your business. Think API calls, data storage, or any other relevant activity. Orb's adaptability allows you to capture the unique value you provide to your customers.
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Pricing model freedom: We go from granular per-unit pricing to tiered plans and beyond. Orb accommodates a wide spectrum of pricing models. Our intuitive Plan Builder empowers you to design and implement these models without tech expertise.
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Automated billing, simplified: Orb streamlines your entire billing workflow. We automate usage tracking, calculations, invoicing, payments, and adjustments. This saves time and resources and minimizes the risk of errors.
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Real-time insights at your fingertips: Gain instant visibility into your billing data. This visibility enables you to address issues like failed payments and reduce customer churn.