Lago, Open-Source Stripe Alternative, banks $22M in funding
An open‑source billing platform called Lago has raised $22M to position itself as an alternative to Stripe’s Billing product, aiming to handle complex, usage‑based and hybrid pricing models while remaining processor‑agnostic. Commenters weigh the benefits of composability, avoiding Stripe lock‑in and self‑hosting against drawbacks such as Lago’s enterprise‑oriented pricing, limited free features, and the operational burden of running billing infrastructure. The conversation also touches on the challenges of monetizing VC‑backed open source under licenses like AGPL and the broader trade‑offs between convenience, cost, and control in modern payment stacks.
Perception of the article and product positioning
- Several commenters feel the TechCrunch piece reads like an advertisement.
- Company representatives in the thread deny any pay‑for‑coverage and describe a normal press interaction.
- The article is seen as highlighting a successful pivot from a different initial product into billing.
What Lago is (and isn’t) vs Stripe
- Repeated clarification: Lago targets Stripe Billing, not Stripe’s core payment rails.
- Intended to sit on top of or alongside payment processors (Stripe, others), handling subscriptions, metered/usage billing, and complex pricing.
- Value props mentioned: composability, extensibility, avoiding lock‑in to Stripe’s ecosystem, and acting as an “open revenue hub” for RevOps over time.
Pricing, target customers, and self‑hosting
- Hosted plans around $1.5k–3k/month are seen as too expensive for very small or early‑stage SaaS, who would prefer a cheaper managed tier.
- Some argue the strategy is to ignore unprofitable small customers and “cherry‑pick” larger Stripe users (spending thousands/month) where savings could justify Lago’s price.
- Others point out there is a free/self‑hosted OSS edition, but it lacks key features (e.g., refunds), making it unsuitable for many real businesses.
- Self‑hosting raises concerns about operational burden and compliance, though some note PCI can be offloaded to specialized providers.
Usage‑based billing complexity
- Multiple comments emphasize that mixed subscription + usage + pre‑paid credit models are hard to implement correctly.
- One detailed evaluation found Stripe Billing insufficient for pre‑paid usage and credit mixing, and found Lago promising but lacking features like test‑clock style lifecycle testing and broad payment method support.
- Some share Stripe workarounds (multiple subscription items, delayed usage charges).
Open source, funding, and licensing
- The combination of “open source” and substantial VC funding triggers skepticism about future license changes and the genuineness of “open.”
- Others argue funding is necessary for sustainability; common monetization models like support, open core, and SaaS are discussed.
- Lago uses AGPL; one commenter asks about potential legal issues but no concrete problems are cited.
- Discussion notes that OSS often gives individuals everything they need, with paid tiers aimed at team/enterprise features.
Developer attitudes, tech stack, and misc.
- Debate over whether developers are “cheap” and prefer to build in‑house vs willing to pay for time‑saving tools.
- Some prefer an OSS product in their own language stack (e.g., Node.js vs Ruby), especially if they intend to modify it.
- Tangents cover memes in technical docs, alternative payment processors, crypto vs traditional banking, and the challenges of hiring across multiple countries due to payroll and legal complexity.