vioscaleAI
Comparison

Crater vs Lago

On the evidence we track, Lago leads this comparison with a composite score of 55/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Crater full profile →Lago full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Crater50
★Lago55
Score
vioscaleAI score
Crater50 / 100high · 75%
Lago55 / 100high · 75%
Pricing
Free tier
Crater✓
Lago✓
Model
Price level
Craterfree
Lagofree
Transparent
Crater✓
Lago✗
Integrations
Count
Crater3
Lago10
Security
Certifications
Crater–
LagoSOC 2 Type II
Disclosure policy
Crater–
Lago✓
Gdpr
Crater–
Lago✓
Pci
Crater–
Lago✓
Soc2
Crater✓
Lago✓
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Sla pct
Crater–
Lago99.9
Status page
Crater✓
Lago✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Crater–
Lago0
Github stars
Crater8,351
Lago10,677
Activity
Commits last 30d
Crater–
Lago22
Release
Cadence days
Crater2
Lago13
History
License
Spdx
Language
Primary
CraterPHP
LagoGo
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Crater7 items
Lago8 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for billing & invoicing software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
Subscription billing
Crater-
Lago✓
Usage metering
Crater-
LagoReal-time
Pricing models
Crater-
LagoSubscription, usage-based, hybrid, flat-rate, prepaid credits, per-unit metering
Invoicing & AR
Crater✓
Lago✓
Catalog management
Crater-
Lago✓
Commerce
Merchant of record
Crater-
Lago-
Finance
Revenue recognition
Crater-
LagoIntegration
Tax handling
Crater-
LagoNative
Collections
Dunning
Crater-
LagoBasic retry
Integrations
GL / ERP sync
Crater-
Lago✓
Ecosystem
API-first / developer-first
Crater✓
Lago✓
Deployment
Self-hostable
Crater✓
Lago✓
Insight
Revenue analytics
Crater-
Lago✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Crater

Open-source web and mobile app that helps track expenses, payments, and create professional invoices and estimates.

Independently observed

Lago

Leader

A billing platform that ingests usage events, applies pricing rules, and generates invoices for any billing model. It supports usage-based, subscription, prepaid, and hybrid pricing, with real-time metering, payment orchestration, and revenue analytics.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Crater

Open sourceFree tier

Free, open-source

  • Open SourceFree
    • Expense tracking
    • Payment tracking
    • Invoice creation
    • Estimate creation
as of verify ↗

Lago

Leader
HybridFree tier

Free open-source tier; Premium pricing custom

  • Open SourceFree
    • usage metering
    • subscription billing
    • prepaid credits
    • hybrid pricing
    • REST API
    • +2 more
  • Lago PremiumContact sales
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Crater✓
Lago✓
iOS
Crater✓
Lago✗
Android
Crater✓
Lago✗
CLI
Crater✗
Lago✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Crater✗
Lago✓
Self-hosted
Crater✓
Lago✓
On-premise
Crater✗
Lago✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

In common (2)
  • Xero
  • Stripe

Crater

4 total - 2 not shared
  • Plaid
  • QuickBooks
Independently observed

Lago

Leader
19 total - 17 not shared
  • Avalara
  • Kafka
  • Kinesis
  • Google Cloud Pub/Sub
  • AWS S3
  • Azure
  • NetSuite
  • Adyen
  • GoCardless
  • Braintree
  • Salesforce
  • HubSpot
  • AWS Kinesis
  • Amazon S3
  • Webhooks
  • Okta
  • SMTP
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Crater or Lago: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.