Lago

Lago is purpose-built for founders shipping AI products, APIs, and usage-metered SaaS who need sophisticated billing but want to avoid vendor lock-in. The platform is open-source and self-hostable, meaning you maintain full control and transparency over billing logic. Lago excels at handling high-volume usage events—it's designed to ingest thousands of billing events per second without dropping data, a critical requirement for AI and API-based products charging by token count or API call.\n\nLago supports subscriptions, usage-based pricing, prepaid credits, coupons, and hybrid models. You can self-host for ~$5-10/month on Railway, or use their managed cloud. For indie AI product builders who need metered billing but reject SaaS platform fees and lock-in, Lago is the answer. The learning curve is steeper than no-code platforms, but the flexibility and cost savings justify it.