Kribana: a Lago alternative.
Lago is an open-source usage-based billing and metering API you can self-host or run on their cloud.Here’s how Kribana compares if you’re evaluating both.
Updated August 2026| Feature | Lago | Kribana |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | − LagoOpen-source metering and billing API, self-hosted or cloud | ✓ KribanaMetering, wallets, invoicing, portal and payments finished out of the box |
| Deployment model | − LagoSelf-host it yourself, or use Lago Cloud | ✓ KribanaFully hosted — no infrastructure to run or maintain |
| Customer portal & invoicing UI | − LagoAPI-first; portal and invoicing UI are yours to build | ✓ KribanaBranded, hosted customer portal and invoicing ship configured |
| Revenue automation | − LagoNo built-in agent — dunning and expansion logic is custom-built | ✓ KribanaAn agent that recovers payments and flags expansion automatically |
| Payment processing | − LagoIntegrate a processor yourself | ✓ KribanaProcessor-neutral — Stripe, Razorpay, Adyen or Braintree, built in |
Bottom line
Lago gives engineering-led teams an open-source metering core to build on. Kribana gives GTM teams the whole finished billing surface, hosted, without a build project.
See the features above in context on the full platform overview or check exact rates on pricing or browse every Lago alternative.
Why teams switch from Lago
- ✕Self-hosting means you own uptime, upgrades and infrastructure for billing — the one system that can't go down
- ✕Portal, invoicing UI and dunning logic are yours to design and build on top of the API
- ✕No autonomous recovery or expansion layer — you build the automation around the ledger
How the switch works
Questions about switching
Will my historical usage data carry over from Lago?
Yes. During onboarding we import your historical usage events and invoice history from Lago so the Kribana ledger and customer portal show continuity from day one — customers see their full usage timeline, not a balance that appears to reset. Import runs alongside your live Lago account, so nothing about current billing changes until you're ready to cut over. If Lago exposes usage via API or export, we map it directly into the append-only ledger; if it only offers CSV exports, we handle that transformation during onboarding as well.
Do I need to switch payment processors to move off Lago?
No — Kribana is processor-neutral by design, so you keep whichever of Stripe, Razorpay, Adyen or Braintree you already use, or run more than one at once if you serve multiple regions. Pricing, wallets, invoicing and the customer portal all sit above the processor layer, so switching billing platforms and switching payment rails are two separate decisions. This also means you can change processors later — say, adding a second rail for a new region — without another billing migration.
What happens if I'm still under contract with Lago?
Most teams run Kribana in parallel with Lago until the existing contract lapses, validating a full billing cycle side-by-side before cutting traffic over. Because onboarding doesn't require switching payment processors or changing what customers see, there's no customer-facing disruption while both systems run. When the contract ends, billing cuts over at the start of the next cycle with no gap in invoicing and no re-signup required from customers.
How long does switching from Lago actually take?
Most teams go live in one to two weeks. Week one is connecting your event stream and mirroring your current pricing structure in the dashboard — tiers, commits, credit bundles, whatever Lago has you running today. The second week is validation: running a full billing cycle side-by-side and confirming invoices match line-for-line before cutting over. Teams with simpler pricing (a single tier or flat overage rate) often finish in days rather than weeks; teams migrating complex enterprise commits usually take the full two weeks to validate.