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    Cred vs Lago

    Lago is open-source billing. Cred is a hosted credit ledger with checkout.

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    Lago

    Lago is an open-source (AGPLv3) metering and billing engine covering plans, subscriptions, invoicing, payments, and prepaid-credit wallets. Wallets support priority, expiry, and threshold or scheduled top-ups, but prepaid credits, the real-time balance, and recurring top-ups require Lago Premium, including when self-hosted. Lago tells your product when to act; your product enforces access.[6][1][2][7][10]

    Best for

    Teams that want a self-hostable, open-source billing system with invoicing and can license Premium for credit features.

    Cred

    Cred is a credit ledger with payments attached. Your server issues and deducts credits per user and credit type over a REST API; a deduct that would overdraw is rejected in the same call. Users buy packs through hosted Stripe checkout, subscribe for monthly credits, save a card for auto top-up, or pay with x402 stablecoins as an AI agent.

    Best for

    Developer teams selling prepaid credits, tokens, or points inside an app, who want balances, checkout, and spend enforcement without running a billing system.

    Last reviewed November 2026 against Lago's public docs. Sources

    Honest read

    Where each one
    is the better pick.

    Cred and Lago overlap, but they start from different places.

    Where Cred is better

    • Credit balances, auto top-up, and checkout included, not a paid tier
    • Deducts are enforced against the balance at spend time
    • Hosted checkout that sells packs straight into a balance
    • x402 agent payments documented and live

    Where Lago is better

    • Open source under AGPLv3 and fully self-hostable[6]
    • Invoicing and credit notes alongside usage billing[8]
    • Wallet rules: priority, charge limits, min and max top-ups[1]
    • Plans, usage charges, and billing beyond credits[6]
    Feature comparison

    Side by side.

    Capabilities of Cred and Lago, as documented in November 2026.

    CapabilityCredLago
    Prepaid credit balance per user

    Wallets require Lago Premium.[1][7]

    Custom, non-monetary credit types

    Several wallets per customer; pricing units don't change wallets.[1]

    Balance enforced at spend time

    Ongoing balance is refreshed in the background (Premium).[5]

    Hosted checkout for buying credit packs

    A payment URL per wallet transaction; no pack storefront.[3]

    Auto top-up when a balance runs low

    Threshold or scheduled rules, Premium only.[2]

    Subscriptions that grant recurring credits

    Scheduled free top-ups set on the wallet, not the plan.[2]

    Credit expiry rules

    [1]

    Invoicing and revenue recognition

    Revenue recognition is a Premium private beta.[4]

    Open source / self-host

    AGPLv3; Premium is a paid license.[6][7]

    AI agents pay with x402

    Announced and in development; not yet in the docs.[8][9]

    Pricing model1 CRD per API call. Packs from $10 for 1,000 calls, no monthly fee, no share of your revenue; Stripe's processing fees apply to your sales.Open source to self-host. Lago Premium for Cloud or self-hosted: contact sales.[7]
    Supported Partial Not documentedvaries · depends on setupunverified · couldn't confirm[n] · numbered source below
    Questions

    Cred vs Lago, answered

    Is Lago free?

    Lago's core is open source under AGPLv3 and can be self-hosted. Prepaid credits, real-time ongoing balance, and recurring top-ups are listed under Lago Premium, which is priced by contacting sales.[6][7]

    Is Cred open source like Lago?

    No. Cred is a hosted service. If self-hosting or AGPL source access is a requirement, Lago fits that need.[6]

    Does Lago block usage at a zero balance?

    Lago sends webhooks when a wallet's balance runs out and leaves enforcement to your product. Cred rejects a deduct that would overdraw the balance.[10]

    Keep reading

    Related comparisons

    Cred vs Flexprice

    Flexprice is open-core AI billing. Cred is a hosted ledger with checkout.

    Cred vs Orb

    Orb meters and invoices usage. Cred enforces the balance on every spend.

    Cred vs Autumn

    Autumn adds check and track on top of your Stripe. Cred is the ledger and checkout.

    Cred vs usage-based billing platforms

    They invoice usage. We run credit economies.

    Cred pricing

    1 CRD per API call, no monthly fee.

    Getting started

    Create a project and issue your first credit in minutes.

    Your first credit is
    one request away.

    Create a project See pricing

    No card needed to start.

    ai-studio · tokens · last 30 days+146k issued