# Lago (slim)

> Lago is open-source billing software from Get Lago Corp. for usage metering, subscriptions, prepaid credits and invoicing. It is self-hosted under AGPL-3.0 or bought as Lago Cloud, and driven through a REST API, SDKs, a CLI and an MCP server.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lago.md (~8,150 tokens) · this version ~2,030 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lago.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lago
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-09

**B · 65.7/100 · rank #311 of 950 · #8 in Payment & monetisation platforms · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: Lago's open-source edition runs usage metering, plans, wallets and invoicing on the owner's servers at no charge, with an OpenAPI 3.1 file of 217 operations and releases about every two weeks. The free edition has one unscoped API key and no audit logs, and Lago's llms.txt understates what its MCP server can change.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Get Lago Corp. · category: Payment & monetisation platforms · legal entity: Get Lago Corp. · provenance 41/100
- Local only (HTTP): oci `getlago/lago`, pypi `lago-python-client`, npm `lago-javascript-client`, go `github.com/getlago/lago-go-client`
- Auth: API key · pricing: Freemium · x402: no · licence: AGPL-3.0 (platform). The MCP server and agent SDKs are MIT. Premium capabilities and Lago Cloud are commercial
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- API: REST under `/api/v1` on the owner's host, or `https://api.getlago.com/api/v1` and `https://api.eu.getlago.com/api/v1` on Lago Cloud. The OpenAPI 3.1 description (version 1.55.0) has 217 operations on 136 paths, 339 schemas and 76 webhook events
- Graded edition: The open-source edition an owner runs. Lago Cloud and Premium self-hosted are sold by quote and were not graded
- Credentials: Organisation API key as a Bearer token. One key in the free edition, rotatable at once. More keys and scheduled rotation need a Premium licence, and `read`, `write` or `read_write` permissions per resource need an enterprise add-on
- Install: `getlago/lago` Docker image, Docker Compose files or Helm chart 2.x. PostgreSQL 15+ with pg_partman, Redis 7.x or Valkey 7.2+, Kubernetes 1.26+, and ClickHouse 25.6+ for the ClickHouse event store and logs
- Rate limits: The docs give per-organisation defaults of 500 requests a second for event ingestion, 200 for current usage and 50 for other endpoints, with `X-RateLimit-Limit`, `X-RateLimit-Remaining` and `X-RateLimit-Reset` headers on 429. Whether they apply to a self-hosted instance was not established
- Retries: Events are deduplicated on `transaction_id`. Postgres rejects a repeat with 422 `value_already_exist`. ClickHouse also keys on `timestamp` and keeps the latest copy. No `Idempotency-Key` header was found in the API description for other writes
- Errors: JSON with `status`, `error`, `code` and `error_details`. Documented codes include `validation_errors`, `subscription_not_found`, `feature_unavailable` and `too_many_provider_requests_error`
- Pagination: `page` and `per_page`, default 100 in most cases, with `meta` giving `current_page`, `next_page`, `prev_page`, `total_pages` and `total_count`
- SDKs: Python `lago-python-client`, JavaScript `lago-javascript-client`, Ruby `lago-ruby-client` and Go `lago-go-client`, each with a v1.55.0 tag. The Lago CLI is at v1.0.2 and the Python agent SDK at v0.3.1
- MCP server: Rust server `lago-mcp-server` 0.2.1 from getlago/lago-agent-toolkit, MIT, run as a Docker image over stdio with `LAGO_API_KEY` and `LAGO_API_URL`. 57 tools in the source, 25 of which change state. No annotations and no read-only mode
- Webhooks: 76 event types. Signed with a JWT by default or HMAC, in `X-Lago-Signature` with `X-Lago-Signature-Algorithm`, and each delivery carries `X-Lago-Unique-Key`
- Payment collection: Lago is not a payment processor. Invoices are collected through Stripe, Adyen, GoCardless and other processors. Stripe Shared Payment Token collection is a public preview behind a feature flag
- Telemetry: Product analytics go to Segment by default, with the events listed in the docs and no invoice amounts collected, per Lago. `LAGO_DISABLE_SEGMENT=true` turns them off. The CLI sends no telemetry, per the changelog
- Audit: Activity logs, API logs and security logs exist for paid tiers and need ClickHouse. Free users have no access to activity logs
- Support life: Long-term-support releases get two years of full support and two years of limited support under the Service Life Policy of 1 January 2026. Other releases are outside it

- Scores: Reliability 86, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 87, Agent ergonomics 71, Security & auth 37, Payments & pricing 50, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 91, Transparency & trust 59 · negative events -3 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Read with the local-software lines, on the open-source edition an owner runs. · Schema & documentation, A public OpenAPI 3.1 description in getlago/lago-openapi, version 1.55.0, with 217 operations on 136 paths, 339 schemas and 76 webhook event… · Agent ergonomics, Graded on the REST API. · Security & auth, Scored on the free self-hosted edition. · Payments & pricing, Read with the self-hosted rule. · Maintenance & community, v1.55.0 was tagged on 7 October 2026, two days before the check (30). · Transparency & trust, The platform is AGPL-3.0, and the MCP server and agent SDKs are MIT.
- Sources: 26, open questions: 14, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: payments.metering, payments.card
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/lago.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/lago.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/lago from a page on getlago.com or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/getlago/lago, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Call `<your Lago API origin>/api/v1` with `Authorization: Bearer <key>`. On Lago Cloud the hosts are `api.getlago.com` and `api.eu.getlago.com`
2. Send every usage event with a deterministic `transaction_id` and an explicit `timestamp`, and resend the same payload on retry. On the ClickHouse event store a changed timestamp is billed again
3. Expect 422 `value_already_exist` for a repeated event on the Postgres event store. Treat it as success for a retry
4. Page with `page` and `per_page` and read `meta.next_page` and `meta.total_count`. The default page size is 100 in most cases
5. Treat the free edition's API key as full access. It can void invoices and terminate subscriptions, so keep it out of prompts and ask a person before financial changes
6. Before giving an assistant the MCP server, note that it includes `delete_invoice`, `void_invoice`, `delete_plan` and `create_payment` and sets no read-only annotations

## Connect

```bash
docker run -d --name lago -p 80:80 -p 3000:3000 getlago/lago:latest
```

```bash
curl --location --request GET "$LAGO_URL/api/v1/coupons?page=1&per_page=10" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/lago

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Stripe API + MCP | A | 82.4 | payments.card, payments.metering | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/stripe-mcp.min.md |
| Nevermined API + MCP | BB | 70.8 | payments.card, payments.metering | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nevermined.min.md |
| Orb | B | 66.5 | payments.metering, payments.card | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orb.min.md |
| Paid | C | 55.1 | payments.metering, payments.card | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/paid.min.md |
| ATXP | E | 42.9 | payments.metering, payments.card | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/atxp.min.md |


## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)