Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Brex vs Lago

Brex logo

Brex

Accounting

The financial stack for growing businesses

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lago logo

Lago

Accounting

Open-source billing infrastructure for usage-based models

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Brex the free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities; Lago free tier limited to 10,000 entities per month with 5M event cap
  • They diverge on capability: Brex covers Corporate cards, Lago covers Real-time usage metering.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Brex and Lago actually diverge.

Attributes where Brex and Lago differ
AttributeBrexLago
Pricing modelsubscriptionFreemium with optional paid tiers
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Brex

  • Corporate cards
  • Business accounts
  • Expense management
  • Bill pay
  • Travel
  • QuickBooks
  • NetSuite
  • Xero

Only in Lago

  • Real-time usage metering
  • Multiple pricing models
  • Automated invoicing
  • Prepaid credits
  • Entitlements
  • Multi-currency support
  • Payment orchestration
  • Revenue analytics

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Brex

  • Corporate cards with spend controls for startupsnot Lago
  • Expense management and reimbursementsnot Lago
  • Travel booking inside the spend platformnot Lago
  • Bill pay and accounting system syncnot Lago
  • Multi-entity spend management on the paid tiersnot Lago

Lago

  • Building usage-based billing for high-volume APIs and infrastructurenot Brex
  • Implementing metered billing for AI and tokenized servicesnot Brex
  • Creating subscription and hybrid pricing modelsnot Brex
  • Managing multi-currency billing for global companiesnot Brex
  • Maintaining billing infrastructure without vendor lock-innot Brex

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Brex

  • The free Essentials tier is limited to two legal entities
  • Premium is $12 per user per month, so cost scales with headcount using the card
  • Enterprise and Smart Card pricing is not published
  • Eligibility criteria are not stated anywhere on the pricing page, which matters for a product that extends credit

Lago

  • Free tier limited to 10,000 entities per month with 5M event cap
  • No specific pricing published for Pro annual plan or Scale plan
  • Self-hosted and on-premise deployments require engineering resources
  • Community support only on free tier
  • Scale plan requires annual contracts and sales engagement

Pricing, plan by plan

Brex

Free
  • EssentialsFree
    • Global card acceptance
    • Accounting integrations
    • Real-time reporting
  • Premium$12/month
    • per user
    • Custom expense policies
    • Dynamic approval chains
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Custom pricing

Lago

Free
  • Build (Free)Free
    • 10,000 managed entities per month
    • 5M usage events per month
    • 1K events per second rate limit
  • Pro$399/month
    • 10,000 entities included (graduated pricing to 100K)
    • 25M usage events included (to 500M with graduated rates)
    • 10K events per second (upgradeable to 100K)
  • Scale$null/custom
    • Custom entity and event volumes
    • 50K events per second (upgradeable to 100K)
    • RBAC and SSO (SAML)

Which should you pick?

Choose Brex if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want business accounts.
Brex review

Choose Lago if

  • You need real-time usage metering.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC.
  • You also want multiple pricing models.
Lago review

Questions people ask

Is Brex or Lago better?
Neither clearly leads. Brex starts at Free and Lago at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Brex or Lago?
Brex starts at Free and Lago at Free.
Does Brex or Lago run on more platforms?
Brex runs on Web, Ios, Android. Lago runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC.
Can I use Brex for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Brex best used for?
Brex is most often used for corporate cards with spend controls for startups, expense management and reimbursements, travel booking inside the spend platform, bill pay and accounting system sync. Of those, corporate cards with spend controls for startups and expense management and reimbursements are not what Lago is typically brought in for.
What can Brex do that Lago cannot?
Brex covers Corporate cards, Business accounts, Expense management, Bill pay. Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Multiple pricing models, Automated invoicing, Prepaid credits.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Brex: Does Brex have a free plan?

Yes. Brex Essentials is free for startups and growing companies and includes global card acceptance, AI-powered rules, accounting integrations, real-time reporting, and bill pay.

Source
Lago: Can I use Lago open-source for free?

Yes, Lago is open-source under the AGPLv3 license and can be self-hosted. The cloud-based Build plan is also free with limits of 10,000 entities and 5M events per month.

Source
Brex: What is Brex Premium pricing?

Brex Premium costs $12 per user per month and is designed for mid-sized companies. It adds custom expense policies, dynamic approval chains, AI compliance auditing, multi-entity support, and live budgets.

Source
Lago: What payment providers does Lago integrate with?

Lago integrates with Stripe and Adyen for payment processing. It is not a payment processor itself but orchestrates payments through these providers.

Source
Brex: What countries accept Brex cards?

Brex cards are accepted in 210+ countries. The Smart Card plan offers local-currency cards in 50+ countries for companies focused on procurement simplification and international payments.

Source
Lago: Does Lago support multiple currencies?

Yes, Lago supports multi-currency billing with automatic currency conversion for global businesses.

Source
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