Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Conta Azul vs Lago

Conta Azul logo

Conta Azul

Accounting

Brazilian cloud system for small business finance, invoicing and sharing the books with the accountant

From
239.9/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lago logo

Lago

Accounting

Open-source billing infrastructure for usage-based models

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lago has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Conta Azul it is a Brazilian product with Brazilian fiscal logic, so it is of no use to an entity filing anywhere else, and a foreign group with a Brazilian subsidiary runs it as a local island alongside whatever the group reports in.; Lago free tier limited to 10,000 entities per month with 5M event cap
  • They diverge on capability: Conta Azul covers Electronic invoice issuance, Lago covers Real-time usage metering.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Conta Azul and Lago actually diverge.

Attributes where Conta Azul and Lago differ
AttributeConta AzulLago
Starting price239.9/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionFreemium with optional paid tiers
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC

Identical on both: 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 Conta Azul

  • Electronic invoice issuance
  • Receivables and payables
  • Bank reconciliation
  • Boleto collection
  • Customer and supplier records
  • Sales orders and quotations
  • Stock control
  • Accountant access

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.

Conta Azul

  • A Brazilian micro or small business under the simplified tax regime that runs receivables in a spreadsheet and wants control of cash flownot Lago
  • A service company that needs to issue municipal service invoices and reconcile boleto collections without manual matchingnot Lago
  • A business whose accountant asks for organised records each month instead of a folder of documentsnot Lago
  • A small retailer or distributor needing basic stock control tied to the documents it already has to issuenot Lago

Lago

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

Where each one falls short

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

Conta Azul

  • It is a Brazilian product with Brazilian fiscal logic, so it is of no use to an entity filing anywhere else, and a foreign group with a Brazilian subsidiary runs it as a local island alongside whatever the group reports in.
  • Plans are scoped by revenue band, so a company that crosses a threshold pays more without necessarily using more of the product, and budgeting the software cost means forecasting turnover rather than usage.
  • It is not a tax calculation and filing engine, so the accountant still prepares the statutory obligations, and a business that expects the subscription to cover its Brazilian tax compliance has misread what it is buying.
  • Municipal service invoice coverage varies by city because each municipality runs its own system, so a business in a smaller or unusual municipality may find its service invoices still have to be issued on the city portal by hand.
  • The product targets micro and small companies under the simplified regime, so a business that grows into the more complex Brazilian tax regimes will outgrow it and face a migration at exactly the moment its accounting is becoming harder.

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

Conta Azul

239.9/month
  • Essencial (MEI)$239.9/month
    • 1 user access
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing
  • Controle (ME)$449.9/month
    • 2 user accesses
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing
  • Avançado$519.9/month
    • 5 user accesses
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing
  • Performance$839.9/month
    • 15 user accesses
    • Financial management
    • Invoicing

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 Conta Azul if

  • You need electronic invoice issuance.
  • You also want receivables and payables.
Conta Azul 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 Conta Azul or Lago better?
Neither clearly leads. Conta Azul starts at 239.9/month and Lago at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Conta Azul or Lago?
Lago has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at 239.9/month for Conta Azul and Free for Lago.
Does Conta Azul or Lago run on more platforms?
Conta Azul runs on Web. Lago runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC.
Can I use Lago for free?
Yes. Lago has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Conta Azul starts at 239.9/month.
What is Conta Azul best used for?
Conta Azul is most often used for a brazilian micro or small business under the simplified tax regime that runs receivables in a spreadsheet and wants control of cash flow, a service company that needs to issue municipal service invoices and reconcile boleto collections without manual matching, a business whose accountant asks for organised records each month instead of a folder of documents, a small retailer or distributor needing basic stock control tied to the documents it already has to issue. Of those, a brazilian micro or small business under the simplified tax regime that runs receivables in a spreadsheet and wants control of cash flow and a service company that needs to issue municipal service invoices and reconcile boleto collections without manual matching are not what Lago is typically brought in for.
What can Conta Azul do that Lago cannot?
Conta Azul covers Electronic invoice issuance, Receivables and payables, Bank reconciliation, Boleto collection. Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Multiple pricing models, Automated invoicing, Prepaid credits.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Conta Azul: Does Conta Azul do my tax filings?

No. It organises the operational and financial records and shares them with your accountant, who prepares and files the tax obligations. It is the record keeping layer, not the compliance filer.

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
Conta Azul: Can it issue service invoices for my city?

Coverage depends on your municipality, because each runs its own service invoice system. Check your specific city before subscribing, since a gap there is the difference between automation and manual issuance.

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
Conta Azul: Why does the price depend on my revenue?

Plans are banded by turnover rather than purely by features or users. It keeps the entry price low for very small companies, but it means growth triggers a price change independent of how much of the product you use.

Lago: Does Lago support multiple currencies?

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

Source
Conta Azul: Will my accountant work in it?

Many Brazilian practices already do, and there is a dedicated accountant role. Ask your accountant before subscribing; if they work in a different product, the friction of running two systems usually falls on you.

Conta Azul: Is it suitable if I leave the simplified tax regime?

It is built around smaller companies and the simplified regime. As the tax treatment becomes more complex, expect to outgrow it and to face a migration alongside a change of accounting complexity.

Conta Azul: Is there an English interface?

It is a Brazilian product in Portuguese, aimed at Brazilian owners and accountants. Plan for Portuguese language operation.

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