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Accounting · head to head

Lago vs Money Manager

Lago logo

Lago

Accounting

Open-source billing infrastructure for usage-based models

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Money Manager logo

Money Manager

Personal Finance

Personal and household finance tracker

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Lago free tier limited to 10,000 entities per month with 5M event cap; Money Manager databases created by version 1.4.x are not readable by current releases and produce the error MMEX database version 13 doesn't work with this MMEX version, requiring a manual conversion procedure
  • They diverge on capability: Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Money Manager covers Expense tracking.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lago and Money Manager actually diverge.

Attributes where Lago and Money Manager differ
AttributeLagoMoney Manager
Pricing modelFreemium with optional paid tiersopen-source
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPCWindows, Mac, Linux, IOS, Android
CategoryAccountingPersonal Finance
FoundedUnknown2005

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

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 Lago

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

Only in Money Manager

  • Expense tracking
  • Budget tracking
  • Reporting
  • Import/Export
  • CSV
  • Windows support
  • Mac support
  • Linux support

Both cover

  • Multi-currency support

What people use each for

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

Lago

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

Money Manager

  • Free desktop personal finance tracking on Windows, macOS and Linuxnot Lago
  • Running a portable personal accounts file from removable media on Windowsnot Lago
  • Categorising spending and reporting on personal accounts without a subscriptionnot Lago

Where each one falls short

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

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

Money Manager

  • Databases created by version 1.4.x are not readable by current releases and produce the error MMEX database version 13 doesn't work with this MMEX version, requiring a manual conversion procedure
  • Linux is supported only through Flatpak builds for aarch64 and x86_64
  • The download page states no system requirements, deferring them to a separate compatibility page
  • There is no vendor support contract; the project is distributed as open source with no paid tier

Pricing, plan by plan

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)

Money Manager

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Expense tracking
    • Budget management
    • Reports

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Money Manager if

  • You need expense tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Mac, Linux, IOS, Android.
  • You also want budget tracking.
Money Manager review

Questions people ask

Is Lago or Money Manager better?
Neither clearly leads. Lago starts at Free and Money Manager at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lago or Money Manager?
Lago starts at Free and Money Manager at Free.
Does Lago or Money Manager run on more platforms?
Lago runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC. Money Manager runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, IOS, Android.
Can I use Lago for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Lago best used for?
Lago is most often used for building usage-based billing for high-volume apis and infrastructure, implementing metered billing for ai and tokenized services, creating subscription and hybrid pricing models, managing multi-currency billing for global companies. Of those, building usage-based billing for high-volume apis and infrastructure and implementing metered billing for ai and tokenized services are not what Money Manager is typically brought in for.
What can Lago do that Money Manager cannot?
Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Multiple pricing models, Automated invoicing, Prepaid credits. Money Manager covers Expense tracking, Budget tracking, Reporting, Import/Export. Both handle Multi-currency support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Money Manager: How much does MoneyManager Ex cost?

MoneyManager Ex is completely free and open source software with no charges, subscriptions, or hidden fees of any kind.

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
Lago: Does Lago support multiple currencies?

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

Source
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