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Accounting · head to head

Lago vs Netvisor

Lago logo

Lago

Accounting

Open-source billing infrastructure for usage-based models

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Netvisor logo

Netvisor

Accounting

Finnish cloud accounting and payroll with pricing built from a base fee plus per transaction charges

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; Netvisor pricing is a base fee plus a charge per sales invoice, per purchase invoice, per payslip and per other transaction, so a company with high document volumes pays a bill that scales with trading activity and cannot be budgeted as a fixed monthly cost.
  • They diverge on capability: Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Netvisor covers Finnish general ledger.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lago and Netvisor actually diverge.

Attributes where Lago and Netvisor differ
AttributeLagoNetvisor
Pricing modelFreemium with optional paid tierssubscription
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPCWeb

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 Lago

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

Only in Netvisor

  • Finnish general ledger
  • Value added tax reporting
  • Bank connections
  • Electronic invoicing
  • Purchase invoice workflow
  • Sales invoicing
  • Payroll
  • Incomes register reporting

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 Netvisor
  • Implementing metered billing for AI and tokenized servicesnot Netvisor
  • Creating subscription and hybrid pricing modelsnot Netvisor
  • Managing multi-currency billing for global companiesnot Netvisor
  • Maintaining billing infrastructure without vendor lock-innot Netvisor

Netvisor

  • A Finnish company whose accounting firm works in Netvisor and wants the client approving purchase invoices in the same systemnot Lago
  • A Finnish employer needing payroll that handles collective agreement terms and reports to the incomes register on timenot Lago
  • A business receiving and sending structured e-invoices with Finnish counterparties that require themnot Lago
  • A Finnish accounting practice standardising clients on one system with a shared role model rather than one instance per clientnot 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

Netvisor

  • Pricing is a base fee plus a charge per sales invoice, per purchase invoice, per payslip and per other transaction, so a company with high document volumes pays a bill that scales with trading activity and cannot be budgeted as a fixed monthly cost.
  • It serves Finland, so the tax and payroll logic is useless to entities filing elsewhere, and a Nordic group ends up running a different system in each country even where they belong to the same corporate family.
  • The interface, help material and support operate in Finnish, so a foreign owned subsidiary needs a Finnish speaking bookkeeper or accounting firm to operate it and cannot supervise it directly from head office.
  • Finnish payroll requires collective agreement terms to be configured correctly, and getting holiday pay, supplements and shift rules right is specialist work usually done by a partner, so payroll implementation is a paid project rather than a setup wizard.
  • Because most deployments come through an accounting firm, the practical service you receive depends on that firm's competence with the product, and changing accountant can mean changing system or inheriting a configuration nobody documented.

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)

Netvisor

Free
  • Starter$25/month
    • Basic accounting, 1000 transactions, invoicing, payroll for 1 person
  • Basic$25/month
    • Basic accounting plus invoicing, 2.06 euros per invoice item, unlimited users, email support
  • Core$25/month
    • All Basic features, invoices included in monthly cost
  • Professional$25/month
    • All Core features, broadest software interface, budgeting, reporting, forecasting, purchase and sales orders

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 Netvisor if

  • You need finnish general ledger.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want value added tax reporting.
Netvisor review

Questions people ask

Is Lago or Netvisor better?
Neither clearly leads. Lago starts at Free and Netvisor at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lago or Netvisor?
Lago starts at Free and Netvisor at Free.
Does Lago or Netvisor run on more platforms?
Lago runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC. Netvisor runs on Web.
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 Netvisor is typically brought in for.
What can Lago do that Netvisor cannot?
Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Multiple pricing models, Automated invoicing, Prepaid credits. Netvisor covers Finnish general ledger, Value added tax reporting, Bank connections, Electronic invoicing.

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
Netvisor: Is Netvisor usable outside Finland?

Not as a compliance system. The value is the Finnish tax, banking, e-invoicing and payroll logic. Companies filing elsewhere should look at the local product in the Visma range or another local vendor.

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
Netvisor: Why is the pricing structured per transaction?

It reflects a Finnish market convention where the accounting firm's fee also scales with document volume. It means a low volume company pays very little and a high volume one pays a great deal, so estimate your annual invoice and payslip counts before comparing headline prices.

Lago: Does Lago support multiple currencies?

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

Source
Netvisor: Can my accounting firm work in it with me?

Yes, that is the intended model. The practice and the client share one instance with different roles, so the firm does the bookkeeping while you approve purchase invoices and issue sales invoices.

Netvisor: Does it handle payroll for collective agreements?

It supports Finnish collective agreement based payroll, but configuring the specific agreement terms correctly is expert work normally done during a paid implementation. Do not assume payroll is switched on the same week as accounting.

Netvisor: What about the incomes register?

Reporting earnings to the national incomes register within the statutory deadline is built in, which is one of the main reasons Finnish employers use a local product rather than an international one.

Netvisor: Is it a full ERP?

It includes inventory and fixed assets alongside the ledger, which covers a good deal of a small distributor's needs, but it is a financial management system rather than a manufacturing or full supply chain ERP.

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