Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Lago vs Redis

Lago logo

Lago

Accounting

Open-source billing infrastructure for usage-based models

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Redis logo

Redis

Technology

The real-time data platform

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; Redis licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage
  • They diverge on capability: Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Redis covers In-memory data store.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lago and Redis actually diverge.

Attributes where Lago and Redis differ
AttributeLagoRedis
Pricing modelFreemium with optional paid tiersUnknown
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPCLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryAccountingTechnology
FoundedUnknown2009

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
  • Multi-currency support
  • Payment orchestration
  • Revenue analytics

Only in Redis

  • In-memory data store
  • Data structures
  • Pub/Sub messaging
  • Lua scripting
  • Transactions
  • Persistence options
  • Replication
  • Clustering

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

Redis

  • Cachingnot Lago
  • Session managementnot Lago
  • Real-time analyticsnot Lago
  • Message queuingnot Lago
  • Leaderboardsnot 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

Redis

  • Licensing changed from BSD to AGPL in 2025, impacting open-source usage
  • All data must fit in memory, limiting scalability to available RAM
  • No built-in support for multi-tenancy
  • Limited transaction support compared to traditional databases

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)

Redis

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Redis review.

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 Redis if

  • You need in-memory data store.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want data structures.
Redis review

Questions people ask

Is Lago or Redis better?
Neither clearly leads. Lago starts at Free and Redis at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lago or Redis?
Lago starts at Free and Redis at Free.
Does Lago or Redis run on more platforms?
Lago runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC. Redis runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
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 Redis is typically brought in for.
What can Lago do that Redis cannot?
Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Multiple pricing models, Automated invoicing, Prepaid credits. Redis covers In-memory data store, Data structures, Pub/Sub messaging, Lua scripting.

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
Redis: Is Redis open source?

Redis was open source under the BSD license since its inception in 2009 and has remained open source. However, in 2024-2025, Redis Labs changed licensing to source-available and AGPL, prompting the creation of Valkey, a BSD-licensed open-source fork.

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
Redis: What is Redis used for?

Redis is an in-memory data structure store used primarily as a cache, database, and message broker. It provides high-speed data access for real-time applications, sessions, leaderboards, real-time analytics, and other use cases requiring fast data retrieval.

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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