Softwr

Accounting · head to head

Lago vs Soldo

Lago logo

Lago

Accounting

Open-source billing infrastructure for usage-based models

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Soldo logo

Soldo

Accounting

Prepaid company card and spend control platform for European businesses

From
£21/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Lago has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Lago free tier limited to 10,000 entities per month with 5M event cap; Soldo cards are prepaid, so if the central wallet runs low the cards decline in front of a supplier, and treasury has to keep an idle float funded rather than using a credit line.
  • They diverge on capability: Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Soldo covers Prepaid company cards.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lago and Soldo actually diverge.

Attributes where Lago and Soldo differ
AttributeLagoSoldo
Starting priceFree£21/month
Pricing modelFreemium with optional paid tiersPer user per month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPCWeb, iOS, Android

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 Lago

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

Only in Soldo

  • Prepaid company cards
  • Card-level budgets
  • Receipt capture
  • Accounting export
  • Multi-currency wallets
  • Approval workflows

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

Soldo

  • A construction firm giving site managers fuel and materials cards with hard per-card limitsnot Lago
  • A marketing team issuing virtual cards per subscription so a cancelled tool cannot keep billingnot Lago
  • A UK company that cannot get approved for a credit-based corporate card programmenot Lago
  • A multi-entity European business needing EUR and GBP wallets without conversion on every purchasenot 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

Soldo

  • Cards are prepaid, so if the central wallet runs low the cards decline in front of a supplier, and treasury has to keep an idle float funded rather than using a credit line.
  • The plan fee covers only three users, and per-user charges plus physical card fees mean the real monthly cost is several times the advertised headline for a team of twenty.
  • It does not extend credit, so it gives no working capital benefit and no card rewards of the kind US charge card issuers use to offset their cost.
  • Sole traders and some business types are not accepted, which catches out small consultancies expecting to sign up online.
  • Coverage is European; a company with US or Asian subsidiaries will need a second card programme and a second expense workflow for them.

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)

Soldo

£21/month
  • Standard$21/month
    • Three users included
    • Around £7 per additional user per month
    • Physical card issuance fee around £5, virtual around £1
  • Plus$33/month
    • Three users included
    • Around £11 per additional user per month
    • Advanced approval and multi-currency features
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Quoted pricing
    • Custom card volumes and entity structures
    • Dedicated account management

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 Soldo if

  • You need prepaid company cards.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want card-level budgets.
Soldo review

Questions people ask

Is Lago or Soldo better?
Neither clearly leads. Lago starts at Free and Soldo at £21/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lago or Soldo?
Lago has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Lago and £21/month for Soldo.
Does Lago or Soldo run on more platforms?
Lago runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC. Soldo runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Lago for free?
Yes. Lago has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Soldo starts at £21/month.
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 Soldo is typically brought in for.
What can Lago do that Soldo cannot?
Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Multiple pricing models, Automated invoicing, Prepaid credits. Soldo covers Prepaid company cards, Card-level budgets, Receipt capture, Accounting export.

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
Soldo: Is Soldo a credit card?

No. It is prepaid electronic money. You fund a wallet and cards spend from it, so there is no credit line and no interest-free period.

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
Soldo: What licence does Soldo hold?

Soldo is authorised as an electronic money institution, including UK, Irish and Italian entities, which is why it can issue cards without a sponsor bank in those markets.

Lago: Does Lago support multiple currencies?

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

Source
Soldo: What does it really cost for twenty users?

Take the plan fee, add the per-user rate for the seventeen users beyond the included three, then add card issuance fees per physical card.

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