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Accounting · head to head

Lago vs Zoho Expense

Lago logo

Lago

Accounting

Open-source billing infrastructure for usage-based models

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zoho Expense logo

Zoho Expense

Accounting

Expense reporting and travel management at three dollars per user per month

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; Zoho Expense aI receipt scans are metered per user per month rather than unlimited, so heavy claimants exhaust the allowance and either scan manually or push the organisation to a higher tier.
  • They diverge on capability: Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Zoho Expense covers Receipt OCR.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lago and Zoho Expense actually diverge.

Attributes where Lago and Zoho Expense differ
AttributeLagoZoho Expense
Pricing modelFreemium with optional paid tiersPer user per month
PlatformsWeb, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPCWeb, iOS, Android

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 Zoho Expense

  • Receipt OCR
  • Corporate card reconciliation
  • Per diem and mileage
  • Approval workflows
  • Travel requests and booking
  • Policy engine
  • Multi currency and multi entity
  • Accounting integration

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

Zoho Expense

  • A mid market company replacing spreadsheet expense claims without a five figure annual software budgetnot Lago
  • An existing Zoho One customer extending the suite so expense data lands in Zoho Books without integration worknot Lago
  • A business with staff travelling across several currencies that needs automatic exchange rate handling on claimsnot Lago
  • A services firm rebilling project expenses to clients and needing them coded to projects at the point of claimnot 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

Zoho Expense

  • AI receipt scans are metered per user per month rather than unlimited, so heavy claimants exhaust the allowance and either scan manually or push the organisation to a higher tier.
  • Zoho Expense does not issue cards, so policy enforcement is retrospective and out of policy spend is caught after the money has left rather than declined at the terminal.
  • Additional users who create expenses are billed at the monthly rate rather than the annual rate, which makes a large population of occasional claimants more expensive than the headline three dollars implies.
  • Support quality is the recurring complaint across Zoho products, and at three dollars a seat there is no commercial room for the account management that mid market finance teams expect at renewal or during an audit.
  • Deep configuration such as complex approval matrices and custom fields is workable but fiddly, and there is no meaningful professional services organisation to hand implementation to.

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)

Zoho Expense

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 3 users
    • Receipt capture with limited AI scans
    • Basic expense reports
  • Standard$3/month
    • Billed annually, minimum 3 users
    • Corporate card reconciliation
    • Approval workflows
  • Premium$5/month
    • Billed annually
    • Travel requests and self booking
    • Advanced approvals and policy rules

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 Zoho Expense if

  • You need receipt ocr.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want corporate card reconciliation.
Zoho Expense review

Questions people ask

Is Lago or Zoho Expense better?
Neither clearly leads. Lago starts at Free and Zoho Expense at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lago or Zoho Expense?
Lago starts at Free and Zoho Expense at Free.
Does Lago or Zoho Expense run on more platforms?
Lago runs on Web, Cloud, Self-hosted, On-premise, VPC. Zoho Expense runs on Web, 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 Zoho Expense is typically brought in for.
What can Lago do that Zoho Expense cannot?
Lago covers Real-time usage metering, Multiple pricing models, Automated invoicing, Prepaid credits. Zoho Expense covers Receipt OCR, Corporate card reconciliation, Per diem and mileage, Approval workflows.

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
Zoho Expense: Is the free plan usable in production?

Only for three users. Beyond that you move to Standard, which has a three user minimum anyway.

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
Zoho Expense: Does Zoho Expense issue corporate cards?

No. It reconciles card feeds but does not issue cards, so you need a card programme elsewhere if you want spend blocked before it happens.

Lago: Does Lago support multiple currencies?

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

Source
Zoho Expense: What is the real cost for a hundred users?

Around three thousand six hundred dollars a year on Standard annual billing, plus higher monthly rates for any additional occasional claimants beyond your licensed count.

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