Lago vs Wallos
| Tagline | Open-source metering and usage-based billing API for SaaS products | Lightweight self-hosted personal subscription tracker with statistics |
| Category | Finance & Budgeting | Finance & Budgeting |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, Mint | Mint, YNAB |
| GitHub stars | 10k | 8.1k |
| Language | Docker | PHP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 7 days ago | 5 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Lago
- Developer-oriented billing API, not a personal finance or budgeting tool for end-users
- No AR/AP or general-ledger accounting; revenue recognition requires integration with an ERP
- Tax calculation engine is basic; real-world tax compliance needs third-party integration (e.g. Avalara)
- Dunning workflows and payment retries are less mature than Chargebee or Stripe Billing
Wallos
- No bank/account sync; subscriptions must be entered manually
- No general budgeting categories or spending envelopes like YNAB
- Reporting is limited to subscription totals — no net-worth or cash-flow views
- No mobile native app; mobile access is browser-only
Bottom line
Choose Wallos if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Lago for the larger community and ecosystem. Wallos has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.