Open-source billing · comparison
Lago vs FeeGuard: open-source billing vs open math, run daily
Billing systems decide what to charge and when to recognise it. Neither question touches whether a refunded transfer ever came back from the connected account. Lago is built for the first; here is the side-by-side on the second, including where Lago clearly wins.
What Lago does
an open-source metering and billing alternative for product teams wanting ownership. Source: https://www.getlago.com.
That is real capability in its lane — and the lanes below show precisely where it ends.
Everything said here about Lago is summarised from its own public materials at the link above, never from private knowledge of how it works inside. Products change; if any line has gone out of date, tell us at feeguard@teamveristria.com and we will correct the page rather than argue about it.
Side by side: FeeGuard vs Lago
Eight capabilities a Connect platform needs. No empty cells — every row states what each product actually does.
| Capability | FeeGuard | Lago |
|---|---|---|
| Unreversed-transfer detection | Yes — computed on every `charge.refunded` event: proportional expectation, rounding tolerance, ratio clamping | No — billing OSS. |
| Application-fee leak detection | Yes — application fees tested against reversals via Net Platform Margin; zero- and three-decimal currencies handled | No — fees untouched. |
| Dispute-loss clawback support | Yes — recoverable figure computed on `dispute.closed` (transfer remainder, fee excluded); early warning on `created`; gated automation | No — disputes outside. |
| Cross-border FX monitoring | Yes — realised rates measured against same-day currency-pair baselines; directional loss flagging beyond 0.8% | No — fX unmeasured. |
| Runs on your live Stripe Connect account today | Yes — read-only restricted key, roughly ten minutes to first findings, revocable anytime | Depends |
| Performs recovery actions | One-click manual reversals (free tier); risk-gated automation with idempotency keys on Monitor Pro | Varies |
| Evidence & audit trail | Append-only trail on every action; finding-level evidence ids exportable as CSV | Varies |
| Pricing model | Detection and the 90-day lookback free · monitoring is a subscription from $49/mo · success fee only when eligible funds are recovered | Open source / cloud |
Where Lago genuinely wins
- — Genuine open-source ethos and self-host freedom.
- — Community-driven velocity.
Why platforms choose FeeGuard over Lago
- Upstream of recognition. A transfer that was never reversed is already wrong before any revenue rule looks at it.
- All four vectors, natively. Unreversed transfers, kept fees, uncovered dispute losses and FX drag are separate detectors with separate arithmetic, not one heuristic wearing four labels.
- Free before you pay anyone. Detection and the 90-day lookback cost nothing — measure your stranded dollars before committing to any vendor, including us.
- Ten-minute, read-only setup. One restricted key you create and revoke; no migration, no seller re-onboarding, no payment-path changes.
- Recovery is billed on results. The success fee applies only to dollars actually recovered and confirmed in Stripe — if nothing recovers, nothing bills.
- Evidence-grade trail. Append-only logs with finding-level arithmetic — ready for controllers, auditors and diligence teams.
Bottom line
We share the philosophy — formulas published ([CHECKLIST-7] lives) — and differ on who runs them hourly. If your problem lives in open-source billing, Lago deserves its reputation. If your problem is a platform balance lower than your ledger predicts — refunds succeeding while transfers never come home — that problem has exactly one purpose-built answer, and you are reading it. Run the free audit; the number settles the debate faster than any comparison page can.
Common questions
Philosophy match?
Strongly — transparency first. The divergence is operational execution, not values.
Is FeeGuard a better choice than Lago?
For open-source billing, Lago is the specialist and we say so plainly. For detecting and recovering silent Stripe Connect losses — the four vectors above — FeeGuard is purpose-built and Lago does not perform that function. Most platforms comparing the two are feeling the second problem.
Can we run Lago and FeeGuard together?
Yes, commonly. They operate on different objects and different events; neither conflicts with the other’s workflow.
What does switching cost us?
Nothing upfront: read-only key, ten-minute setup, free detection. Recovery carries a success fee only on confirmed dollars — so trying FeeGuard risks no budget at all.