Frappe Books vs Lago

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureFrappe BooksLago
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM256 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker, kubernetes, source
GitHub stars★ 4,874★ 10,308
First released20202022
ReplacesQuickBooks, WaveStripe Billing, Chargebee

Why pick each one

Choose Frappe Books if…

  • No subscription needed
  • Simple and clean
Frappe Books details

Choose Lago if…

  • Powerful for SaaS billing
  • Developer-friendly
Lago details

Frequently asked questions

Is Frappe Books or Lago better?

Neither is universally better. Lago has the larger community, while Frappe Books is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Frappe Books and Lago free and open-source?

Yes. Frappe Books is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Lago under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Frappe Books and Lago with Docker?

Frappe Books: check the project docs for container support. Lago: yes.

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