Invoice Ninja 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?
FeatureInvoice NinjaLago
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseElastic-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPGo
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM512 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, kubernetes, source
GitHub stars★ 9,979★ 10,308
First released20142022
ReplacesFreshBooks, QuickBooksStripe Billing, Chargebee

Why pick each one

Choose Invoice Ninja if…

  • Comprehensive billing features
  • Many payment gateway integrations
Invoice Ninja details

Choose Lago if…

  • Powerful for SaaS billing
  • Developer-friendly
Lago details

Frequently asked questions

Is Invoice Ninja or Lago better?

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

Are Invoice Ninja and Lago free and open-source?

Yes. Invoice Ninja is licensed under Elastic-2.0 and Lago under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Invoice Ninja and Lago with Docker?

Invoice Ninja: yes. Lago: yes.

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