How Lago Uses Lago: Tackling Our Own Billing Nightmares

Here at Lago, our goal is to build scalable billing systems so your engineers don't have to.

Because we know that billing systems have a reputation. They’re the proverbial monster under the bed for engineers: you know it’s there, you don’t want to look, and every time you reach out to touch it, you end up pulling back a hand covered in conditional statements and rounding errors.

So we built the billing and metering platform we'd have wanted to tackle our own billing nightmares, and logically decided to use Lago to craft and power our own custom billing.

And while billing will probably never be described as “fun” (unless you’re a finance person), we’ve built something that makes it… tolerable? Maybe even enjoyable?

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TL;DR

• Advanced Metering: We leverage advanced metering to track every single byte, ensuring both we and our customers understand what’s on the bills.
• Plan Overrides: Because every customer is special (yes, they are!), we use plan overrides to unlock custom pricing plans.
• Wallets & Grace Periods: We enable grace periods for our customers whose wallets are running low.
• Payment Integrations: Because getting paid is the whole point, we built Lago as a holistic and open platform for payment integrations.
• Dunning Management: Here’s how we politely ask for money (again… and again).
• Conclusion: Lago, the ultimate cure for your billing nightmares.

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Read on to find out how we use Lago’s advanced metering, plan overrides, grace periods, payment service providers (PSP) integrations, and dunning capabilities to keep the billing nightmares at bay.

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1. Advanced Metering: Tracking Every Byte (So You Don’t Have To Explain the Bill Later)

Billing usage is like calorie counting: everyone’s excited to start, and nobody wants to check halfway through.

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Lago’s advanced metering lets us precisely track each customer’s usage, so when the bill comes around, there’s no confusion. Every API call, data gigabyte, and extra feature gets its own little check mark in our system.

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Here’s how we keep track:

• Granular Tracking: With Lago’s metering, we can track down to each API call, so there’s never a question about why a customer’s bill is what it is. It’s like having a Fitbit for your billing—just fewer steps and more dollar signs.

• Real-Time Processing: We can retrieve each of our customers current usage in real-time, and display it to them.  It’s a simple API call. Because If there’s one thing worse than surprising a customer with an unexpected bill, it’s surprising them after they already paid it.‍
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With this level of detail, our customers always know where their usage stands—like a real-time snack tracker, but with fewer regrets and more accountability.

2. Plan Overrides: Because Every Customer is Special (and That’s Our Problem)

Plan overrides are like adding “exceptions” to a diet plan—you think it’ll only be one cheat day, and then next thing you know, it’s nachos every night.

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In the world of SaaS, every customer thinks they deserve a custom plan. And who are we to say no? With Lago’s plan override feature, we can customize pricing and feature access without rewriting code for each new “special” plan request.

• Custom Pricing Without the Chaos: With plan overrides, we can keep our base plans simple and add customized options only where needed. So when BigCustomer Inc. wants a discount, we’re not scrambling through the codebase‍
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With Lago, we can handle unique plans without making our code look like a “choose your own adventure” billing novel.

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Less code spaghetti, more flexibility.

3. Grace Periods: For When Your Customer’s Wallet is Running on Empty

Grace periods are like snooze buttons—you know you’ll have to get up eventually, but there’s no harm in hitting it one more time… right?

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The grace period allows customers (us in this case) to review invoices before they’re finalized and sent to their customers (Lago’s customers in this case). Invoices remain in draft until the grace period expires, or until we finalize them manually.

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Grace periods are a lifesaver for both sides: customers don’t lose service, and we don’t lose customers. It’s the best of both worlds (even if it’s just delaying the inevitable “your payment is due” email).

4. Payment Integrations: Because Getting Paid is the Whole Point

Integrating with payment providers is like learning to drive—everyone tells you it’ll be easy, but the second you’re alone on the road, all the rules change.

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With Lago, integrating with PSPs (Payment Service Providers) is actually pretty painless. We support multiple PSPs like Stripe Payments, Adyen, GoCardless meaning our customers can choose the payment method that works for them, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time a new one comes along.

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Lago’s multi-PSP support is like having a universal translator for payments. We don’t care what language (or currency) you speak—Lago’s got it covered.

5. Dunning Management: The Art of Politely Asking for Money (Again… and Again)

Dunning emails are like laundry—you can ignore them for a bit, but eventually, they pile up and demand your attention!

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Dunning can be painful, but Lago’s dunning automation makes it almost pleasant (for us, at least). If a payment fails, Lago’s system handles it with scheduled retries and friendly reminders, keeping us out of the “awkward follow-up email” business

With Lago’s dunning, we can set retry intervals, schedule reminders, and even send personalized “please pay us” emails that (hopefully) sound a little less desperate than we feel. And if the customer comes through? That’s a win for everyone.

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Conclusion: The Cure for Your Billing Nightmares

Billing is that dreaded part of SaaS that has engineers clutching their keyboards and wondering if they should’ve gone into frontend after all.

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But by using Lago, we’ve built a billing system that’s flexible, transparent, and—dare we say it—bearable.

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With advanced metering, plan overrides, PSP integrations, grace periods, and dunning all handled seamlessly, Lago lets us focus on building features our customers love, rather than untangling billing logic that no one really wants to touch. So if you’re ready to end the billing horror show, Lago’s got you covered.

After all, a billing system should work with you, not keep you up at night.

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PS: Read more about billing nightmares here

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