Recurring vs metered - Lago

Recurring billable metrics

Only the sum_agg, unique_count_agg and weighted_sum_agg aggregation types can be recurring. A count_agg, max_agg or latest_agg billable metric is always metered.

Dashboard
API

When you set recurring: true or choose the “recurring” option in the user interface, the aggregation persists across billing periods. The accumulated result carries over and is used to charge the customer in the following periods.

LAGO_URL="https://api.getlago.com"
API_KEY="__YOUR_API_KEY__"

curl --location --request POST "$LAGO_URL/api/v1/billable_metrics" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
    "billable_metric": {
      "name": "Seats",
      "code": "seats",
      "description": "Active seats added",
      "aggregation_type": "unique_count_agg",
      "field_name": "seat_id",
      "recurring": true
    }
  }'

Metered billable metrics

Dashboard
API

If you set recurring: false or select the “metered” option in the user interface, the aggregation resets to zero at the end of each billing period. The customer is charged only for the usage of that period.

LAGO_URL="https://api.getlago.com"
API_KEY="__YOUR_API_KEY__"

curl --location --request POST "$LAGO_URL/api/v1/billable_metrics" \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-raw '{
    "billable_metric": {
      "name": "Storage",
      "code": "storage",
      "description": "Number of GB used",
      "aggregation_type": "sum_agg",
      "field_name": "gb",
      "recurring": false
    }
  }'