What is the top free pick among billing tools?

Stripe CLI leads the Stack Gems list for billing tools. Verdict: Install it. Then still pay Stripe when money moves.

How many billing tools does Stack Gems review?

7: 7 free or open source. Each review has a verdict and an honest Catch; no tool pays for its spot.

Which billing tools can I self-host for free?

Stripe CLI, Kill Bill, Lago, Paymenter, Autumn and Paddle CLI.

Which billing tools have the most GitHub stars?

Lago (10.7k), Polar (10.4k), Kill Bill (5.8k), per GitHub on 2026-10-19. Stars measure attention, not fit; read the Catch.

What is the catch with Stripe CLI?

The CLI is free; card charges are not.

Best of · Payments

Best billing tools (2026)

Stack Gems reviews 7 billing tools: 7 free or open source. These are the top 7, each with its verdict and the Catch we would want to know before installing it.

Order: free and open source first, then hosted products with a real free tier, then paid-led; catalog order inside each group, with quiet or archived repos last. Not a score, and no tool pays for its place.

7 reviewed · 7 shown in full

1.Stripe CLIOfficial Stripe terminal for webhooks, events, and API objects
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 2.2k GitHub stars
VerdictInstall it. Then still pay Stripe when money moves.
CatchThe CLI is free; card charges are not. See stripe.com/pricing for processing rates. Live mode needs a real secret. Dispute fees are on Stripe, not on this binary.
2.PolarApache-2.0 merchant-of-record billing for indie and AI products
Free / OSS · Freemium · 10.4k GitHub stars
VerdictApache-2.0 MoR for indie and AI products. Free Starter, honest take-rate, real SDKs.
CatchNo first-party CLI in the docs index — SDKs, MCP, and API only. Starter take-rate sits on top of card-brand costs. Polar is MoR, so you do not keep the Stripe account relationship. International cards add extra. Payouts have their own cut.
3.Kill BillApache-2.0 in-house subscriptions and payments, no % take-rate
Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 5.8k GitHub stars
VerdictApache-2.0 billing you run. Free until Aviate or the AMI; never a take-rate.
CatchJVM and ops-heavy. Aviate is the proprietary accelerator — not the Apache tree. Self-Hosted OSS Free; AWS Marketplace is ~$40/mo plus the AWS bill. No revenue tiles here because there is no % of revenue to quote.
4.LagoAGPLv3 usage and entitlements metering you self-host
Free / OSS · AGPL-3.0 · 10.7k GitHub stars
VerdictAGPLv3 metering. Self-host or talk to sales — there is no hobby cloud.
CatchPremium is Contact us. There is no $0 Lago Cloud. Self-host is the free path; Cloud and Premium are quotes. AGPLv3 is network copyleft.
5.PaymenterMIT hosting billing; self-host free, cloud PaaS $5/mo paid
Free / OSS · Freemium · 2.8k GitHub stars
VerdictMIT hosting billing. Self-host free; cloud PaaS is $5/mo paid.
CatchVs Kill Bill/Lago/Polar: hosting webshop + provisioning (Pterodactyl/cPanel, WHMCS importer) — not generic subscription metering or Polar MoR. Cloud is $5/mo paid. Self-host is the $0 path.
6.AutumnApache-2.0 Stripe billing layer; Free to 8K billing volume
Free / OSS · Freemium · 2.8k GitHub stars
VerdictApache-2.0 Stripe billing layer. Free tier real; still bring Stripe.
CatchVs Polar/Lago/OpenMeter: Stripe abstraction + entitlements — not Polar MoR, not Lago/OpenMeter metering-first. Stripe fees still apply. Pro Cloud from $375/mo. Free path is Free tier or self-host.
7.Paddle CLIMIT community CLI for full Paddle Billing API; agent-native
Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 1 GitHub stars
VerdictMIT Paddle Billing CLI. Free tool; Paddle merchant + MoR fees separate.
CatchCommunity CLI — not an official Paddle Inc product; API drift risk. Still need a Paddle merchant account (MoR fees apply). Vs Stripe CLI: Paddle-only. Thin MCP forks exist; this is the general CLI.

FAQ

What is the top free pick among billing tools?: Stripe CLI leads the Stack Gems list for billing tools. Verdict: Install it. Then still pay Stripe when money moves.
How many billing tools does Stack Gems review?: 7: 7 free or open source. Each review has a verdict and an honest Catch; no tool pays for its spot.
Which billing tools can I self-host for free?: Stripe CLI, Kill Bill, Lago, Paymenter, Autumn and Paddle CLI.
Which billing tools have the most GitHub stars?: Lago (10.7k), Polar (10.4k), Kill Bill (5.8k), per GitHub on 2026-10-19. Stars measure attention, not fit; read the Catch.
What is the catch with Stripe CLI?: The CLI is free; card charges are not.

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