Open source SaaS subscription management redefines how companies handle billing, payments, and customer relationships.
These platforms enable companies to innovate with recurring revenue and usage-based billing. Like another open-source platform, the beauty of open-source lies in its flexibility and control.
With this flexibility, your business can avoid vendor lock-in and tailor the software to your specific needs. That’s why it is time for us to make a billing software comparison.
If you want a deeper understanding of SaaS management’s role in curbing shadow IT and budget leaks, please refer to “What is SaaS Management? How Does It Kill Shadow IT & Save Budget?“
Benefits of Open Source Software
Open source billing platforms empower companies by removing barriers to growth and control. Unlike traditional subscription billing software, which often locks companies into rigid vendor agreements, open source solutions offer complete freedom.
This freedom translates to the ability to adapt quickly to a fast-paced market, build customisable subscription billing systems, and maintain control over critical data and processes.
Open source software achieves this through cost-effective and flexible solutions. By reducing licensing fees, companies can redirect their budgets towards innovation and development, allowing them to focus on what truly matters—serving their customers.
As revealed in OpenLogic’s recent report, 95% of companies have increased or maintained their use of open source software in the past year, largely driven by the desire for cost reduction and independence from vendor restrictions.
In addition to cutting costs, these platforms enhance operational efficiency by fostering collaboration and rapid issue resolution.
This collaborative edge, inherent in open-source communities, enables companies to improve their billing processes continually, adapt to customer needs, and maintain a competitive advantage in a dynamic market.
Reducing licensing costs is a primary advantage, preventing budget waste commonly associated with SaaS licenses. Learn more in “Your Silent Budget Killer: How to Stop the Leaks of SaaS License Waste.”
Top Open Source SaaS Subscription Management Tools
Kill Bill
Kill Bill is an open source billing software that provides organisations with a robust and flexible solution for recurring payments management.
Kill Bill’s capabilities extend to managing complex billing scenarios and supporting a diverse range of pricing models, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
Pros of Kill Bill
Kill Bill offers several advantages, including the ability to effortlessly scale billing infrastructure, access real-time analytics and financial reports, and avoid vendor lock-in.
Its open-source nature empowers businesses with the flexibility to customise the platform to their unique needs.
Kill Bill boasts a robust partner ecosystem and extensive plugin interface, enabling seamless integration with major payment gateways and tools.
This adaptability allows businesses to optimise their payment strategies and cater to diverse customer preferences.
Cons of Kill Bill
The open-source nature of Kill Bill may require businesses to have in-house technical expertise for deployment, customisation, and maintenance.
While Kill Bill provides a comprehensive documentation library and API reference, support is primarily community-based, with direct support from the core team at an additional cost.
This reliance on community support might pose challenges for businesses seeking immediate expert assistance.
Lago
Lago offers a modular architecture that caters to businesses at different stages of growth, with the ability to handle high volumes of billing events in real-time.
Lago distinguishes itself with a focus on real-time usage metering, providing granular insights into consumption patterns.
Pros of Lago
Lago excels in its plug-and-play metering capabilities, eliminating the need for pre-aggregation and data cleaning.
Its event-based architecture allows it to ingest up to 15,000 billing events per second.
Lago simplifies SaaS billing automation with pre-built features, including price plans, coupons, and add-ons, reducing business development time.
Lago also supports payment gateway integration, as evidenced by its pre-built connections with popular platforms like Stripe, GoCardless, and Adyen.
Cons of Lago
While Lago provides comprehensive features for usage-based billing, businesses with simpler billing needs might find its advanced capabilities unnecessary.
Additionally, while Lago offers both cloud and self-hosted deployment options, the self-hosted version might require more technical expertise for setup and maintenance.
Some businesses might also prefer a more established platform with a larger community for support, especially those new to open source SaaS subscription management.
Establishing best practices for SaaS license agreements can avoid potential pitfalls. For a comprehensive guide, see “SaaS License Agreement: From Common Mistakes to Best Practices.”
Apache OFBiz
Apache OFBiz offers various modules, including accounting, CRM, order management, e-commerce, warehousing, inventory, and manufacturing.
It is written in Java and leverages a web framework, an entity engine, a service engine, and a widget-based user interface, allowing developers to prototype and build applications quickly.
Pros of Apache OFBiz
OFBiz provides a flexible framework for businesses to develop and deploy custom features tailored to their needs, making it suitable for diverse industries.
As an Apache top-level project for over a decade, OFBiz demonstrates its stability and maturity as an enterprise-wide ERP solution.
It provides a scalable and reliable platform that can be customised to meet evolving business requirements. OFBiz is highly flexible, allowing developers to easily extend and enhance its core functionalities.
Cons of Apache OFBiz
While OFBiz provides a robust and flexible platform, it may lack specific pre-built functionalities for SaaS billing automation.
Implementing advanced features such as usage-based billing and payment gateway integration might require significant custom development.
Additionally, while OFBiz is feature-rich, it may present a steeper learning curve compared to more streamlined open-source platforms specifically designed for subscription management.
Businesses new to OFBiz might need to invest time and resources in training and understanding its architecture and functionalities.
OpenCell
OpenCell is an open-source platform tailored for telecommunications businesses, encompassing billing, CRM, and order management functionalities.
It provides comprehensive support for various pricing models, including prepaid, postpaid, and usage-based, making it suitable for diverse telco operations.
Pros of OpenCell
OpenCell stands out for its comprehensive features designed explicitly for the telecommunications industry.
It streamlines SaaS billing automation with automated invoice generation, payment processing, and dunning management.
OpenCell also supports payment gateway integration, enabling businesses to accept payments through various channels and enhancing customer convenience.
Cons of OpenCell
While OpenCell provides a robust platform for telco billing, its industry-specific focus might limit its applicability to other business sectors.
The technical expertise required for deployment and customisation might pose a challenge for businesses lacking in-house development resources.
New to managing software licenses? “A Beginner Handbook of Software License Management System” offers a practical starting point.
Invoice Ninja
Invoice Ninja is a free invoicing software designed for small to medium-sized businesses and freelancers. The software aims to simplify the invoicing and payment process.
Invoice Ninja provides a comprehensive suite of tools designed to improve efficiency and potentially contribute to customer churn reduction by providing a seamless and professional experience for clients.
Pros of Invoice Ninja
Invoice Ninja offers a variety of features, including customisable invoice templates, personalised dashboards, recurring invoice settings, and multiple currency and language support for overseas customers.
Users can accept credit cards and ACH payments, send automated late-payment reminders, and transform quotes into invoices effortlessly.
Additionally, clients have access to a dedicated client-side portal to view their invoices, payment history, documents, and more, promoting transparency and simplifying the subscription lifecycle.
Cons of Invoice Ninja
While Invoice Ninja offers a robust free plan, some advanced features and invoice template designs are only available in the Pro & Enterprise Plans.
The free plan includes four invoice template designs, while the Pro & Enterprise plans offer eleven.
Users may need to upgrade to access the full functionality of the software.
While Invoice Ninja supports various payment gateways, some integrations may have associated transaction fees.
With various types of SaaS license models available, understanding which model fits your business best is key. See “Types of SaaS License Models Explained: Find Your Perfect Fit for insights.”
Octobits
Octobits offers an alternative to traditional open-source SaaS subscription management platforms by providing an all-in-one dashboard designed to simplify billing, client management, and reporting.
Octobits is a SaaS Management Platform (SMP) designed to simplify IT operations by providing complete visibility and control over devices, billing, reporting, and more.
It offers a centralised dashboard where IT managers and managed service providers (MSPs) can manage all aspects of their software ecosystem.
Octobits integrates with major IT vendors such as Datto Autotask, Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS, CrowdStrike, and Proofpoint.
Pros of Octobits
Unlike many open-source platforms, one major benefit of Octobits is its flexibility in customization. This makes Octobits suitable for companies with evolving needs, limited budgets, and limited technical resources.
Its client management tools are intuitive, allowing businesses to track customer interactions, automate billing processes, and consolidate alerts across multiple services.
This ease of integration simplifies comparisons in billing software, as Octobits is designed to work effectively with a range of popular IT platforms, including AWS and Microsoft 365.
Additionally, being free until December 2024 offers companies a low-risk trial period to explore its functionalities, especially for billing and invoicing software, without immediate financial commitments.
Cons of Octobits
Although designed for easy integration, some users might encounter challenges when connecting Octobits with less common or proprietary systems, potentially requiring additional technical resources.
Integrating Open Source Tools with Existing Systems
Integrating open source tools with existing systems is a complex process, but the benefits are clear and the challenges are surmountable.
This flexibility reduces integration time and enhances operational efficiency by unifying device, billing, and reporting management under a single platform.
Open source tools, such as the billing and payment platform Kill Bill and the metering and usage-based billing platform Lago, provide companies with greater flexibility and control over their software ecosystems.
Please note, when you integrate open-source tools, knowing the difference between license and subscription models is essential. Explore more in “SaaS License vs Subscription: Benefits, Costs, and Key Differences Explained.”
Alternatively, Octobits offers a unique advantage: seamless integration with major IT services such as AWS, Microsoft 365, and Datto Autotask.
Open source SaaS subscription management offer far greater control than proprietary systems, restricting integration options to selected ecosystems.
Octobits’ centralized hub for billing information ensures faster and more accurate data flow between systems, enhancing the efficiency of processes like invoicing, payment tracking, and even customer communication.
However, businesses must consider the technical resource requirements for setting up and maintaining these integrations.
Octobits is the ideal alternative to an open-source platform. Octobits eliminates the need for in-house IT expertise to address complex configurations or customizations.
The Octobits team of experts will support you with any ongoing technical oversight, ensuring compatibility with future updates and maintaining security.
In Closing
These tools are essential for businesses aiming to achieve control and agility. There’s no question about it.
Whether through robust open-source platforms or alternatives like Octobits, they provide the control and agility businesses need to succeed.
Beyond the customization technical challenges, open source SaaS subscription management empowers companies to maintain an adaptable infrastructure to support sustainable growth.
