How Lago transformed their billing integrations with Nango
The challenges of scaling integrations
Salesforce integration: a heavy lift
Lago's first integration was Salesforce, designed as a “package-style” solution within the Salesforce platform. Building it took over four months and required hiring a dedicated Salesforce developer, whose work remains critical 1.5 years later. Debugging this integration remains a pain point due to a lack of observability and logs.
High demand, limited resources
As customers and open-source users requested more integrations (CRM, accounting, VAT), Lago faced an unsustainable scaling model. Each new integration, such as Netsuite or Xero, required API expertise that would involve hiring specialists for every API, which wasn’t feasible for their small team.
Losing deals to missing integrations
Missing key integrations didn’t always lead to outright rejection, but sales conversations with Enterprise prospects often stalled early in discovery. If a competitor had the integration Lago lacked, they would lose the deal before getting the chance to showcase their platform’s strengths.
Why Nango was the right fit
Tailored for complex billing scenarios
Nango’s flexible platform allowed Lago to handle their unique billing use cases, such as managing line-item-level sales tax and custom invoice structures. Unlike rigid unified APIs, Nango’s open approach meant Lago could define schemas that matched their specific requirements.
Lago evaluated the unified APIs Merge and Rutter, but they were too rigid to do line item sales tax and they did not cover tax integrations. Using Nango meant they could build the best integration possible and get ahead of competitors.
Streamlining backend complexity
With unified fields designed for their needs, Lago reduced backend complexity and prepared their system for future integrations. Even non-developers, like Lago’s product team, could easily add new fields or extend existing schemas.
Improved debugging and support
Nango’s logs and observability tools addressed Lago’s longstanding debugging frustrations. The ability to track performance and identify issues directly within the platform saved significant time. Slack support ensured that deeper issues were resolved within a day, critical when working with demanding finance teams.
Open-source confidence
The open-source nature of Nango gave Lago confidence in the platform’s longevity. Contributing to the tooling directly further strengthened their ability to adapt it to their evolving needs.
Delivering results with Nango
Rapid deployment of new integrations
Lago’s first Netsuite integration was completed within 2-3 weeks, a dramatic improvement over previous timelines. Future integrations like Xero were scoped and shipped even faster. Raffi is now very confident they can complete any new integration in 1-2 weeks, which is very valuable to plan and execute on the integration roadmap.
Operational efficiency
By leveraging Nango, Lago eliminated the need to hire API-specific specialists or write custom integration logic for each new API. Unified fields reduced backend maintenance, simplifying their technical operations.
Boosting revenue potential
Premium integrations like Netsuite and Xero helped drive upsells with existing customers while unlocking new Enterprise deals. The ability to deliver integrations quickly gave Lago a competitive edge in sales conversations, particularly with large accounts requiring custom billing workflows.
What’s next for Lago with Nango
Lago plans to expand its integration offerings using Nango, starting with QuickBooks, Avalara, and TaxJar. Lago sees Nango playing a central role in delivering future premium integrations and ensuring a seamless billing experience for their customers.
With Nango, Lago has the tools to scale its integration capabilities while focusing on its core mission: empowering developers and teams with a modern, dev-first billing platform.
