Open-source billing for the rest of us.
Subscriptions, usage-based metering, invoicing, and prepaid wallets. Connect Stripe, Paystack, Flutterwave, DPO, PayU, or PesaPal — bill customers anywhere with one API.
import { NovaBillingClient } from "novabilling";
const nova = new NovaBillingClient({
token: process.env.NOVA_API_KEY,
});
// Track usage events for metered billing
await nova.events.create({
subscriptionId: "sub_abc",
code: "api_requests",
properties: { endpoint: "/v1/users" },
});
// Create a customer with prepaid wallet
const customer = await nova.customers.create({
externalId: "user_123",
email: "amina@kampaltech.ug",
currency: "UGX",
});
await nova.wallets.create({
customerId: customer.id,
currency: "UGX",
grantedCredits: 50000,
});One API. Six payment providers. Infinite reach.
Why NovaBilling
The billing platform Africa deserves
Inspired by Stripe's developer experience and Lago's flexibility — open source and purpose-built for businesses that operate across borders.
Borderless by default
Support 40+ currencies across Africa, Europe, and beyond. Automatic currency matching routes payments to the right provider.
Open source, self-hostable
AGPL-3.0 licensed. Deploy on your own infrastructure with Docker. No vendor lock-in, no per-transaction fees from us.
Ship in minutes, not months
Type-safe SDKs for TypeScript and Python. Create customers, plans, subscriptions, and track usage with a few lines of code.
Features
Everything you need to bill globally
Subscriptions, usage metering, prepaid wallets, taxes, and more — all in one open-source platform.
Smart Subscriptions
Free trials, upgrades, downgrades, pausing, and automated renewals. Proration handled automatically with credit notes.
Usage-Based Billing
Track events with 6 aggregation types (COUNT, SUM, MAX, UNIQUE_COUNT, LATEST, WEIGHTED_SUM). Bill on actual usage, not estimates.
5 Charge Models
Standard, graduated, volume, package, and percentage pricing. Mix flat fees with usage charges on any plan.
Prepaid Wallets
Customer credit wallets with purchased and granted credits. Auto-deducted from invoices. Expiration support built in.
Taxes & Overrides
Hierarchical tax rules (org > customer > plan > charge). Per-customer plan overrides for custom pricing.
6 Payment Providers
Stripe, Paystack, Flutterwave, DPO Group, PayU, and PesaPal. Encrypted credentials with automatic routing.
Invoices & Checkout
Auto-generated PDF invoices. Hosted checkout URLs. Email delivery on every billing event. Grace periods for draft invoices.
Revenue Analytics
MRR breakdown, net revenue, churn cohorts, LTV metrics, and payment success rates. Filter by date, currency, and provider.
Webhooks & Events
Signature-verified webhooks for every billing event. Automatic retries with exponential backoff. Full event history.
Smart Dunning
Failed payments trigger automatic retries. Configurable retry schedules with email notifications at each stage.
Multi-Tenant Isolation
Every tenant gets a dedicated database. No data leaks, no noisy neighbors. Provision tenants with a single API call.
Enterprise Security
AES-256 credential encryption, JWT + API key dual auth, rate limiting, and per-tenant SMTP configuration.
Built for your team
NovaBilling works for everyone
Whether you're writing code or watching dashboards, NovaBilling gives your team the tools to move fast.
Developers
Ship billing without the headaches
- Type-safe TypeScript & Python SDKs
- OpenAPI spec with Scalar interactive docs
- Usage event ingestion with idempotency
- Self-host with Docker in 5 minutes
Business Leaders
Scale revenue across borders
- Accept payments in 40+ currencies
- 6 payment providers across Africa & globally
- MRR, churn, LTV, and net revenue analytics
- Open source -- no per-transaction platform fees
Product Teams
Launch pricing changes in minutes
- Usage-based, flat-rate, and hybrid pricing
- Prepaid wallets and promotional credits
- Trial periods, coupons, and plan overrides
- 5 charge models for any pricing strategy
Security & Compliance
Enterprise-grade from day one
- AES-256 encrypted provider credentials
- Isolated tenant databases (no data co-mingling)
- AGPL-3.0 -- full source code audit
- Per-tenant SMTP and webhook configuration
Developer Experience
From zero to billing in 5 minutes
Self-host with Docker or use our SDKs generated from the OpenAPI spec. Full type safety, autocomplete, and comprehensive error handling.
- 1
Deploy with Docker
docker compose up -d -- that's it
- 2
Connect a payment provider
Stripe, Paystack, Flutterwave, DPO, PayU, or PesaPal
- 3
Create plans & track usage
Multi-currency pricing with 5 charge models and event metering
- 4
Start billing
Subscriptions, invoices, wallets, and dunning -- all automated
# Clone and run
git clone https://github.com/novabilling/billing
cd novabilling
docker compose up -d
# API is live at http://localhost:4000
# Dashboard at http://localhost:4002
# Docs at http://localhost:4003// Define a usage metric
await nova.billableMetrics.create({
name: "API Requests",
code: "api_requests",
aggregationType: "COUNT",
});
// Attach a graduated charge to a plan
await nova.charges.create({
planId: plan.id,
billableMetricId: metric.id,
chargeModel: "GRADUATED",
graduatedRanges: [
{ fromValue: 0, toValue: 1000, perUnitAmount: 0 },
{ fromValue: 1001, toValue: null, perUnitAmount: 0.002 },
],
});Global Reach
37 currencies. One integration.
The widest African currency coverage of any open-source billing platform. Bill customers in their local currency with automatic provider routing.
40+
Countries supported
6
Payment providers
37
Currencies
5
Charge models
How it works
Four steps to global billing
Clone & deploy
One command to spin up the full stack with Docker. API, dashboard, docs, and worker processes -- all included.
Connect providers
Add Stripe, Paystack, Flutterwave, DPO, PayU, or PesaPal credentials. Encrypted with AES-256 at rest.
Define pricing
Create plans with multi-currency prices, usage charges, and prepaid wallets. 5 charge models for any strategy.
Start billing
Subscriptions, invoices, payments, and dunning -- all automated. Track everything in the dashboard.
How we compare
NovaBilling vs. the alternatives
| Feature | NovaBilling | Lago | Stripe Billing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open source | — | ||
| Self-hostable | — | ||
| Usage-based billing | |||
| Prepaid wallets | — | ||
| African payment providers | — | — | |
| Multi-tenant isolation | — | — | |
| Graduated & volume pricing | |||
| Smart dunning | |||
| Free self-hosted tier | Limited | — | |
| Premium self-hosted price | Free | $9,000/yr | N/A |
Pricing
Free to self-host. Forever.
The full platform is open source and free to deploy. Need managed hosting? We've got you covered.
Community
Self-host the full platform. No limits, no strings attached.
- All features included
- Unlimited tenants & customers
- All 6 payment providers
- Usage-based billing & wallets
- Full dashboard & analytics
- Community support on GitHub
Cloud
We host and manage everything. You focus on your product.
- Everything in Community
- Managed infrastructure
- Automatic updates & backups
- Priority email support
- 99.9% uptime SLA
- Custom domain for dashboard
Enterprise
For large-scale, multi-entity billing operations.
- Everything in Cloud
- Dedicated database cluster
- Custom SLA & uptime guarantee
- SSO / SAML integration
- On-premise deployment support
- Dedicated account manager
Ready to go borderless?
Deploy NovaBilling in minutes. Open source, self-hostable, and free forever. Join the community building the future of billing.
AGPL-3.0 licensed. All features included. No credit card required.