Our take
Activeregular commits and releases- Activity
- 75
- Community
- 91
- Issues
- 72
- Pull requests
- 85
+12 stars in the last 16 days
- Merges more pull requests than 98% of the projects we track
- More contributors than 77% of the projects we track
FOSSBilling is an actively maintained, Apache-licensed option for self-hosted billing, with a beta label that makes it worth evaluating before relying on it for critical operations.
Good fit if
- You run a hosting or online service business and want billing and client management in one system.
- You can operate a PHP-based self-hosted application and meet its documented requirements.
- You value an active project with regular releases, contributions from a broad contributor base, and quick handling of issues and pull requests.
Look elsewhere if
- You need a mature product with no beta caveat or expect extensive support.
- Your team cannot maintain a PHP application or meet its runtime and infrastructure requirements.
- Your needs fall outside billing, client management, payments, and related service workflows.
All health signals
| Last commit | 2026-10-14 (today) |
|---|---|
| Commits, last 90 days | 100+ |
| Releases, last 12 months | 9 (latest 0.8.8, 2026-10-03) |
| Contributors | 100+ (top contributor: 24% of commits) |
| Issues closed, last 90 days | 9+ (typically closed in 1 day) |
| Pull requests merged, last 90 days | 98 (typically merged in 0 days) |
| Project age | 4 years |
Checked on 2026-10-15 with the GitHub API.
Overview
FOSSBilling is a PHP billing and client management system for hosting providers and other online service businesses. It brings invoicing, payments, and client communication into a self-hosted system, helping businesses reduce manual work around recurring services and client accounts.
Its extension-friendly approach also suits software licensing, digital downloads, and subscriptions. The project describes itself as beta, so teams should weigh its active development against the possibility of rough edges and limited support.
Key Features
- Automates invoices and payment reminders, with basic reporting.
- Keeps client information and communication in one system.
- Supports multiple payment gateways.
- Offers an extension-friendly architecture for integrations and custom features.
- Provides a responsive interface for desktop and mobile use.
- Includes a community-translated, multilingual interface.
Use Cases
- Hosting providers can manage client accounts, billing, and payment reminders in one place.
- Subscription businesses can use it to handle recurring service billing and client communication.
- Software vendors can manage billing for software licenses.
- Digital product sellers can use it for billing and client management around downloads.
What you need
Detected in the repository
- Node.js >=24 (from package.json)
- PHP (from composer.json)
- A Dockerfile, so it can run in a container
- A test suite and automated checks on GitHub Actions
License in plain words
Apache-2.0permissive
- Commercial use: yes
- Modify and redistribute: yes
- You must keep: the license, the NOTICE file and a note of your changes
- Share your changes: no
- Includes an explicit patent grant from the contributors:
A summary, not legal advice: the LICENSE file is what applies.
Getting Started
Follow the Getting Started guide for installation instructions and current system requirements. The project also provides a public demo for evaluation. See the README for contribution and project details.
Alternatives
- lago: Lago focuses on API-driven metered and hybrid billing, while FOSSBilling provides broader client management and hosting-business automation.
| Project | Language | License | Stars | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOSSBilling | PHP | Apache-2.0 | 1.7k | Active |
| lago | Go | AGPL-3.0 | 10.7k | Active |
Considerations
The project explicitly says it is in beta, with possible rough edges and limited support. Its health indicators show ongoing development, regular releases, broad contributor participation rather than dependence on one contributor, and fast median issue and pull request handling, but those signals do not remove the beta caveat. Deployment requires PHP and the documented application requirements; Node.js 24 or newer is also listed in the repository requirements. Docker is supported. Check the current requirements and installation guide before planning a deployment.
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