head to head · open source
gs-quant vs polaris
gs-quant has 12,974 GitHub stars, 1,752 forks, 73 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. polaris has 3,387 stars, 231 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. gs-quant leads on adoption by 283% (12,974 vs 3,387 stars). gs-quant is written in Python under Apache-2.0; polaris is written in Go under Apache-2.0. gs-quant has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, polaris 7%. polaris was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| gs-quant | polaris | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 13K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 231 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick gs-quant if
- You weight community size — 13K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick polaris if
- You want the polaris feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and polaris fits your workflow better
About gs-quant
GS Quant is an Apache 2.0 Python toolkit for quantitative finance, maintained by quantitative developers at Goldman Sachs, and it is intended for quants and institutional clients of the bank who build derivative pricing, trading strategy and risk management workflows on top of Goldman Sachs' risk transfer platform.
read the full gs-quant overview →
About polaris
Polaris is an open source policy engine for Kubernetes, written in Go and released under the Apache 2.0 license. It lives in the Kubernetes ecosystem and supports cluster auditing, best practice validation, and a dashboard.
read the full polaris overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is gs-quant or polaris more popular?
gs-quant has 12,974 GitHub stars and polaris has 3,387. gs-quant has the larger community by that measure.
Are gs-quant and polaris free?
Both are open source. gs-quant is licensed under Apache-2.0 and polaris under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between gs-quant and polaris?
gs-quant is written in Python and polaris in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, gs-quant or polaris?
Choose gs-quant if you want the larger community (12,974 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose polaris if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.