head to head · open source
Polar vs Akaunting
Polar has 10,270 GitHub stars, 787 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Akaunting has 10,127 stars, 2,984 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Polar leads on adoption by 1% (10,270 vs 10,127 stars). Polar is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Akaunting is written in PHP under a custom or non-standard licence. Polar has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Akaunting 29%. Polar 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
| Polar | Akaunting | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10K | ★ 10K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 787 | ⑂ 3.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Polar if
- You weight community size — 10K 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 Akaunting if
- You want the Akaunting feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Akaunting fits your workflow better
About Polar
Polar is an open source billing platform and payment infrastructure project for digital products, SaaS applications, and AI workloads. It is written in Python, licensed under Apache 2.0, and built around FastAPI, Next.js, React, and Turborepo. The project positions itself as a financial layer for software that needs to charge for tokens, agents, compute, subscriptions, and usage based models.
read the full Polar overview →
About Akaunting
Akaunting is free online accounting software for small businesses and freelancers. It lives in the PHP web application ecosystem, and it uses Laravel as its foundation framework. The project also uses VueJS, Tailwind, and a RESTful API, and it has a modular structure with an App Store.
read the full Akaunting overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Polar or Akaunting more popular?
Polar has 10,270 GitHub stars and Akaunting has 10,127. Polar has the larger community by that measure.
Are Polar and Akaunting free?
Both are open source. Polar is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Akaunting has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Polar and Akaunting?
Polar is written in Python and Akaunting in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Polar or Akaunting?
Choose Polar if you want the larger community (10,270 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Akaunting if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.