head to head · open source
Polar vs Autumn
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars, 811 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Autumn has 2,833 stars, 279 forks, 149 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. Polar leads on adoption by 269% (10,454 vs 2,833 stars). Polar is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Autumn is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Polar has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Autumn 10%. 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 | Autumn | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 811 | ⑂ 279 |
| 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 Autumn if
- You want the Autumn feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Autumn fits your workflow better
About Polar
Website • Docs • API Reference Polar: A billing platform for the intelligence era Turn usage into revenue. Polar is the financial layer for a new generation of intelligent software, built for AI startups that need to charge for tokens, agents, and compute without building billing infrastructure from scratch. Ship any pricing model in an afternoon. Usage billing, subscriptions, seats, credits, trials, and discounts. Compose them however your product charges. Meter what matters. Bill tokens, API calls, agent runs, GPU seconds, and storage with precision down to the event. Checkouts that convert , realtime metrics…
read the full Polar overview →
About Autumn
Autumn Autumn is an open source layer between Stripe and your application, allowing you to create any pricing model and embed it with a couple lines of code. On Autumn you can build: Subscriptions Credit systems & top ups Usage based models & overages Custom plans for large customers All this without having to handle webhooks, upgrades/downgrades, cancellations or payment fails. Getting Started Cloud : The quickest way to start using Autumn is through our cloud service. Self Hosted : If you'd like to self host Autumn: 1. Make sure you have bun installed 2. Install the project dependencies: 3. Run Autumn: That's…
read the full Autumn overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Polar or Autumn more popular?
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars and Autumn has 2,833. Polar has the larger community by that measure.
Are Polar and Autumn free?
Both are open source. Polar is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Autumn under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Polar and Autumn?
Polar is written in Python and Autumn in TypeScript. 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 Autumn?
Choose Polar if you want the larger community (10,454 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Autumn if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.