head to head · open source
Polar vs Invio
Polar has 10,270 GitHub stars, 787 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Invio has 1,183 stars, 140 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. Polar leads on adoption by 768% (10,270 vs 1,183 stars). Polar is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Invio is written in TypeScript under Unlicense. Polar has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Invio 12%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Polar | Invio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Unlicense |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 787 | ⑂ 140 |
| 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 Invio if
- You want the Invio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Unlicense license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Invio 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 Invio
Invio is a free, self hosted, open source invoicing application written in TypeScript that lets a user create an invoice, share a secure link, and get paid without requiring the client to create an account.
read the full Invio overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Finance & Accounting projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Finance & Accounting field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Polar or Invio more popular?
Polar has 10,270 GitHub stars and Invio has 1,183. Polar has the larger community by that measure.
Are Polar and Invio free?
Both are open source. Polar is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Invio under Unlicense. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Polar and Invio?
Polar is written in Python and Invio 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 Invio?
Choose Polar if you want the larger community (10,270 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Invio if its feature set, stack or Unlicense licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.