head to head · open source
Polar vs itflow
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars, 811 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. itflow has 1,048 stars, 280 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Polar leads on adoption by 898% (10,454 vs 1,048 stars). Polar is written in Python under Apache-2.0; itflow is written in PHP under GPL-3.0. Polar has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, itflow 27%. 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 | itflow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 811 | ⑂ 280 |
| 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 itflow if
- You want the itflow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and itflow 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 itflow
[![Contributors][contributors shield]][contributors url] [![Stargazers][stars shield]][stars url] [![Commits][commit shield]][commit url] [![GPL License][license shield]][license url] ITFlow IT documentation, ticketing and accounting system for small MSPs. View demo Username: demo@demo.com Password: demo About · Docs · Forum · Report Bug · Suggest Feature · Security About A comprehensive, free & open source documentation, ticket management, and accounting platform. [![ITFlow][product screenshot]]( The Problem You're a small but busy managed service provider with 101 things to do. Information about your clients…
read the full itflow overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Polar or itflow more popular?
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars and itflow has 1,048. Polar has the larger community by that measure.
Are Polar and itflow free?
Both are open source. Polar is licensed under Apache-2.0 and itflow under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Polar and itflow?
Polar is written in Python and itflow 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 itflow?
Choose Polar if you want the larger community (10,454 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose itflow if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.