head to head · open source
Polar vs Paymenter
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars, 811 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Paymenter has 2,817 stars, 569 forks, 74 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Polar leads on adoption by 271% (10,454 vs 2,817 stars). Polar is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Paymenter is written in PHP under MIT. Polar has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Paymenter 20%. 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 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Polar | Paymenter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 811 | ⑂ 569 |
| 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 Paymenter if
- You want the Paymenter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Paymenter 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 Paymenter
Paymenter Open Source Billing, Built for Hosting Automate subscriptions, eliminate billing chaos, and grow your hosting business – without vendor lock ins or hidden costs. Website · Documentation · Live Demo · Extensions Getting Started Installation & Documentation For a detailed explanation of how to install and configure Paymenter, take a look at our documentation here. Or, get additional help via Community Discord. Requirements The requirements for Paymenter are the following: PHP (8.3 or higher). Composer Webserver (Apache or Nginx) Database (MariaDB) What is Paymenter? Paymenter is an open source billing…
read the full Paymenter 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 Paymenter more popular?
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars and Paymenter has 2,817. Polar has the larger community by that measure.
Are Polar and Paymenter free?
Both are open source. Polar is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Paymenter under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Polar and Paymenter?
Polar is written in Python and Paymenter 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 Paymenter?
Choose Polar if you want the larger community (10,454 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Paymenter if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.