head to head · open source
Polar vs TaxHacker
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars, 811 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. TaxHacker has 6,792 stars, 1,098 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Polar leads on adoption by 54% (10,454 vs 6,792 stars). Polar is written in Python under Apache-2.0; TaxHacker is written in TypeScript under MIT. Polar has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, TaxHacker 16%. 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 | TaxHacker | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 811 | ⑂ 1.1K |
| 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 TaxHacker if
- You want the TaxHacker feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and TaxHacker 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 TaxHacker
TaxHacker: Self Hosted AI Accounting [!NOTE] ☝️ I'm currently looking for a job! Particularly interested in companies in Berlin or remote positions in Germany. Here's my CV and Linkedin profile. Thank you 🙏 TaxHacker is a self hosted accounting app designed for freelancers, indie hackers, and small businesses who want to save time and automate expense and income tracking using the power of modern AI. Upload photos of receipts, invoices, or PDFs, and TaxHacker will automatically recognize and extract all the important data you need for accounting: product names, amounts, items, dates, merchants, taxes, and save…
read the full TaxHacker overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Polar or TaxHacker more popular?
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars and TaxHacker has 6,792. Polar has the larger community by that measure.
Are Polar and TaxHacker free?
Both are open source. Polar is licensed under Apache-2.0 and TaxHacker under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Polar and TaxHacker?
Polar is written in Python and TaxHacker 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 TaxHacker?
Choose Polar if you want the larger community (10,454 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose TaxHacker if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.