head to head · open source
Polar vs UniBee
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars, 811 forks, 141 open issues and last shipped yesterday. UniBee has 234 stars, 40 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. Polar leads on adoption by 4,368% (10,454 vs 234 stars). Polar is written in Python under Apache-2.0; UniBee is written in various languages under AGPL-3.0. Polar has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, UniBee 17%. 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 | UniBee | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10K | ★ 234 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | — |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-02-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 811 | ⑂ 40 |
| 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 UniBee if
- You want the UniBee feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- You evaluated both and UniBee 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 UniBee
UniBee An open source universal billing software for SaaS businesses 👋 Introduction Welcome to UniBee! UniBee is your go to solution for a seamless, affordable, and intuitive billing experience. Unlike other closed source and costly platforms, UniBee is open source and have community version and enterprise version. UniBee is designed specifically for SaaS businesses, with UniBee you can manage your subscriptions, invoices, and transactions with ease. UniBee offers a user friendly and cost effective alternative to closed source, expensive, and complex solutions like Recurly, Chargebee, and Paddle. ✨ Features…
read the full UniBee overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Polar or UniBee more popular?
Polar has 10,454 GitHub stars and UniBee has 234. Polar has the larger community by that measure.
Are Polar and UniBee free?
Both are open source. Polar is licensed under Apache-2.0 and UniBee under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Polar and UniBee?
Polar is written in Python and UniBee in various languages. 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 UniBee?
Choose Polar if you want the larger community (10,454 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose UniBee if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.