Dodo Payments vs Polar (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dodo Payments and Polar share a 2.6 GPA, both have a free plan, and Dodo Payments has no paid plan to buy, against $20 a month for Polar.
Checked Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 18, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Dodo Payments grades higher on features. Polar grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dodo Payments
Merchant-of-record payments and billing for software sellers
Polar
Open-source billing and merchant of record for software sellers
Which one is for you
Pick Dodo Payments if
- Fits if you sell software and want tax and compliance handled for you
- Works for developers who want billing through an API
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if your sales are small, since refunds cost $1 each and disputes $30
- Watch out: payouts under $1,000 carry a $5 fee and USD SWIFT payouts cost $25
- Watch out: the fee rises 1.5% on international payments and 3% on PayPal
- Skip it if you need an enterprise price, as the page lists no figures for that tier
Pick Polar if
- Fits if you sell software or SaaS subscriptions and are comfortable with an API and webhooks
- Works for AI products that bill by tokens, credits or other usage
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you're a creator who wants a store page, email and affiliates
- Pricey if you get many disputes, as each costs $15 whatever the outcome, and a high chargeback rate can get you suspended
- Watch out: Stripe payouts cost $2 a month plus 0.25% + $0.25 each, and currency conversion adds 0.25% to 1%
- Tight if you're small: Pro at $20 a month only pays off above about $1,379 in monthly sales
- Pricey if buyers are abroad, as non-US cards add 1.5% to each transaction
How we grade them
| 2.6GPADodo PaymentsGood | 2.6GPAPolarGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo fixed fee, but 4% + 40 cents a transaction, plus 1.5% international, 3% for PayPal or buy-now-pay-later and 0.5% on subscriptions. That is ordinary for a merchant of record, not cheap. | CStarter is free and keeps 5% + 50¢ a transaction, so $1,000 costs $50 plus 50¢ a sale, with no separate card fee listed since Polar is the merchant of record. Pro at $20 only pays off above about $1,379 a month. Non-US cards add 1.5%. |
| Free plan and trial | BNo setup or monthly fee, so you pay only when you sell. Analytics at $10 a month and usage billing are extras. | AStarter costs nothing a month and includes every selling feature, with standard support. You pay 5% + 50¢ a sale instead, and the value grade counts that. |
| Features | BMerchant of record, subscriptions, storefront and delivery, local payment methods, recovery tools and SDKs with an API. The listing shows no gap in the job. | CSubscriptions, seats, usage meters and credits, plus files, license keys, GitHub repo invites and Discord roles delivered automatically. It does billing for software fully, but nothing in the listing covers a store page, email or affiliates. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. It is built for developers who wire up an API and SDKs, so it sits at C. | CNo App Store rating on record. It's built for developers: the listing leads with an API, a Python SDK and webhooks, so expect some setting up. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb with SDKs, an API and four listed integrations. No desktop or phone apps. | BWeb, with Stripe, GitHub, Discord and Slack, an API, a Python SDK and an MCP server for Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT. No phone or desktop app is listed. |
| Best for | merchant-of-record billing for software sellers | developers selling software and usage plans |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Dodo Payments and Polar. How we grade
Price against what you get
Dodo Payments has no paid plan and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Polar starts at $20 a month and scores 2.3.
Dodo Payments scores higher and starts $20 a month lower. Of the other tools for selling digital products on the chart, none scores higher than Dodo Payments for less, and 9 score higher than Polar for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Polar is open source, according to its own site.
- Dodo Payments also covers affiliate tracking.
At a glance
| Dodo Payments | Polar | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $20 per month, with a lower fee on each sale |
| Free plan | No setup or monthly fee: the Standard plan charges 4% + 40 cents per domestic US card transaction, with extra fees for some payment methods and features. | Starter is free with all selling features and standard support; Polar takes 5% + 50¢ of each transaction, plus 1.5% for non-US cards. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Dodo Payments | Polar Software, Inc. |
| Price read from | dodopayments.com | polar.sh |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Dodo Payments
- The base fee is 4% + 40 cents per US card transaction, with extra charges: 1.5% for international payments, 3% for PayPal or buy-now-pay-later and 0.5% for subscriptions.
- Refunds cost $1 each and disputes $30 each; payouts under $1,000 carry a $5 fee, and USD SWIFT payouts cost $25.
- Analytics and reporting cost $10 per month and usage-based billing $1 per million events, according to the page's comparison of what it charges.
- An Enterprise tier exists but the pricing page lists no figures for it.
Polar
- Starter keeps 5% + 50¢ of each transaction, and non-US cards add 1.5%; the paid plans only lower that fee once sales are high enough.
- Each dispute costs $15 whatever the outcome, and Polar may suspend accounts whose chargeback rate gets too high.
- Payouts through Stripe cost $2 a month plus 0.25% + $0.25 per payout, and currency conversion adds 0.25% to 1%.
- Organizations created before May 27, 2026 keep an Early Member rate of 4% + 40¢ until they move to a paid plan.
Key features
Dodo Payments
- Merchant of record
- Dodo handles cross-border tax calculation, filing and reporting, which the page says covers 190+ countries.
- Subscriptions and billing models
- One-time payments, subscriptions with add-ons, usage-based billing priced per million events, and credit-based billing.
- Storefront and delivery
- A no-code storefront, automated license key generation and delivery, and secure digital product delivery after purchase.
- Local payment methods
- Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, buy-now-pay-later, ACH and SEPA direct debit, and 80+ currencies through adaptive currency.
- Recovery tools
- Abandoned cart recovery, subscription dunning and payment retries, billed at 5% only on revenue that is recovered.
- Developer SDKs and API
- SDKs, an API reference, webhooks, MCP servers and framework adapters, with an affiliate feature for distribution.
Polar
- Merchant of record
- Polar resells your product in over 100 markets and is responsible for payments, sales tax and VAT, fraud, refunds and chargebacks.
- Subscriptions and usage billing
- Subscriptions, seat-based and unit-based pricing, prepaid credits and metered usage from live event meters, combined on one invoice.
- Automated benefits
- Deliver file downloads up to 10GB each, license keys, private GitHub repository invites, Discord roles, feature flags or a shared Slack channel.
- Cost and margin insights
- Attach inference or other costs to usage events to see gross margin per customer beside revenue.
- Checkout options
- Custom checkout fields, discounts, free trials and tax-inclusive pricing, with a Python SDK, webhooks and an API for developers.
- Open source and MCP
- Polar's code is open source, and its MCP server lets Claude, Cursor or ChatGPT query customers and revenue or create products and refunds.
Plans
Dodo Payments
Standard Plan$0
No fixed costs. 4% + 40 cents per transaction on US cards and wallets, plus 1.5% on international payments, 3% extra on PayPal or buy-now-pay-later and 0.5% extra on subscriptions.
Polar
Starter$0
All features to sell, standard support. Polar keeps 5% + 50¢ of each transaction, plus 1.5% for international cards.
Pro$20
per month
Fee drops to 3.8% + 40¢ a transaction, with prioritized support and preview access to new features. Pays off above about $1,379 a month in sales.
Growth$100
per month
Fee drops to 3.6% + 35¢ a transaction, with prioritized support. Pays off above about $5,634 a month in sales.
Scale$400
per month
Fee drops to 3.4% + 30¢ a transaction, with a shared Slack channel, P1 support and single sign-on.
Ways to pay less
Dodo Payments
No public discounts listed.
Polar
- Startups
Scale plan free for a year for AI startups
Polar's Startup Program gives early-stage AI startups the Scale plan free for twelve months, with its 3.4% + 30¢ fee, by application.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Dodo Payments or Polar?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Dodo Payments is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $20 a month for Polar. Dodo Payments is free, and Polar starts at $20 per month, with a lower fee on each sale.
Which has a free plan, Dodo Payments or Polar?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Dodo Payments and Polar have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.