Lemon Squeezy vs Polar
We give Lemon Squeezy a 2.8 GPA and Polar a 2.6, out of 4.0. Lemon Squeezy grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Lemon Squeezy
Merchant of record checkout for software, subscriptions and downloads
Polar
Open-source billing and merchant of record for software sellers
How we grade them
| 2.8GPALemon SqueezyGood | 2.6GPAPolarGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo monthly fee. Each order costs 5% + 50¢, which covers card fees and sales tax, so $1,000 of sales costs $50 plus 50¢ an order. Buyers abroad add 1.5%, PayPal 1.5% and subscriptions 0.5%. That's above this category's dearer quarter, short of its dearest tenth. | 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 | ASelling is free to start with every ecommerce feature, and you only pay as orders come in. Email marketing is free up to 500 subscribers too, then $10 a month at 1,000. | 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 with usage billing, license keys, signed download links, a store on your own domain, affiliates, upsells, cart recovery and email marketing. It covers the whole 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 App Store rating on record. It's a web dashboard where you set up products, checkouts and a store before your first sale, with nothing in the listing to say it's quicker than that. | 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 Zapier, ConvertKit, Mailchimp, WordPress and Laravel, checkout overlays for any site and a public API. No phone or desktop app is listed. | 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 | selling software and subscriptions worldwide | 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: Lemon Squeezy and Polar. How we grade
Price against what you get
Lemon Squeezy starts at $10 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Polar starts at $20 a month and scores 2.3.
Lemon Squeezy scores higher and starts $10 a month lower. Of the other tools for selling digital products on the chart, 2 score higher than Lemon Squeezy for less, and 6 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
- Lemon Squeezy starts at $10 per month for email marketing to 1,000 subscribers. Polar starts at $20 per month, with a lower fee on each sale.
- Polar is open source, according to its own site.
- Lemon Squeezy also covers email campaigns, affiliate tracking and online store.
At a glance
| Lemon Squeezy | Polar | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $10 per month for email marketing to 1,000 subscribers | $20 per month, with a lower fee on each sale |
| Free plan | Selling is free to start with every ecommerce feature included; Lemon Squeezy keeps 5% + 50¢ of each order. Email marketing is free up to 500 subscribers. | 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 | Link, LLC (formerly Lemon Squeezy LLC) | Polar Software, Inc. |
| Price read from | lemonsqueezy.com | polar.sh |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Lemon Squeezy
- Software makers selling licenses or subscriptions worldwide
- Sellers who want sales tax and VAT filed for them
- Creators who want no monthly fee until they make sales
Polar
- Developers selling software, licenses or SaaS subscriptions worldwide
- AI products that bill by tokens, credits or other usage
- Open-source maintainers granting paid access to repos or Discord
Worth knowing
Lemon Squeezy
- Stripe's 2026 update admits slower support and fewer updates while the team builds Stripe Managed Payments, and plans a migration path for users.
- Each order costs 5% + 50¢, plus 1.5% for buyers outside the US, 1.5% for PayPal and 0.5% for subscription payments.
- Recovered abandoned carts add 5% and affiliate referrals add 3% to the fee; payouts to non-US banks cost 1% each.
- Products priced under $10 and high-volume sellers are asked to contact sales for custom pricing.
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
Lemon Squeezy
- Merchant of record
- Lemon Squeezy is the seller on each order: it calculates, collects, files and pays sales tax and VAT, and takes on the tax liability.
- Subscriptions and usage billing
- Weekly, monthly or yearly plans with upgrades, downgrades, free trials, PayPal subscriptions, usage-based billing and a customer portal.
- License keys and secure files
- License keys are issued after each sale and can be deactivated or reissued; download links are signed and throttled.
- Checkout anywhere
- Hosted checkout links, an overlay checkout for any website, or a store on a custom domain, taking cards, PayPal and payments in many currencies.
- Email marketing
- Broadcasts, signup forms, segments that update from purchase behavior and email reports, free up to 500 subscribers.
- Affiliates and recovery
- A built-in affiliate program, discount codes, bundles and upsells, plus abandoned cart emails and failed payment recovery.
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
Lemon Squeezy
Ecommerce$0
No monthly charge. The seller pays 5% + 50¢ of each order, covering card fees and tax, plus 1.5% abroad, 1.5% on PayPal and 0.5% on subscriptions.
Email marketing$10
per month for up to 1,000 subscribers, billed monthly
Free up to 500 subscribers. The price rises with the list: $24 a month at 3,000 subscribers and $60 a month at 10,000.
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
Lemon Squeezy
- Annual discount
Two months free on yearly email marketing
Lemon Squeezy prices yearly email marketing at ten times the monthly rate: $100 a year instead of $10 a month at 1,000 subscribers.
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.
