# Polar

> Open-source billing and merchant of record for software sellers

Polar is an open-source billing platform that acts as merchant of record, taking on sales tax, fraud, refunds and chargebacks in over 100 markets. Developers sell subscriptions, usage-based plans and one-off products, with file downloads, license keys, GitHub repository access and Discord roles delivered automatically. Its site now pitches it mainly at AI companies billing by usage.

- **Category:** Selling Digital Products
- **Made by:** Polar Software, Inc.
- **Website:** https://polar.sh
- **Runs on:** Web
- **Facts last checked:** Oct 18, 2026

## Pricing

Polar has a free plan. Paid plans start at $20 per month, with a lower fee on each sale.

- **Pricing model:** Free plan
- **Free plan:** 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.

| Plan | Price | What you get |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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. |

Read from https://polar.sh/resources/pricing on Oct 18, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Polar before buying.

## Ways to pay less

- **Scale plan free for a year for AI startups** (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. Source: https://polar.sh

## Key features

- **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.

## Good for

- 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

- 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.

## ToolGPA grades

**GPA: 2.6 out of 4**, graded Oct 18, 2026. Polar is open-source billing that acts as merchant of record, handling tax, fraud, refunds and chargebacks, and it delivers files, license keys, GitHub access or Discord roles after each sale. Starter is free, with 5% + 50¢ a sale. It's built for developers and AI products, so creators wanting a store page, email or affiliates should look elsewhere.

- **Value for money: C.** Starter 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: A.** Starter 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: C.** Subscriptions, 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: C.** No 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: B.** Web, 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.

These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Polar's own pages on 18 October 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews.

## Where it stands among tools for selling digital products

- Polar's GPA of 2.6 is higher than 6 of the 14 other tools for selling digital products we grade, and level with 5.
- It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 7 of 14) and worst on features (C, above 0).
- Its paid plans start at $20 a month, against a middle price of $24.50 for the category: 4 of the 9 others that charge start lower.
- On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 6 tools score higher and cost less.

The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/digital-products

## Keep it, or make your own?

**Keep it.** To replace Polar you would be making selling as the merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT are handled everywhere. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one. It costs $240 a year. Polar is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.

- You could make: Digital downloads: an app builder makes this well.
- You could not: Selling as the merchant of record, so sales tax and VAT are handled everywhere.
- You could not: It plugs into other products, Stripe, GitHub and Discord among them, and has an API.

A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it.

## Works with

Stripe, GitHub, Discord, Slack, Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT

**Tags:** Merchant of record, Digital downloads, Open source, Public API

## Alternatives

- [Lemon Squeezy](https://toolgpa.com/tools/lemon-squeezy): Merchant of record checkout for software, subscriptions and downloads. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/lemon-squeezy-vs-polar)
- [Gumroad](https://toolgpa.com/tools/gumroad): Sell downloads, memberships and courses for a cut of each sale. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/gumroad-vs-polar)
- [Whop](https://toolgpa.com/tools/whop): Storefront, checkout and payouts for paid communities and products. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/polar-vs-whop)
- [SendOwl](https://toolgpa.com/tools/sendowl): Checkout and delivery for downloads, licenses and subscriptions. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/polar-vs-sendowl)
- [Payhip](https://toolgpa.com/tools/payhip): Store for downloads, courses and memberships, with a free plan. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/payhip-vs-polar)

## Sources

The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Oct 18, 2026:

- https://polar.sh/resources/pricing
- https://polar.sh
- https://polar.sh/company
- https://polar.sh/docs/features/benefits/introduction
- https://polar.sh/docs/features/benefits/file-downloads

Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/polar
Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).