# bookorbit vs polar

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | bookorbit | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 74/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 12 in Book Management | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 5 904 | 10 436 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 226 ✓ | +157 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 23 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | v3.6.0 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

bookorbit scores 74/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

bookorbit ships more often: 23 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

If you want the quickest setup, bookorbit is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.

bookorbit is growing faster right now (+1 226 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [bookorbit](https://selfhost.directory/project/bookorbit) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/bookorbit.md)
- [polar](https://selfhost.directory/project/polar) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/polar.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/bookorbit-vs-polar