cobaltvspolar
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| cobalt | polar | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 45 in Download Management | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 45 605 | 10 436 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 795 | +157 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 1 |
| Latest release | — | @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 | Svelte | Python |
Which one should you pick?
cobalt scores 83/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.
polar ships more often: 1 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for cobalt.
If you want the quickest setup, cobalt is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.
cobalt is growing faster right now (+1 795 stars in 30 days).
cobalt details →polar details →