# invoice-as-a-service vs polar

> Two self-hosted [Billing projects](https://selfhost.directory/billing), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | invoice-as-a-service | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 43/100 | 71/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #12 of 13 in Billing | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 218 | 10 435 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +157 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 1 |
| Latest release | v2026-10-23 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

polar scores 71/100 against 43/100 for invoice-as-a-service, so it is the safer default.

If you want the quickest setup, invoice-as-a-service is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.

polar is growing faster right now (+157 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [invoice-as-a-service](https://selfhost.directory/project/invoice-as-a-service) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/invoice-as-a-service.md)
- [polar](https://selfhost.directory/project/polar) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/polar.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/invoice-as-a-service-vs-polar