# invoice-ninja vs polar

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

| | invoice-ninja | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 71/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 11 in Invoicing | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 10 342 | 10 435 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +236 ✓ | +157 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 36 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | v5.13.50 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

polar scores 71/100 against 70/100 for invoice-ninja, so it is the safer default.

invoice-ninja ships more often: 36 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

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

## Details

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

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/invoice-ninja-vs-polar