# Kavita vs polar

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

| | Kavita | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 73/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 14 in Comics | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 11 969 ✓ | 10 437 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +233 ✓ | +158 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 8 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | v0.9.1.4 · 2 Sept 2026 | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | C# | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Kavita scores 73/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

Kavita ships more often: 8 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

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

## Details

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

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