Kimaivspolar
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kimai | polar | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 11 in Time Tracking | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 5 111 | 10 435 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +73 | +157 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 23 | 1 |
| Latest release | 2.71.0 · 25 Oct 2026 | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Kimai and polar score the same (71/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.
Kimai ships more often: 23 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.
If you want the quickest setup, Kimai is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.
polar is growing faster right now (+157 stars in 30 days).
Kimai details →polar details →
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