# Kimai vs polar

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

| | Kimai | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 ✓ | 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 | +68 | +156 ✓ |
| 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 scores 72/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

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 (+156 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Kimai](https://selfhost.directory/project/kimai2) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kimai2.md)
- [polar](https://selfhost.directory/project/polar) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/polar.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/kimai2-vs-polar