# nginx-ui vs polar

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

| | nginx-ui | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 74/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 12 in Web Servers | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 11 682 ✓ | 10 437 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +145 | +158 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 37 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | v2.9.1 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

nginx-ui scores 74/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

nginx-ui ships more often: 37 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

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

## Details

- [nginx-ui](https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-ui) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-ui.md)
- [polar](https://selfhost.directory/project/polar) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/polar.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/nginx-ui-vs-polar