# PhotoPrism vs polar

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

| | PhotoPrism | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #4 of 142 in Media Management | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 40 370 ✓ | 10 437 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +135 | +158 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 7 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | 261007-65faaae5d · 7 Oct 2026 | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

PhotoPrism scores 76/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

PhotoPrism ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

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

## Details

- [PhotoPrism](https://selfhost.directory/project/photoprism) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/photoprism.md)
- [polar](https://selfhost.directory/project/polar) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/polar.md)

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