# polar vs sdnext

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

| | polar | sdnext |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 13 in Billing | #3 of 11 in Image Generation |
| GitHub stars | 10 436 ✓ | 7 362 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +157 ✓ | +16 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

polar and sdnext score the same (71/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.

polar ships more often: 1 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for sdnext.

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

polar is growing faster right now (+157 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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