polarvsStirling-PDF
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| polar | Stirling-PDF | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 87/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 13 in Billing | #1 of 46 in Document Management |
| GitHub stars | 10 436 | 95 299 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +157 | +2 337 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 25 |
| Latest release | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 | v3.2.2 · 24 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Python | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Stirling-PDF scores 87/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.
Stirling-PDF ships more often: 25 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.
If you want the quickest setup, Stirling-PDF is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.
Stirling-PDF is growing faster right now (+2 337 stars in 30 days).
polar details →Stirling-PDF details →
Swap a project
Keep polar, compare it with
Keep Stirling-PDF, compare it with