Revenue · This Month
MRR
$0
↑ 18%
Active Subs
0
↑ 24 new
Churn
0%
↓ 0.3%
Revenue trend
Polar PaymentsMonetisation for open source and indie developers
Polar is a merchant of record platform built for developers — one-time payments, subscriptions, usage-based billing, and open source funding. We integrate Polar into SaaS products and developer tools.
Polar is a merchant of record platform built specifically for developers — handling payments, subscriptions, usage-based billing, VAT/sales tax, and international compliance so you don't have to. It's designed for SaaS products, developer tools, and open-source monetization. As a merchant of record, Polar handles the legal and tax complexity of selling globally — you receive payouts, they handle invoicing, refunds, chargebacks, and tax remittance in 100+ countries. Their API and webhook system integrates cleanly into any TypeScript backend.
Quick start
# Install the Polar SDK
npm install @polar-sh/sdk
# Create products and subscriptions in the Polar dashboard
# Visit https://polar.sh to set up your organization
# Integrate webhooks for access provisioning
# See https://docs.polar.sh/webhooksRead the full documentation at docs.polar.sh/
Products & subscriptions
One-time and recurring billing with a developer-friendly API and prebuilt checkout pages.
Merchant of record
Polar handles VAT, sales tax, and international payments — you get paid, they handle compliance.
Open source funding
GitHub Sponsors alternative with per-issue funding, tiers, and backer management.
Usage-based billing
Meter API calls, seats, or any custom metric — charge what your customers actually use.
Customer portal
Self-service billing portal for subscription management, invoice history, and payment updates.
Webhook events
Real-time subscription and payment events for provisioning access, sending emails, and analytics.
Why it's hard
Merchant of record trade-offs
Polar as MoR means they're the legal seller — you get simplicity but less control over invoicing, payment methods, and customer disputes compared to being your own merchant.
Feature maturity vs Stripe
Polar is newer than Stripe and doesn't yet offer the same breadth of features (Connect, Terminal, Radar). Evaluate whether Polar covers your specific billing needs.
Open source funding model
Polar's issue funding and backer features are unique but require community adoption. The ROI depends on your project's community engagement.
Best practices
Use webhooks for access provisioning
Subscribe to Polar webhook events to automatically provision and revoke access when subscriptions start, renew, or cancel.
Implement usage metering early
If you plan usage-based billing, instrument your API with metering from the start — retrofitting usage tracking is significantly harder.
Use Polar's customer portal
Polar provides a hosted customer portal for subscription management, invoice history, and payment updates — no need to build billing UI.
Frequently asked questions
Related technologies
Related services
Looking for end-to-end delivery? These services complement Polar projects.
Want to build with Polar?
Talk to our engineering team about your Polar architecture. We'll respond within 24 hours.
We limit intake each month so every project gets the focus it deserves.