Polar in 9 slides
A funding and monetization platform for developers - sell licenses, subscriptions, and digital products on top of open source, acting as merchant of record.
- Open source funding
- Open source funding platforms
- Based in Stockholm, Sweden
What you do on Polar
How the money is made: crowdfunding
- Launch a campaign
- Backers pledge
- Reach the goal
- Funds released
A funding and monetization platform for developers - sell licenses, subscriptions, and digital products on top of open source, acting as merchant of record.
Founded 2022 · next to 4 other open source funding platforms
Work and topics
Good for
What Polar takes
Guess first: how much of every $100 you earn does Polar take?
4% plus 40 cents per transaction
From the published fees, before payment-processing, currency or withdrawal charges (the $0.40 fixed part counted once). Work out your own amount →
How the money reaches you
From sign-up to payout
- Sign up
- Quick profile or ID reviewIncludes an ID check
- Do the work
- Earnings clearTypically 4 to 7 business days. Accounts opened on or after 12 May 2026 also wai…
- Withdraw1 way to withdraw
$10 for USD. Other currencies have higher minimums.
1 way to withdraw
- Bank transfer
Can you join?
Yes.
You need a bank account. Your profile and ID are reviewed before you start.
What you need
- A bank account
- An ID checkBefore you can work or withdraw
- Quick profile or ID reviewHow sign-up works
What people actually earn
Polar charges sellers 5% plus 50 cents per transaction on its Starter plan, falling to 3.4% plus 30 cents on Scale, plus 1.5% for non-US cards.
Source: polar.sh ↗How it scores
Strong on fees and access. Weaker on track record.
- Fees4.5
- Getting paid3.0
- Access4.3
- Track record2.0
- Proof of earnings2.5
- Open worldwide
- Clear fees
- Low cut
- Low payout bar
- Fully documented
How much we know
We have 10 of the 17 things we track for every platform. Fees, payouts, join rules, countries and real earnings count most.
What we have
- What kind of platform it is
- Year founded
- Headquarters
- Fees
- Minimum payout
- How fast you get paid
- Withdrawal methods
- Join requirements
- Countries it accepts
- Real earnings figures
Still missing
- Plain-English overview
- Payment protection
- Review ratings
- Wikipedia or reference page
- Support channels
- Mobile apps
- Social accounts