payments
Polar
Merchant of Record for devs — usage-based billing, MoR, 4% + 40¢
Modern Merchant-of-Record billing for software + AI companies. Usage-based (tokens, API calls) + subscriptions + one-off. 4% + 40¢ (cheapest MoR). OSS backend.
Pricing
| Tier | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | Free | 4% + 40¢ per transaction. Cheapest Merchant-of-Record. No monthly or setup fees. |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom. Volume discounts for high-growth teams. |
Limits
| Tier | Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | dev focus | Built specifically for SaaS + AI devs (not generic ecom) | Target user |
| — | framework adapters | Next.js, BetterAuth, TypeScript, Python + 11 others | Adapters |
| — | merchant of record | Yes — handles global tax + VAT + fraud + chargebacks | MoR role |
| — | open source | Full backend open-source on GitHub | OSS backend |
| — | positioning | Cheapest MoR on market (4% + 40¢ vs Paddle 5% + 50¢ vs LS 5% + 50¢) | Pricing advantage |
| — | usage based | Track API calls, tokens, custom events → bill automatically | Usage billing |
| — | used by | Speakeasy, Stilla AI, Midday; endorsed by Guillermo Rauch (Vercel) + Mitchell Hashimoto | Notable users |
Features
- Customer Portal — Self-serve subscription management.
- Feature Flags — Simple flag mgmt tied to subscription tiers.
- Framework Adapters — Next.js, BetterAuth, TS, Python, Laravel, Ruby, 11+ more.
- Fraud Protection — Chargeback + fraud handling included.
- GitHub Sponsors Import — Import existing sponsors to Polar.
- Global Tax Compliance — VAT/GST/sales tax filed by Polar.
- Hosted Checkout — Polar-hosted + embeddable checkout.
- License Keys — Generate + validate license keys for software.
- Metering — Track API calls, tokens, custom units.
- One-off Purchases — Single purchases + digital downloads.
- Open-Source Backend — Full platform code on GitHub.
- Sandbox Environment — Test transactions without charging.
- Subscriptions — Tiered plans with upgrades/downgrades.
- Usage-Based Billing — Event ingestion → meter → invoice.
- Webhooks — Resource events with HMAC signatures.
Developer interfaces
| Slug | Name | Kind | Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| checkout | Polar Checkout | other | — |
| mcp | Polar MCP | mcp | — |
| rest-api | Polar REST API | rest | v1 |
| sdk-python | polar-sdk-python | sdk | 0.x |
| sdk-better-auth | @polar-sh/better-auth | sdk | 0.x |
| sdk-nextjs | @polar-sh/nextjs | sdk | 0.x |
| sdk-node | @polar-sh/sdk | sdk | 0.x |
| webhooks | Polar Webhooks | other | — |
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Staxly is an independent catalog of developer platforms. Outbound links to Polar are plain references to their official pages. Pricing is verified at publication time — reconfirm on the vendor site before buying.