GreenCart vs Polar
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted e-commerce platforms options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
GreenCart
Self-hosted digital downloads storefront
VS
Polar
Open-source monetization platform for developers
| Feature | GreenCart | Polar |
|---|---|---|
| Category | E-commerce Platforms | E-commerce Platforms |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 893 | ★ 10,171 |
| First released | 2012 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Gumroad, SendOwl | Lemon Squeezy, Gumroad |
Why pick each one
Choose Polar if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is GreenCart or Polar better?
Neither is universally better. Polar has the larger community, while GreenCart is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are GreenCart and Polar free and open-source?
Yes. GreenCart is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Polar under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GreenCart and Polar with Docker?
GreenCart: check the project docs for container support. Polar: yes.