Building on thin ice?
Step onto solid ground with Freemius
Polar is a promising new player, but early merchant of record platforms often come with incomplete billing features, limited payment options, and evolving operations. Freemius gives you a stable, fully equipped revenue engine trusted by thousands of software makers worldwide.i
0% for 3 months on up to $10K in sales. New customers only. Activated after migration.
Best time to switch? Today!
Free migration and 0% platform
fees for the first 3 months
Polar vs. Freemius: At a glance
Let’s set the stage with a snapshot of each platform’s journey and what the future may hold.
Polar is a young, developer-first merchant of record founded in early 2023 by Birk Jernström. It quickly gained attention in developer circles for its open-source approach and its goal to help solo founders and small teams monetize globally without the burden of tax or compliance.
Backed by $10 million from Accel in 2025, Polar is still in its early growth phase — expanding fast, but also navigating the challenges of scale, feature completeness, and support maturity. The platform currently builds on Stripe’s payment infrastructure and is gradually expanding its feature set to include more advanced billing, analytics, and growth capabilities.
With strong community momentum and ongoing product development, Polar is still in the early stages of establishing its long-term stability and operational maturity.
Freemius has been around since 2014, built specifically for software makers from day one. While newer platforms are still expanding their scope, Freemius has spent over a decade refining a system dedicated to the needs of SaaS founders, WordPress plugin and theme creators, and desktop app developers.
Beyond payments, the platform covers the essentials of running a software business: licensing, subscriptions, tax and compliance handling, churn recovery, marketing automation, and more.
As a fully bootstrapped, independent company, Freemius uses direct feedback from thousands of makers to shape its roadmap. The team also works directly with makers on pricing, packaging, and growth strategies, acting as a partner that grows alongside their businesses.
This raises the question: When both merchant-of-record platforms can handle payments, what makes many software makers choose Freemius?
What makes Freemius the strongest Polar alternative
Polar has drawn attention from indie developers with its open approach and rapid pace of iteration, but its early stage means some makers are still cautious about long-term stability and feature depth. Developers who choose Freemius over Polar often cite the same reasons:
- Stronger, proven infrastructure for software-specific needs
- More hands-on, strategic guidance from an experienced team
- A community built around long-term growth, not just experimentation
Together, these strengths form three core pillars that set Freemius apart: the platform, the team, and the community.
01
Platform: Purpose-built for selling software
Freemius is a full commercial layer for software makers — modern, reliable, and developer-friendly. It helps you capture revenue at every stage of the customer lifecycle, touching every point in the journey from first checkout to cancellation and win-back.
- Pre-purchase: Exit-intent coupons and cart-abandonment recovery to capture lost sales
- Post-puchase: Smart renewal reminders, failed-payment recovery, and card-update automation
- Pre-cancellation: Retention flows and targeted surveys that uncover why users leave
- Post-cancellation: Automated win-back campaigns with tailored discounts to re-engage churned users
Instead of patching together tools, you get a single system designed to boost conversion, reduce churn, and maximize lifetime value — out of the box.
02
Team: We grow with our makers
- Educational content backed by data from thousands of software makers
- Strategic guidance on pricing, packaging, and go-to-market strategy
- Advice on launches, retention, and scaling
- Responsive, developer-first support team
“We’ve worked with Freemius since 2018 and it’s been a great, positive experience. Their support is amazing, and they’re always improving things.”
DeoThemes
“The team at Freemius helped us get our unique code sorted and live. We now have both the Free and Premium versions available.”
ProFeedWP
03
Network:
Stronger together
- Community: 2000+ makers learning, sharing, and supporting each other in Slack and at in-person maker meetups.
- Affiliates: A built-in affiliate platform, plus introductions to creators and marketers who can expand your reach.
- Business connections: When it’s time to scale or exit, our team helps connect you with the right investors and acquirers.
Wherever you are in the journey, Freemius gives you the tools and guidance to keep moving forward
Side-by-side comparison
Here’s how both merchants of record platforms stack up
4.7%
+ gateway fees
4.0% + 40¢
Early member pricing (?)
| Billing & Fees | ||
|---|---|---|
| International card processing | +1.5% extra cost | |
| Subscriptions & billing | +0.5% extra cost | |
| No dispute fee (?) | You pay $15 to $30 per dispute, whether it’s won or lost. | |
| Fee doesn’t apply to tax | The fee is charged on gross. Collecting in 80+ countries, where GST/VAT may apply to B2C and B2B, you effectively pay more than 4% in many cases. | |
| Tiered pricing | ||
| Seat/device-based pricing | ||
| Selling add-ons | ||
| Selling bundles | ||
| Offering free trials | ||
| Advanced coupons & discounts | ||
| PayPal transactions | ||
| Checkout | ||
| Multi-currency | ||
| Checkout branding & customization | ||
| Localized checkout | ||
| Read-only email checkout | ||
| Exit intent pop-ups with discounts | ||
| Revenue recovery | ||
| Cart abandonment recovery | ||
| Failed payments recovery | ||
| Canceled subscriptions recovery | ||
| Payouts | ||
| Automatic payouts | You need to manually initiate a payout | |
| Free wire payouts | +0.25% + $0.25 per payout extra | |
| Free FX currency conversion | +0.25% (EU) to 1% in other countries | |
| Get paid in any currency | Limited settlement currencies by country | |
| PayPal payouts | ||
| Payoneer payouts | ||
| ACH payouts | ||
| Marketing and growth | ||
| Affiliate platform | ||
| Retention discounts | ||
| Cancellation survey | ||
| Verified buyers’ reviews collection | ||
| Custom-branded transactional emails | ||
| Growth & Scale | ||
| Team management (user roles & permissions) | ||
| Advanced real-time sales analytics | ||
| Transparent volume pricing | ||
| Secure proprietary platform |
Scaling with Freemius
Freemius is built with growth in mind. Instead of adding costs as your sales increase, the fee percentage goes down.
| Monthly gross | Progressive rev-share |
|---|---|
| 0–$50,000 | 4.7% |
| $50,000–$60,000 | 4.5% |
| $60,000–$70,000 | 4.0% |
| $70,000–$80,000 | 3.0% |
| $80,000–$90,000 | 2.0% |
| $90,000–$100,000 | 1.0% |
| $100,000 + | 0.5% |
Gateway fees (~3.5%) apply consistently, but there are no extras for essentials like affiliate sales, subscription renewals, or cart abandonment recovery.
Takeaway:
Polar shines for early-stage devs who want to launch fast with clean code and minimal setup. But as soon as you add subscriptions, global customers, or retention tools, the gaps start to show and the true cost climbs. Freemius gives you the full revenue engine from day one, with transparent fees that get lighter as you grow.
Start selling with Freemius today
Set up your Freemius account in minutes and, if you’re launching a SaaS or app, enjoy 0% platform fees for the first three months:
Create your account — instant approval
Thinking of leaving Polar? We’ll make it simple
We’ll guide your migration with hands-on support, a clear plan, and the right tools, so you can switch with no downtime, no lost revenue, and no platform fees for the first three months.
1
Export data
With guided instructions from our team.
2
Set up products and plans
Pricing, subscriptions, and trials included.
3
Import licenses or subscriptions
Migrated directly into Freemius.
4
Launch the new checkout
Fully tested and ready to go live.
5
Sync renewals
Keep customer licenses updated automatically via webhook events.
6
Notify customers (optional)
Communicate changes on your own terms.
FAQ: Choosing a Polar alternative
What’s the best Polar alternative for selling software?
While there are several MoR options, Freemius is the only one built exclusively for software businesses, offering licensing, subscriptions, churn recovery, and global tax handling designed for SaaS, desktop apps, and plugins.
What are the key differences between Polar and Freemius?
Polar is an open-source, developer-focused platform still expanding its core features. Freemius is a mature, all-in-one MoR built specifically for software, with proven infrastructure, advanced automation, and years of operational stability.
What is better for selling software: Polar or Freemius?
If you’re running an early project and prefer open-source tools, Polar can be a good starting point. For established or scaling software businesses, Freemius offers a deeper, more reliable foundation, covering licensing, renewals, taxes, analytics, and growth automation out of the box.
Is Freemius a Merchant of Record (MoR) like Polar?
Yes. Both act as the legal seller of record for your transactions, handling global tax compliance, payment processing, and remittance. Freemius extends this further with automated renewals, refunds, and compliance coverage in over 100 countries.
How fast can I start selling with Freemius or Polar?
Freemius offers instant approval, so you can start selling the same day. Polar requires a short verification before the first payout and a full account review that typically takes up to a week, depending on volume and holidays.
How does Freemius handle chargebacks compared to Polar?
Freemius manages disputes completely on your behalf and absorbs the initial fee — you only pay the processor fee if a case is lost. Polar passes the $15–$30 dispute fee directly to the merchant for every case, regardless of the outcome.
How long does it take to migrate from Polar to Freemius? Is there downtime?
Most migrations take 1-3 weeks, depending on product complexity. Freemius provides a dedicated technical contact and migration tools to ensure there’s no downtime or revenue loss during the process.