Polar pricing

How Polar charges, what to know before you commit, and what you'd pay at your usage — next to what the alternatives would cost for the same thing.

How it charges

Checked 2026-10-03 on polar.sh ↗ · USD, list prices
In short

Free Starter plan at 5% + 50¢ per transaction, or a monthly fee ($20–$400) for lower rates down to 3.4% + 30¢, as merchant of record.

Free plan
Yes
Cheapest paid plan
$20/mo
Side project
$75/mo Starter
Growing
$560/mo Pro
Scaling
$5,300/mo Scale
What the model leaves out

Merchant of record — fees include sales tax/VAT handling and are charged on the total transaction value including tax. Add 1.5% for non-US cards. Payouts go through Stripe ($2/month while active plus 0.25% + $0.25 per payout; 0.25–1% cross-border conversion). Organizations created before May 27, 2026 may keep the Early Member rate (4% + 40¢, +0.5% on subscriptions).

Before you commit
  • Fees are charged on the total transaction value including tax, and non-US cards add 1.5%.
  • Payouts carry Stripe's fees: $2 per month with active payouts plus 0.25% + $0.25 per payout, and 0.25–1% for currency conversion.
  • Each dispute costs $15 regardless of outcome, and a high chargeback rate can get the account suspended.
  • Organizations created before May 27, 2026 keep the Early Member rate only until they upgrade; downgrading afterwards lands on the 5% + 50¢ Starter rate.
PlanMonthly feeRevenue per monthPayments per month
StarterNone5%$0.5 per payment
Pro$20/mo3.8%$0.4 per payment
Growth$100/mo3.6%$0.35 per payment
Scale$400/mo3.4%$0.3 per payment

What you'd pay

Cost as you grow

$0$500$2,000$5,000$10,000$500$1k$5k$10k$25k$50k$100k$250k
PolarDodo PaymentsPaddleLemon SqueezyPayPalStripex: revenue per month (USD), other usage scaled with it · cheapest usable plan at each point, list prices