# Polar vs Stripe for Next.js

Both are payments batteries. A repo takes one of them, not both.

| | Polar | Stripe |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | Subscriptions and one-time payments on Polar, the merchant of record: hosted checkout, the customer portal, refunds that revoke access, and a signature-verified webhook with delivery-id idempotency. Plans live in src/lib/pricing.ts and /pricing renders with no keys. | Subscriptions and one-time payments on Stripe: hosted Checkout, the customer portal, refunds that revoke access, and a signature-verified webhook with event-id idempotency. Plans live in src/lib/pricing.ts and /pricing renders with no keys. |
| Pricing | Free Starter plan at 5% + 50c per transaction. Paid plans lower the rate: Pro is $20/month at 3.8% + 40c, and Growth and Scale go lower. Non-US cards add 1.5%. Tax calculation, filing and liability are included. Organisations created before May 27, 2026 can stay on the Early Member plan: 4% + 40c, plus 0.5% on subscriptions. | 2.9% + 30c per successful US card charge. No setup or monthly fee. Stripe Billing adds 0.7% of billing volume. Stripe Tax is extra, charged per transaction where you are registered to collect. |
| Best for | Solo founders and small teams selling digital products or SaaS worldwide, by subscription or as a one-time lifetime deal. You skip registering for VAT, GST and US sales tax before your twentieth customer. | SaaS selling to businesses and consumers in many countries. Best when you need real invoices, dunning, proration and a tax story your accountant will accept. |

- [Build with Polar](https://agenticboilerplate.com/build?b=polar)
- [Build with Stripe](https://agenticboilerplate.com/build?b=stripe)

---

Agentic Boilerplate: A Next.js repo your agent already knows. $99 once. Lifetime access and updates.

- Site map for agents: https://agenticboilerplate.com/llms.txt
- Public API: https://agenticboilerplate.com/openapi.json
- Contact: agenticstudio@gmail.com