Alternatives / Lemon Squeezy
Looking for an open source Lemon Squeezy alternative? We compared 2 open source commerce platforms for digital products by license and tax handling. Polar acts as a merchant of record like Lemon Squeezy, while Gumroad is a creator marketplace.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Polar | Merchant of record for software | Apache-2.0 |
| Gumroad | Creator marketplace | MIT |
We looked for open-source platforms for selling software and digital goods. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and what they handle for you. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Polar is an Apache-2.0 platform for digital products and SaaS that acts as merchant of record for VAT, GST, and sales tax, with usage-based billing, subscriptions and one-time purchases, Next.js adapters, and automated benefits such as license keys. Pricing is 4% plus 40 cents per transaction.
Gumroad is an MIT marketplace with payments, analytics, email marketing, and automated delivery and license keys.
Self-hosting either project would put taxes and payment compliance on you.
Polar is Apache-2.0. Gumroad is MIT.
Both had commits within days of this update.
Lemon Squeezy is a proprietary merchant of record that takes a fee per sale and handles tax. Open-source alternatives expose their code, but you remain dependent on the hosted merchant of record service if you want tax handled.
Polar is an Apache-2.0 open-source payments and billing platform for digital product and SaaS businesses. It acts as the merchant of record to handle tax, automates benefits such as license keys and GitHub or Discord access, and supports subscriptions and usage-based billing. Its hosted pricing is listed at 4% plus 40 cents per transaction.
Pricing: Free to self-host the code; the hosted service charges 4% plus 40 cents per transaction.
Gumroad is an MIT-licensed marketplace and storefront where creators sell digital products such as courses, software, ebooks, and music, with payments, file hosting, and delivery handled for them. It is a sales platform rather than a payment processor, and the hosted service charges platform fees.
Pricing: Free to self-host the code; the hosted service charges fees on sales.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polar | Payments platform | Apache-2.0 | Hosted service | SaaS and developers |
| Gumroad | Marketplace | MIT | Code is open | Creators |
Want tax and billing handled
Polar handles VAT, GST, and sales tax and supports usage-based billing.
Want a storefront for courses and files
Gumroad includes delivery and license key management.