Benefits - Polar

Benefits are perks automatically granted when customers purchase products or subscribe. Polar handles the complete lifecycle: granting access when purchases occur, managing ongoing access, and revoking when subscriptions end.

Overview

Benefits enable you to:

Grant access to GitHub repositories
Invite customers to Discord servers
Generate and distribute license keys
Provide file downloads
Issue usage credits for metered billing
Control feature flags
Trigger custom webhooks

Benefit Types

Generate unique license keys for software activation.Use cases: Software licenses, API keys, activation codes

Creating Benefits

Create benefits through the API:

const benefit = await polar.benefits.create({
  organization_id: orgId,
  description: "Pro License Key",
  type: "license_keys",
  properties: {
    prefix: "PRO",              // Optional: PRO-XXXX-XXXX
    expires: {
      ttl: 1,
      timeframe: "year"         // year, month, or day
    },
    activations: {
      limit: 3,                 // Max devices
      enable_customer_admin: true  // Allow customer to manage
    },
    limit_usage: 1000          // Max uses (optional)
  }
});

Attaching Benefits to Products

Benefits are granted by attaching them to products:

await polar.products.updateBenefits(productId, {
  benefits: [benefitId1, benefitId2, benefitId3]
});

When a customer purchases or subscribes:

Order/subscription is created
Benefits are automatically granted
Customer receives confirmation with benefit details

Benefit Grants

Benefit grants track individual customer access.

Viewing Grants

List grants for a benefit:

const { items: grants } = await polar.benefits.grants(benefitId, {
  is_granted: true,            // Active grants only
  customer_id: [customerId]
});

grants.forEach(grant => {
  console.log(grant.customer.email);
  console.log(grant.properties);  // Type-specific properties
  console.log(grant.granted_at);
});

Grant Properties

Each grant type has specific properties:

License Keys
File Downloads
GitHub Repository
Discord Access

{
  license_key: "PRO-1A2B-3C4D-5E6F",
  display_key: "PRO-••••-••••-5E6F",
  activation_url: "https://app.com/activate?key=...",
  expires_at: "2025-01-01T00:00:00Z"
}

{
  files: [
    {
      id: "file_xxx",
      name: "premium-pack.zip",
      url: "https://..."
    }
  ]
}

{
  repository_owner: "your-org",
  repository_name: "private-repo",
  invitation_url: "https://github.com/..."
}

{
  guild_id: "123456789",
  invitation_url: "https://discord.gg/..."
}

Benefit Lifecycle

Product Purchase

Customer purchases a product with benefits attached.

Grant Created

Benefit grants are created for the customer. Status: is_granted: true

Access Provided

License keys generated
GitHub invitations sent
Discord roles assigned
Files made available

Active Use

Customer uses the benefit. Polar tracks usage and status.

Revocation

When subscription ends or is canceled:

is_granted: false
Access removed
Keys deactivated

License Keys

Configuration

License keys support several configuration options:

Prefix

Optional prefix for generated keys (e.g., “PRO-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX”).

Expiration

Set automatic expiration:

ttl: Number of time units
timeframe: year, month, or day

Activations

Limit how many devices can use a key:

limit: Max simultaneous activations (1-50)
enable_customer_admin: Allow customers to manage activations

Usage Limit

Limit total number of uses (validations) across all activations.

Customer Management

With enable_customer_admin, customers can:

View active devices
Deactivate devices
See remaining activations
Access via customer portal

Key Validation

Validate license keys via API:

const validation = await polar.licenses.validate({
  key: "PRO-1A2B-3C4D-5E6F",
  organization_id: orgId,
  benefit_id: benefitId,
  activation_id: deviceId  // Optional: track device
});

if (validation.valid) {
  console.log('Activations:', validation.activations);
  console.log('Limit:', validation.limit);
}

File Downloads

Upload Files

Upload files through the dashboard or API:

// 1. Create upload URL
const upload = await polar.files.create({
  organization_id: orgId,
  name: "premium-pack.zip",
  mime_type: "application/zip",
  size: 1024000,
  service: "downloadable"
});

// 2. Upload to signed URL
await fetch(upload.upload_url, {
  method: 'PUT',
  body: fileData
});

// 3. Complete upload
await polar.files.complete(upload.id);

Manage Files

Update benefit to add/remove files:

await polar.benefits.update(benefitId, {
  properties: {
    files: [fileId1, fileId2, newFileId],
    archived: {
      [oldFileId]: true  // Archive file
    }
  }
});

GitHub Repository Access

Setup

Install GitHub App

Install the Polar GitHub App on your organization.

Grant Repository Access

Give the app access to private repositories.

Create Benefit

Create a GitHub repository benefit with desired permission level.

Permission Levels

pull: Read-only access
triage: Read + manage issues/PRs
push: Read + write access
maintain: Push + manage settings
admin: Full control

See GitHub documentation for details.

How It Works

Customer purchases product
Polar sends GitHub invitation
Customer accepts invitation via email
Access granted with specified permission
On cancellation, access is revoked

Discord Access

Setup

Connect Discord Server

Connect your Discord server through the Polar dashboard.

Select Role

Choose which role to assign to customers.

Configure Removal

Set whether to kick members on revocation or just remove role.

How It Works

Customer purchases product
Polar generates Discord invitation
Customer joins via invitation link
Role automatically assigned
On cancellation:
- Role removed
- Optionally kicked from server

Meter Credits

Grant usage credits as a benefit:

const benefit = await polar.benefits.create({
  description: "1000 API Calls",
  type: "meter_credit",
  properties: {
    meter_id: apiCallMeterId,
    credits: 1000
  }
});

Credits are:

Granted when subscription starts
Replenished each billing cycle
Consumed by usage events

See Usage-Based Billing for details.

Feature Flags

Control feature access in your application:

// Check if customer has feature access
const customer = await polar.customers.get(customerId);
const hasFeature = customer.benefits.some(
  b => b.type === "feature_flag" && b.properties.key === "premium_features"
);

if (hasFeature) {
  // Enable premium features
}

Custom Webhooks

Custom benefits trigger webhooks for your own fulfillment:

// benefit.granted webhook
{
  "type": "benefit.granted",
  "data": {
    "customer": { /* ... */ },
    "benefit": {
      "type": "custom",
      "description": "Custom Integration",
      "properties": {
        "note": "Trigger custom logic"
      }
    },
    "properties": {}  // Your custom grant data
  }
}

Implement your fulfillment logic in the webhook handler.

Webhooks

Listen for benefit events:

benefit.granted

Benefit granted to customer

benefit.revoked

Benefit revoked from customer

benefit.updated

Benefit configuration updated

Updating Benefits

Update benefit configuration:

await polar.benefits.update(benefitId, {
  description: "Updated Description",
  properties: {
    // Type-specific properties
  }
});

Changing properties may affect existing grants. For example, changing a license key expiration affects all issued keys.

Deleting Benefits

Delete benefits to revoke all grants:

await polar.benefits.delete(benefitId);

All grants are immediately revoked
Access removed for all customers
Cannot be undone
Remove from products first to prevent new grants

Best Practices

License Keys

Set reasonable activation limits (3-5 for most software)
Enable customer admin for better experience
Use prefixes to identify product tiers
Set expiration for time-limited licenses

File Downloads

Use versioning in file names
Archive old files instead of deleting
Keep file sizes reasonable (under 100MB)
Provide multiple formats when possible

GitHub Access

Use minimum required permission level
Create dedicated repos for customers
Document access in README
Monitor repository access logs

Discord Access

Create dedicated customer roles
Set up proper channel permissions
Choose kick settings carefully
Welcome new members automatically

Benefit Design

Keep benefit names clear and descriptive
Test fulfillment before attaching to products
Group related benefits on the same product
Document benefit usage for customers

API Reference

Create Benefit

Create a new benefit

List Benefits

Query benefits with filters

Update Benefit

Modify benefit configuration

Delete Benefit

Remove benefit and revoke grants

List Grants

View benefit grants

Getting Started

Core Features

Usage-Based Billing

Payments & Billing

Customer Management

Finance

Merchant of Record

​Overview

​Benefit Types

​Creating Benefits

​Attaching Benefits to Products

​Benefit Grants

​Viewing Grants

​Grant Properties

​Benefit Lifecycle

​License Keys

​Configuration

​Customer Management

​Key Validation

​File Downloads

​Upload Files

​Manage Files

​GitHub Repository Access

​Setup

​Permission Levels

​How It Works

​Discord Access

​Setup

​How It Works

​Meter Credits

​Feature Flags

​Custom Webhooks

​Webhooks

benefit.granted

benefit.revoked

benefit.updated

​Updating Benefits

​Deleting Benefits

​Best Practices

​API Reference

Create Benefit

List Benefits

Update Benefit

Delete Benefit

List Grants

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Benefit Types

Creating Benefits

Attaching Benefits to Products

Benefit Grants

Viewing Grants

Grant Properties

Benefit Lifecycle

License Keys

Configuration

Customer Management

Key Validation

File Downloads

Upload Files

Manage Files

GitHub Repository Access

Setup

Permission Levels

How It Works

Discord Access

Setup

How It Works

Meter Credits

Feature Flags

Custom Webhooks

Webhooks

Updating Benefits

Deleting Benefits

Best Practices

API Reference