Best Open-Source Budgeting Apps 2026: 6 Options Compared
Best open-source Budgeting Apps compared: Actual Budget, Firefly III, Sure, Money Manager Ex and 2 more, with licenses, platforms and prices from official pages checked October 24, 2026.
•3 min read•Personal Finance & Investing
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual Budget | Free (Open-source app you host yourself; the repository lists no paid tier) | Web (self-hosted) | Envelope budgeters who want local data | Docs only |
| Firefly III | Free (Open-source personal finance manager you host yourself; no paid tier in the repository) | Web (self-hosted) | Self-hosters who want rules and reports | Docs only |
| Sure | Free (Free to self-host with Docker; the repository lists no price) | Web, Self-hosted, macOS, iOS, Android | People who want a modern interface | Docs only |
| Money Manager Ex | Free (Free and libre; the repository page lists no price, donations optional) | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS | Households who want desktop and phone apps | Docs only |
| HomeBank | Free (Free; the site is supported by donations and advertising) | Windows, Linux, FreeBSD | Desktop budgeters who like reports | Docs only |
| GnuCash | Free (double-entry accounting program with no price on its site) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Households that want true double-entry | Docs only |
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Good fit if
- You want envelope budgets and keep data on your own machine (Actual Budget is the pick)
- You run a home server and want rules and automation (Firefly III is the pick)
- You want apps on both your desktop and your phone (Money Manager Ex is the pick)
- You prefer a simple desktop program with forecasts (HomeBank is the pick)
- You also run a small business and want proper books (GnuCash is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You cannot host, patch and back up a server yourself and want a vendor to run it
An open-source budgeting app keeps your spending data out of a vendor's cloud, which matters because bank transactions are among the most sensitive data you own. The main choice is between envelope-style budgets and ledger-style tracking. Actual Budget is built for envelope budgeting and is local-first, while Firefly III is a self-hosted personal finance manager with rules and reports, and Sure is a community fork of Maybe Finance with a modern interface. Money Manager Ex, HomeBank and GnuCash are desktop programs that keep a file on your computer; HomeBank adds forecasts and a view that shows expenses as hours worked, and GnuCash is full double-entry accounting. The trade-off is bank connectivity. Commercial apps sell automatic sync as their core feature, but open-source tools mostly rely on file imports or a third-party sync service you pay for separately. If you hate manual entry, test an import from your bank's CSV first. Self-hosted options also mean you maintain a server and backups. For a household that just wants a monthly plan, a desktop app with a weekly CSV import is usually the least effort. Export your data once to confirm you can leave.
Actual Budget
MIT-licensed, local-first envelope budgeting you host yourself, with no paid tier. Bank syncing depends on a third-party service that is billed separately.
Price: Free (Open-source app you host yourself; the repository lists no paid tier) (Actual Budget pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web (self-hosted). MIT (open source) (license source).
Project activity: 29.8k GitHub stars · latest release v26.10.0 (Oct 2, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Envelope budgeters who want local data.
Firefly III
AGPL-3.0 personal finance manager you run on your own server, with no paid tier in the repository. You handle upgrades and database backups.
Price: Free (Open-source personal finance manager you host yourself; no paid tier in the repository) (Firefly III pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web (self-hosted). AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).
Project activity: 25k GitHub stars · latest release v6.7.9 (Oct 11, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Self-hosters who want rules and reports.
Worth knowing: Self-hosted, so you run the server and back up the database yourself. The repository describes it as a personal finances manager.
Sure
AGPL-3.0 community fork of the abandoned Maybe Finance app, self-hosted with Docker and one-click deploys. No hosted price is listed.
Price: Free (Free to self-host with Docker; the repository lists no price) (Sure pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted, macOS, iOS, Android. AGPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).
Project activity: 10.7k GitHub stars · latest release v0.7.5-hotfix.3 (Oct 24, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: People who want a modern interface.
Money Manager Ex
GPL-2.0 for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, with budgets, cash-flow forecasts, bill reminders, CSV and QIF import and optional AES-encrypted SQLite.
Price: Free (Free and libre; the repository page lists no price, donations optional) (Money Manager Ex pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS. GPL-2.0 (open source) (license source).
Project activity: 2.3k GitHub stars · latest release v1.9.4 (Aug 31, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026
Best for: Households who want desktop and phone apps.
HomeBank
Released under the GPL, with budgeting, scheduling, forecasts and reports for Windows and Linux; macOS is third-party. Supported by donations and advertising on its site.
Price: Free (Free; the site is supported by donations and advertising) (HomeBank pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Windows, Linux, FreeBSD. GPL (version not stated) (open source) (license source).
Best for: Desktop budgeters who like reports.
GnuCash
GPL double-entry accounting for desktop. It has no built-in bank feeds, and it asks you to learn accounting concepts first.
Price: Free (double-entry accounting program with no price on its site) (GnuCash pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. GNU GPL (open source) (license source).
Best for: Households that want true double-entry.
Worth knowing: It is a desktop program, so it has no built-in bank feeds or online invoicing.
Which one to pick
- You want envelope budgets and keep data on your own machine: Actual Budget
- You run a home server and want rules and automation: Firefly III
- You want apps on both your desktop and your phone: Money Manager Ex
- You prefer a simple desktop program with forecasts: HomeBank
- You also run a small business and want proper books: GnuCash
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Actual Budget, Firefly III, Sure, Money Manager Ex, HomeBank, GnuCash: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you commit.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing, license and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-24: Actual Budget, Firefly III, Sure, Money Manager Ex, HomeBank, GnuCash. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.