ezbookkeeping vs Firefly III
| Tagline | Lightweight self-hosted personal bookkeeping app with multi-currency support | Self-hosted personal finance manager with budgets, rules, and bank import |
| Category | Finance & Budgeting | Finance & Budgeting |
| Replaces | Mint, YNAB | Mint, YNAB, QuickBooks |
| GitHub stars | 5.1k | 24k |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Manual | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 2 days ago | today |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
ezbookkeeping
- No automatic bank/account import; transactions must be entered or imported via CSV
- Budgeting is basic; no envelope or zero-based budgeting like YNAB
- No bill reminders or subscription tracking
- Reporting is limited to basic charts; no advanced financial planning features
Firefly III
- Bank import requires a separate importer container and CSV/OFX manipulation; no one-click bank sync
- UI can feel complex and verbose for casual users compared to Mint's simplicity
- No built-in mobile app; third-party apps exist but vary in quality
- Investment and brokerage account tracking is limited compared to dedicated wealth tools
Bottom line
Choose ezbookkeeping if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Firefly III for the larger community and ecosystem. Firefly III has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
ezbookkeeping
Lightweight self-hosted personal bookkeeping app with multi-currency support
Firefly III
Self-hosted personal finance manager with budgets, rules, and bank import