Firefly III vs hledger
| Tagline | Self-hosted personal finance manager with budgets, rules, and bank import | Plain-text double-entry accounting in your terminal with powerful reporting and web UI |
| Category | Finance & Budgeting | Finance & Budgeting |
| Replaces | Mint, YNAB, QuickBooks | Mint, YNAB, QuickBooks |
| GitHub stars | 24k | 4.6k |
| Language | PHP | Haskell |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | 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.
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
hledger
- Plain-text workflow requires manual transaction entry or custom import scripts
- No native bank sync/Open Banking integration
- Web UI is read-only; edits must be made in text files
Bottom line
Choose hledger if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Firefly III for the larger community and ecosystem. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Firefly III
Self-hosted personal finance manager with budgets, rules, and bank import
hledger
Plain-text double-entry accounting in your terminal with powerful reporting and web UI