Firefly III vs InvoicePlane
| Tagline | Self-hosted personal finance manager with budgets, rules, and bank import | Self-hosted invoicing, quoting, and payment tracking for small businesses |
| Category | Finance & Budgeting | Finance & Budgeting |
| Replaces | Mint, YNAB, QuickBooks | QuickBooks |
| GitHub stars | 24k | 3.1k |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | 4 days ago |
| 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
InvoicePlane
- No double-entry accounting or general ledger
- Client portal for online payment acceptance is not built-in
- Limited financial reporting; no P&L or balance sheet
- Development pace has slowed; some modern UX polish is lacking
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; 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.
Firefly III
Self-hosted personal finance manager with budgets, rules, and bank import
InvoicePlane
Self-hosted invoicing, quoting, and payment tracking for small businesses