Actual Budget vs Beancount Import
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Actual Budget
Local-first envelope budgeting app
VS
Beancount Import
Semi-automated transaction import for Beancount ledgers
| Feature | Actual Budget | Beancount Import |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 98 · Excellent | 60 · Good |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | source, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 29,118 | ★ 471 |
| First released | 2022 | 2018 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | Mint |
What are Actual Budget and Beancount Import?
Actual Budget
Actual is a free, open-source personal finance app focused on zero-based, envelope-style budgeting. It is local-first with end-to-end encrypted sync across devices.
- Envelope budgeting method
- Local-first with encrypted sync
- Fast and responsive UI
- Bank import via plugins
Beancount Import
Beancount Import is a tool for semi-automatically importing transactions from financial institutions into Beancount plain-text accounting files. It provides a web interface to review, classify, and reconcile imported entries.
- Semi-automated import
- Web review interface
- Transaction classification
- Reconciliation support
Actual Budget vs Beancount Import: key differences
Actual Budget is written in TypeScript, while Beancount Import is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Actual Budget versus GPL-2.0 for Beancount Import. Beancount Import is the more established project (first released 2018), while Actual Budget arrived in 2022. Actual Budget has the considerably larger community, at 29,118 GitHub stars versus 471. Actual Budget lists first-class Docker deployment; Beancount Import does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Actual Budget if…
- Snappy offline-first experience
- Privacy-focused sync
Watch out for
- Bank sync needs extra setup
- Fewer reports than alternatives
Choose Beancount Import if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Requires Beancount knowledge
- Per-institution configuration
Frequently asked questions
Is Actual Budget or Beancount Import better?
Actual Budget is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Beancount Import if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Actual Budget and Beancount Import free and open-source?
Yes. Actual Budget is licensed under MIT and Beancount Import under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Actual Budget and Beancount Import with Docker?
Actual Budget: yes. Beancount Import: check the project docs for container support.