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.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureActual BudgetBeancount Import
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseMITGPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptPython
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcesource, binary
GitHub stars★ 28,019★ 469
First released20222018
ReplacesYNAB, MintMint

Why pick each one

Choose Actual Budget if…

  • Snappy offline-first experience
  • Privacy-focused sync
Actual Budget details

Choose Beancount Import if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Beancount Import details

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.

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