Actual Budget vs Family Accounting Tool
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?
Actual Budget
Local-first envelope budgeting app
VS
Family Accounting Tool
Web-based finance management tool for partners with partially shared
| Feature | Actual Budget | Family Accounting Tool |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Scala |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,019 | ★ 363 |
| First released | 2022 | 2026 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Family Accounting Tool if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Written in Scala
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Actual Budget or Family Accounting Tool better?
Actual Budget is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Family Accounting Tool if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Actual Budget and Family Accounting Tool free and open-source?
Yes. Actual Budget is licensed under MIT and Family Accounting Tool under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Actual Budget and Family Accounting Tool with Docker?
Actual Budget: yes. Family Accounting Tool: check the project docs for container support.