Actual Budget vs Sequence Finance
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
Sequence Finance
Double-entry accounting API and ledger service
| Feature | Actual Budget | Sequence Finance |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 28,019 | ★ 1,337 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | Modern Treasury, Stripe Ledger |
Why pick each one
Choose Sequence Finance if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Actual Budget or Sequence Finance better?
Actual Budget is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Sequence Finance if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Actual Budget and Sequence Finance free and open-source?
Yes. Actual Budget is licensed under MIT and Sequence Finance under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Actual Budget and Sequence Finance with Docker?
Actual Budget: yes. Sequence Finance: yes.