Actual Budget vs Oak Node

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 BudgetOak Node
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseMITfree
LanguageTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, one-click
GitHub stars★ 28,019
First released20222022
ReplacesYNAB, Mint

Why pick each one

Choose Actual Budget if…

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

Choose Oak Node if…

  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • One-click install on common self-host platforms
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Oak Node details

Frequently asked questions

Is Actual Budget or Oak Node better?

Neither is universally better. Actual Budget has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Actual Budget and Oak Node free and open-source?

Yes. Actual Budget is licensed under MIT and Oak Node under free. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Actual Budget and Oak Node with Docker?

Actual Budget: yes. Oak Node: yes.

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