Actual Budget vs SHKeeper

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 BudgetSHKeeper
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptPython
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebare-metal
GitHub stars★ 28,019★ 606
First released20222026
ReplacesYNAB, Mint

Why pick each one

Choose Actual Budget if…

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

Choose SHKeeper if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Written in Python
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
SHKeeper details

Frequently asked questions

Is Actual Budget or SHKeeper better?

Actual Budget is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider SHKeeper if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Actual Budget and SHKeeper free and open-source?

Yes. Actual Budget is licensed under MIT and SHKeeper under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Actual Budget and SHKeeper with Docker?

Actual Budget: yes. SHKeeper: check the project docs for container support.

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