Akaunting vs Frappe Books
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Akaunting
Free open-source accounting software online
VS
Frappe Books
Free desktop accounting for small businesses
| Feature | Akaunting | Frappe Books |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,133 | ★ 4,981 |
| First released | 2017 | 2020 |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, Xero | QuickBooks, Wave |
What are Akaunting and Frappe Books?
Akaunting
Akaunting is a free, open-source accounting software for small businesses and freelancers. It handles invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting with a modular app store.
- Double-entry accounting
- Invoicing and billing
- App store for extensions
- Multi-company support
Frappe Books
Frappe Books is a free, open-source accounting application for small businesses and freelancers. It is a desktop app offering invoicing, double-entry bookkeeping, and inventory management.
- Double-entry accounting
- Invoicing and billing
- Inventory tracking
- Offline desktop app
Akaunting vs Frappe Books: key differences
Akaunting is written in PHP, while Frappe Books is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Akaunting versus AGPL-3.0 for Frappe Books. Frappe Books is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Akaunting. Akaunting is the more established project (first released 2017), while Frappe Books arrived in 2020. Akaunting has the considerably larger community, at 10,133 GitHub stars versus 4,981. Akaunting lists first-class Docker deployment; Frappe Books does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Akaunting if…
- Full accounting feature set
- Extensible via apps
Watch out for
- Many features are paid apps
- Reporting could be deeper
Choose Frappe Books if…
- No subscription needed
- Simple and clean
Watch out for
- Desktop only
- Limited multi-user support
Frequently asked questions
Is Akaunting or Frappe Books better?
Neither is universally better. Akaunting has the larger community, while Frappe Books is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Akaunting and Frappe Books free and open-source?
Yes. Akaunting is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Frappe Books under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Akaunting and Frappe Books with Docker?
Akaunting: yes. Frappe Books: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Akaunting or Frappe Books?
Frappe Books has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Akaunting. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.