Akaunting vs Invoice Ninja
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
Invoice Ninja
Open-source invoicing and billing platform
| Feature | Akaunting | Invoice Ninja |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Elastic-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,133 | ★ 10,106 |
| First released | 2017 | 2014 |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, Xero | FreshBooks, QuickBooks |
What are Akaunting and Invoice Ninja?
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
Invoice Ninja
Invoice Ninja is a free, open-source platform for invoicing, billing, payments, and time tracking. It serves freelancers and small businesses with quotes, recurring invoices, and client portals.
- Invoices, quotes, and payments
- Client self-service portal
- Time and expense tracking
- Recurring billing automation
Akaunting vs Invoice Ninja: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Akaunting versus Elastic-2.0 for Invoice Ninja. Invoice Ninja is the more established project (first released 2014), while Akaunting arrived in 2017.
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 Invoice Ninja if…
- Comprehensive billing features
- Many payment gateway integrations
Watch out for
- License not OSI-approved
- Setup can be involved
Frequently asked questions
Is Akaunting or Invoice Ninja better?
Neither is universally better. Akaunting has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Akaunting and Invoice Ninja free and open-source?
Yes. Akaunting is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Invoice Ninja under Elastic-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Akaunting and Invoice Ninja with Docker?
Akaunting: yes. Invoice Ninja: yes.