Akaunting vs Beancount

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureAkauntingBeancount
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguagePHPPython
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 10,041★ 5,881
First released20172008
ReplacesQuickBooks, XeroQuickBooks, Xero

Why pick each one

Choose Akaunting if…

  • Full accounting feature set
  • Extensible via apps
Akaunting details

Choose Beancount if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Mature project with 5.9k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Beancount details

Frequently asked questions

Is Akaunting or Beancount better?

Akaunting is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Beancount if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Akaunting and Beancount free and open-source?

Yes. Akaunting is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Beancount under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Akaunting and Beancount with Docker?

Akaunting: yes. Beancount: check the project docs for container support.

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