Buckets vs Firefly III
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Firefly III
Self-hosted personal finance manager
| Feature | Buckets | Firefly III |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 30 · At risk | 97 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 198 | ★ 24,712 |
| First released | 2017 | 2016 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | Mint, YNAB |
What are Buckets and Firefly III?
Buckets
Buckets is an envelope-style budgeting application for Windows, macOS, and Linux built with Electron/TypeScript. Budgets are stored in a local file, bank statements can be imported, and it works fully offline. Its source code is published in the buckets/application repository.
- Bucket-based envelope budgeting
- Offline-first desktop app
- Bank statement import
- Self-hostable sync
Firefly III
Firefly III is a free, open-source personal finance manager. It helps you track income, expenses, budgets, and bills, with rules for automatic transaction categorization and detailed reporting.
- Budgeting and bill tracking
- Rule-based auto-categorization
- Detailed financial reports
- REST API and data importer
Buckets vs Firefly III: key differences
Buckets is written in TypeScript, while Firefly III is built with PHP. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Buckets versus AGPL-3.0 for Firefly III. Buckets is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Firefly III. Firefly III has the considerably larger community, at 24,712 GitHub stars versus 198. Firefly III lists first-class Docker deployment; Buckets does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Buckets if…
- Flexible budgeting model
- Privacy-focused
Watch out for
- Sync setup is manual
- Smaller community
Choose Firefly III if…
- Powerful budgeting features
- Strong API for automation
Watch out for
- Manual entry unless importing
- Steeper learning curve
Frequently asked questions
Is Buckets or Firefly III better?
Neither is universally better. Firefly III has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Buckets and Firefly III free and open-source?
Yes. Buckets is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Firefly III under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Buckets and Firefly III with Docker?
Buckets: check the project docs for container support. Firefly III: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Buckets or Firefly III?
Buckets has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Firefly III. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.