Buckets vs Kresus
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Buckets | Kresus |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 198 | ★ 800 |
| First released | 2017 | 2015 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | Mint, Bankin |
What are Buckets and Kresus?
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
Kresus
Kresus is a free, open-source personal finance manager that aggregates your bank accounts and helps you track expenses and budgets. It uses the Woob library to import banking data automatically.
- Automatic bank data import
- Expense categorization
- Budget and chart views
- Alerts on balances
Buckets vs Kresus: key differences
Buckets is written in TypeScript, while Kresus is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Buckets versus AGPL-3.0 for Kresus. Kresus is the more established project (first released 2015), while Buckets arrived in 2017. Kresus has the considerably larger community, at 800 GitHub stars versus 198. Kresus 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 Kresus if…
- Hands-off bank syncing in supported regions
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Bank support varies by country
- Sparse documentation
Frequently asked questions
Is Buckets or Kresus better?
Neither is universally better. Kresus has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Buckets and Kresus free and open-source?
Yes. Buckets is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kresus under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Buckets and Kresus with Docker?
Buckets: check the project docs for container support. Kresus: yes.