Buckets vs Sure
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Buckets | Sure |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 30 · At risk | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 198 | ★ 10,024 |
| First released | 2017 | 2025 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | Mint, Quicken |
What are Buckets and Sure?
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
Sure
Sure is a self-hosted personal finance application maintained by the community as a continuation of an archived finance project. It tracks accounts, transactions, budgets, and net worth in a single dashboard.
- Accounts and transaction tracking
- Budgets and net worth view
- Community-maintained
- Self-hosted with Docker
Buckets vs Sure: key differences
Buckets is written in TypeScript, while Sure is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Buckets versus AGPL-3.0 for Sure. Buckets is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Sure. Buckets is the more established project (first released 2017), while Sure arrived in 2025. Sure has the considerably larger community, at 10,024 GitHub stars versus 198. Sure 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 Sure if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10k GitHub stars
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Buckets or Sure better?
Neither is universally better. Sure has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Buckets and Sure free and open-source?
Yes. Buckets is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Sure under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Buckets and Sure with Docker?
Buckets: check the project docs for container support. Sure: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Buckets or Sure?
Buckets has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Sure. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.