Budgetwarrior vs MyFin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Budgetwarrior | MyFin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 45 · Fair | 77 · Good |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 119 | ★ 312 |
| First released | 2013 | 2022 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | YNAB, Mint |
What are Budgetwarrior and MyFin?
Budgetwarrior
Budgetwarrior is a command-line personal finance tool for tracking accounts, expenses, and budgets directly from the terminal. It stores data in plain text files and gives quick summaries and reports for people who prefer the CLI.
- Terminal interface
- Plain-text data storage
- Budget and expense tracking
- Quick reports
MyFin
MyFin is a self-hosted personal finance platform for tracking accounts, budgets, and transactions. It provides reports and forecasting to help understand spending patterns over time.
- Account and budget tracking
- Spending forecasts
- Transaction categorization
- Self-hosted finance reports
Budgetwarrior vs MyFin: key differences
Budgetwarrior is written in C++, while MyFin is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Budgetwarrior versus GPL-3.0 for MyFin. Budgetwarrior is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for MyFin. Budgetwarrior is the more established project (first released 2013), while MyFin arrived in 2022. MyFin has the considerably larger community, at 312 GitHub stars versus 119. MyFin lists first-class Docker deployment; Budgetwarrior does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Budgetwarrior if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No mobile access
Choose MyFin if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in TypeScript
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Budgetwarrior or MyFin better?
Neither is universally better. MyFin has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Budgetwarrior and MyFin free and open-source?
Yes. Budgetwarrior is licensed under MIT and MyFin under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Budgetwarrior and MyFin with Docker?
Budgetwarrior: check the project docs for container support. MyFin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Budgetwarrior or MyFin?
Budgetwarrior has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for MyFin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.