Cashew Self-Host vs Budget Zero
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Cashew Self-Host | Budget Zero |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 54 · Fair | 62 · Good |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Dart | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,649 | ★ 655 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | YNAB, Mint |
What are Cashew Self-Host and Budget Zero?
Cashew Self-Host
This project provides a self-hosted sync backend so users of the open-source budgeting client can keep their expense data on their own server. It stores transactions, budgets, and categories without a commercial cloud.
- Expense and budget tracking
- Self-hosted sync
- Category management
- Mobile companion
Budget Zero
Budgetzero is an open-source, offline-first envelope budgeting application. It works entirely in the browser with local storage and optional CouchDB sync for multi-device budgeting.
- Envelope budgeting
- Offline-first browser app
- Optional CouchDB sync
- Import from YNAB
Cashew Self-Host vs Budget Zero: key differences
Cashew Self-Host is written in Dart, while Budget Zero is built with Vue. Licensing differs — MIT for Cashew Self-Host versus GPL-3.0 for Budget Zero. Budget Zero is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Cashew Self-Host. Budget Zero is the more established project (first released 2019), while Cashew Self-Host arrived in 2022. Cashew Self-Host has the considerably larger community, at 4,649 GitHub stars versus 655. Cashew Self-Host lists first-class Docker deployment; Budget Zero does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Cashew Self-Host if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.6k GitHub stars)
Choose Budget Zero if…
- Works fully offline
- Simple budgeting workflow
Watch out for
- Small project
- Limited reporting
Frequently asked questions
Is Cashew Self-Host or Budget Zero better?
Neither is universally better. Cashew Self-Host has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cashew Self-Host and Budget Zero free and open-source?
Yes. Cashew Self-Host is licensed under MIT and Budget Zero under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cashew Self-Host and Budget Zero with Docker?
Cashew Self-Host: yes. Budget Zero: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Cashew Self-Host or Budget Zero?
Budget Zero has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Cashew Self-Host. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.