Costflow 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 | Costflow | Kresus |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 33 | ★ 800 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Expensify, Mint | Mint, Bankin |
What are Costflow and Kresus?
Costflow
Costflow is an open-source parser that turns plain-language messages into Beancount, Ledger, or hledger entries. It lets users record transactions from chat apps and append them to a journal file.
- Natural-language entries
- Beancount and Ledger output
- Chat app integration
- Plain-text journals
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
Costflow vs Kresus: key differences
Both projects are written in JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Costflow versus AGPL-3.0 for Kresus. Costflow is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Kresus. Kresus is the more established project (first released 2015), while Costflow arrived in 2019. Kresus has the considerably larger community, at 800 GitHub stars versus 33. Kresus lists first-class Docker deployment; Costflow does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Costflow if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
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 Costflow 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 Costflow and Kresus free and open-source?
Yes. Costflow is licensed under MIT and Kresus under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Costflow and Kresus with Docker?
Costflow: check the project docs for container support. Kresus: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Costflow or Kresus?
Costflow has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Kresus. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.