Costflow 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 | Costflow | MyFin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 0 · At risk | 77 · Good |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 33 | ★ 312 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Expensify, Mint | YNAB, Mint |
What are Costflow and MyFin?
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
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
Costflow vs MyFin: key differences
Costflow is written in JavaScript, while MyFin is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Costflow versus GPL-3.0 for MyFin. Costflow is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for MyFin. Costflow is the more established project (first released 2019), while MyFin arrived in 2022. MyFin has the considerably larger community, at 312 GitHub stars versus 33. MyFin 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 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 Costflow 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 Costflow and MyFin free and open-source?
Yes. Costflow is licensed under MIT and MyFin under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Costflow and MyFin with Docker?
Costflow: check the project docs for container support. MyFin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Costflow or MyFin?
Costflow has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for MyFin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.