Crater vs InvoiceShelf
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
InvoiceShelf
Open-source invoicing app for freelancers and small businesses
| Feature | Crater | InvoiceShelf |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 23 · At risk | 85 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | AAL | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,347 | ★ 1,834 |
| First released | 2020 | 2023 |
| Replaces | FreshBooks, Invoicely | FreshBooks, Wave |
What are Crater and InvoiceShelf?
Crater
Crater is a free, open-source invoicing application built with Laravel and Vue.js. It lets freelancers and small businesses create invoices and estimates, track expenses, and accept payments.
- Invoices and estimates
- Expense tracking
- Mobile companion apps
- Multi-currency support
InvoiceShelf
InvoiceShelf is an open-source invoicing application, forked from Crater, for creating invoices and estimates and tracking payments. Built with PHP (Laravel), it supports multiple companies, taxes, and customer management.
- Invoices and estimates
- Payment tracking
- Multi-company support
- Tax configuration
Crater vs InvoiceShelf: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — AAL for Crater versus AGPL-3.0 for InvoiceShelf. Crater is the more established project (first released 2020), while InvoiceShelf arrived in 2023. Crater has the considerably larger community, at 8,347 GitHub stars versus 1,834.
Why pick each one
Choose Crater if…
- Clean modern interface
- Free mobile apps
Watch out for
- Smaller feature set than rivals
- Slower release cadence
Choose InvoiceShelf if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is Crater or InvoiceShelf better?
Neither is universally better. Crater has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Crater and InvoiceShelf free and open-source?
Yes. Crater is licensed under AAL and InvoiceShelf under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Crater and InvoiceShelf with Docker?
Crater: yes. InvoiceShelf: yes.