Crater vs Beancount
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Crater
Free invoicing and expense tracking app
VS
Beancount
Double-entry bookkeeping in plain text with a query language
| Feature | Crater | Beancount |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | AAL | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,338 | ★ 5,881 |
| First released | 2020 | 2008 |
| Replaces | FreshBooks, Invoicely | QuickBooks, Xero |
Why pick each one
Choose Beancount if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Mature project with 5.9k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Crater or Beancount better?
Crater is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Beancount if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Crater and Beancount free and open-source?
Yes. Crater is licensed under AAL and Beancount under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Crater and Beancount with Docker?
Crater: yes. Beancount: check the project docs for container support.