Fava vs Frappe Books
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?
Fava
Web interface for Beancount plain-text accounting
VS
Frappe Books
Free desktop accounting for small businesses
| Feature | Fava | Frappe Books |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,542 | ★ 4,874 |
| First released | 2016 | 2020 |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, GnuCash | QuickBooks, Wave |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Fava or Frappe Books better?
Frappe Books is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Fava if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Fava and Frappe Books free and open-source?
Yes. Fava is licensed under MIT and Frappe Books under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Fava and Frappe Books with Docker?
Fava: yes. Frappe Books: check the project docs for container support.