Firefly III vs Invoice Ninja

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?
FeatureFirefly IIIInvoice Ninja
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseAGPL-3.0Elastic-2.0
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 24,254★ 9,979
First released20162014
ReplacesMint, YNABFreshBooks, QuickBooks

Why pick each one

Choose Firefly III if…

  • Powerful budgeting features
  • Strong API for automation
Firefly III details

Choose Invoice Ninja if…

  • Comprehensive billing features
  • Many payment gateway integrations
Invoice Ninja details

Frequently asked questions

Is Firefly III or Invoice Ninja better?

Neither is universally better. Firefly III has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Firefly III and Invoice Ninja free and open-source?

Yes. Firefly III is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Invoice Ninja under Elastic-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Firefly III and Invoice Ninja with Docker?

Firefly III: yes. Invoice Ninja: yes.

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