Firefly III vs Sequence Finance
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?
Firefly III
Self-hosted personal finance manager
VS
Sequence Finance
Double-entry accounting API and ledger service
| Feature | Firefly III | Sequence Finance |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 24,254 | ★ 1,337 |
| First released | 2016 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Mint, YNAB | Modern Treasury, Stripe Ledger |
Why pick each one
Choose Sequence Finance if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Firefly III or Sequence Finance 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 Sequence Finance free and open-source?
Yes. Firefly III is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Sequence Finance under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firefly III and Sequence Finance with Docker?
Firefly III: yes. Sequence Finance: yes.