Firefly III vs Pretzel 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?
FeatureFirefly IIIPretzel Finance
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseAGPL-3.0EPL-1.0
LanguagePHPJava
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 24,254★ 4,006
First released20162012
ReplacesMint, YNABSharesight, Personal Capital

Why pick each one

Choose Firefly III if…

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

Choose Pretzel Finance if…

  • Accurate performance calculations
  • Rich analytics
Pretzel Finance details

Frequently asked questions

Is Firefly III or Pretzel 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 Pretzel Finance free and open-source?

Yes. Firefly III is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Pretzel Finance under EPL-1.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Firefly III and Pretzel Finance with Docker?

Firefly III: yes. Pretzel Finance: check the project docs for container support.

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