Firefly III vs REI3
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?
Compare Firefly III with
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Compare REI3 with
choose an app… Maybe HyperSwitch Actual Budget Lago Akaunting Invoice Ninja Sure Ghostfolio Wealthfolio
Feature Firefly III REI3 Category Budgeting & Finance Budgeting & Finance License AGPL-3.0 MIT Language PHP JavaScript Setup difficulty Medium Medium Min. RAM 512 MB 512 MB Deployment docker, bare-metal, source bare-metal GitHub stars ★ 24,254 ★ 571 First released 2016 2026 Replaces Mint, YNAB —
Why pick each one
Choose REI3 if… Released under the MIT license Written in JavaScript Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM REI3 details
Frequently asked questions Is Firefly III or REI3 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 REI3 free and open-source? Yes. Firefly III is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and REI3 under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firefly III and REI3 with Docker? Firefly III: yes. REI3: check the project docs for container support.