Firefly III vs SHKeeper
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 SHKeeper with
choose an app… Maybe HyperSwitch Actual Budget Lago Akaunting Invoice Ninja Sure Ghostfolio Wealthfolio
Feature Firefly III SHKeeper Category Budgeting & Finance Budgeting & Finance License AGPL-3.0 GPL-3.0 Language PHP Python Setup difficulty Medium Medium Min. RAM 512 MB 512 MB Deployment docker, bare-metal, source bare-metal GitHub stars ★ 24,254 ★ 606 First released 2016 2026 Replaces Mint, YNAB —
Why pick each one
Choose SHKeeper if… Released under the GPL-3.0 license Written in Python Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM SHKeeper details
Frequently asked questions Is Firefly III or SHKeeper 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 SHKeeper free and open-source? Yes. Firefly III is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SHKeeper under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Firefly III and SHKeeper with Docker? Firefly III: yes. SHKeeper: check the project docs for container support.