Ghostfolio vs GnuCash

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?
FeatureGhostfolioGnuCash
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptC
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 9,090★ 4,317
First released20211998
ReplacesPersonal Capital, SharesightQuicken, QuickBooks

Why pick each one

Choose Ghostfolio if…

  • Clean, focused dashboard
  • Supports many asset classes
Ghostfolio details

Choose GnuCash if…

  • Mature and stable
  • Cross-platform desktop app
GnuCash details

Frequently asked questions

Is Ghostfolio or GnuCash better?

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

Are Ghostfolio and GnuCash free and open-source?

Yes. Ghostfolio is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and GnuCash under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Ghostfolio and GnuCash with Docker?

Ghostfolio: yes. GnuCash: check the project docs for container support.

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