Grisbi vs Money Manager Ex
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?
Grisbi
Lightweight personal accounting application
VS
Money Manager Ex
Free cross-platform personal finance manager
| Feature | Grisbi | Money Manager Ex |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 156 | ★ 2,243 |
| First released | 2000 | 2005 |
| Replaces | Quicken | Quicken, Mint |
Why pick each one
Choose Grisbi if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Grisbi or Money Manager Ex better?
Neither is universally better. Money Manager Ex has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Grisbi and Money Manager Ex free and open-source?
Yes. Grisbi is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Money Manager Ex under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Grisbi and Money Manager Ex with Docker?
Grisbi: check the project docs for container support. Money Manager Ex: check the project docs for container support.