hledger-web vs Invoice Ninja

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?
Featurehledger-webInvoice Ninja
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseGPL-3.0Elastic-2.0
LanguageHaskellPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 4,620★ 9,979
First released20102014
ReplacesQuickBooks, QuickenFreshBooks, QuickBooks

Why pick each one

Choose hledger-web if…

  • No database needed
  • Data is plain text and portable
hledger-web details

Choose Invoice Ninja if…

  • Comprehensive billing features
  • Many payment gateway integrations
Invoice Ninja details

Frequently asked questions

Is hledger-web or Invoice Ninja better?

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

Are hledger-web and Invoice Ninja free and open-source?

Yes. hledger-web is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Invoice Ninja under Elastic-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run hledger-web and Invoice Ninja with Docker?

hledger-web: check the project docs for container support. Invoice Ninja: yes.

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