hledger-web 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.
| Feature | hledger-web | Money Manager Ex |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Haskell | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,730 | ★ 2,265 |
| First released | 2010 | 2005 |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, Quicken | Quicken, Mint |
What are hledger-web and Money Manager Ex?
hledger-web
hledger-web is the web interface for hledger, a robust plain-text, double-entry accounting tool. It allows browsing, adding, and reporting on transactions stored in plain-text journal files.
- Plain-text journal files
- Add and edit transactions in browser
- Balance and register reports
- Fast Haskell core
Money Manager Ex
Money Manager Ex is a free, open-source personal finance application. It tracks accounts, transactions, budgets, and investments in a simple desktop interface backed by an SQLite database.
- Account and budget tracking
- Investment management
- Reports and charts
- SQLite-backed database
hledger-web vs Money Manager Ex: key differences
Hledger-web is written in Haskell, while Money Manager Ex is built with C++. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for hledger-web versus GPL-2.0 for Money Manager Ex. Money Manager Ex is the more established project (first released 2005), while hledger-web arrived in 2010. Hledger-web has the considerably larger community, at 4,730 GitHub stars versus 2,265.
Why pick each one
Choose hledger-web if…
- No database needed
- Data is plain text and portable
Watch out for
- CLI knowledge helps
- Minimal UI
Choose Money Manager Ex if…
- Simple and approachable
- Portable data file
Watch out for
- Desktop only
- No multi-user support
Frequently asked questions
Is hledger-web or Money Manager Ex better?
Neither is universally better. hledger-web has the larger community, while Money Manager Ex is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are hledger-web and Money Manager Ex free and open-source?
Yes. hledger-web is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Money Manager Ex under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run hledger-web and Money Manager Ex with Docker?
hledger-web: check the project docs for container support. Money Manager Ex: check the project docs for container support.