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.

Not the right match-up?
Featurehledger-webMoney Manager Ex
CategoryBudgeting & FinanceBudgeting & Finance
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageHaskellC++
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 4,620★ 2,243
First released20102005
ReplacesQuickBooks, QuickenQuicken, Mint

Why pick each one

Choose hledger-web if…

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

Choose Money Manager Ex if…

  • Simple and approachable
  • Portable data file
Money Manager Ex details

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.

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