hledger-web vs Bigcapital
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
hledger-web
Web interface for hledger plain-text accounting
VS
Bigcapital
Open-source accounting and financial management
| Feature | hledger-web | Bigcapital |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | CRM & Business Apps |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Haskell | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,620 | ★ 3,821 |
| First released | 2010 | 2022 |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, Quicken | QuickBooks, Xero |
Why pick each one
Choose Bigcapital if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is hledger-web or Bigcapital better?
Neither is universally better. hledger-web has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are hledger-web and Bigcapital free and open-source?
Yes. hledger-web is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Bigcapital under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run hledger-web and Bigcapital with Docker?
hledger-web: check the project docs for container support. Bigcapital: yes.