Invoice Ninja vs OpenBudgeteer
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?
Invoice Ninja
Open-source invoicing and billing platform
VS
OpenBudgeteer
Budgeting app based on the Bucket Budgeting Principle
| Feature | Invoice Ninja | OpenBudgeteer |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | Elastic-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,979 | ★ 967 |
| First released | 2014 | 2025 |
| Replaces | FreshBooks, QuickBooks | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Invoice Ninja if…
- Comprehensive billing features
- Many payment gateway integrations
Choose OpenBudgeteer if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in C#
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Invoice Ninja or OpenBudgeteer 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 Invoice Ninja and OpenBudgeteer free and open-source?
Yes. Invoice Ninja is licensed under Elastic-2.0 and OpenBudgeteer under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Invoice Ninja and OpenBudgeteer with Docker?
Invoice Ninja: yes. OpenBudgeteer: yes.