Kresus vs Budget Zero
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Kresus | Budget Zero |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 800 | ★ 655 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Mint, Bankin | YNAB, Mint |
What are Kresus and Budget Zero?
Kresus
Kresus is a free, open-source personal finance manager that aggregates your bank accounts and helps you track expenses and budgets. It uses the Woob library to import banking data automatically.
- Automatic bank data import
- Expense categorization
- Budget and chart views
- Alerts on balances
Budget Zero
Budgetzero is an open-source, offline-first envelope budgeting application. It works entirely in the browser with local storage and optional CouchDB sync for multi-device budgeting.
- Envelope budgeting
- Offline-first browser app
- Optional CouchDB sync
- Import from YNAB
Kresus vs Budget Zero: key differences
Kresus is written in JavaScript, while Budget Zero is built with Vue. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Kresus versus GPL-3.0 for Budget Zero. Budget Zero is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Kresus. Kresus is the more established project (first released 2015), while Budget Zero arrived in 2019. Kresus lists first-class Docker deployment; Budget Zero does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Kresus if…
- Hands-off bank syncing in supported regions
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Bank support varies by country
- Sparse documentation
Choose Budget Zero if…
- Works fully offline
- Simple budgeting workflow
Watch out for
- Small project
- Limited reporting
Frequently asked questions
Is Kresus or Budget Zero better?
Neither is universally better. Kresus has the larger community, while Budget Zero is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kresus and Budget Zero free and open-source?
Yes. Kresus is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Budget Zero under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kresus and Budget Zero with Docker?
Kresus: yes. Budget Zero: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Kresus or Budget Zero?
Budget Zero has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Kresus. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.