Budget Zero vs Paisa
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted budgeting & finance options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Budget Zero | Paisa |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 88 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Vue | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 655 | ★ 3,217 |
| First released | 2019 | 2022 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | Mint, Personal Capital |
What are Budget Zero and Paisa?
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
Paisa
Paisa is an open-source personal finance manager built on top of the Ledger plain-text accounting format. It provides budgeting, net worth tracking, retirement planning, and rich visualizations.
- Built on Ledger format
- Net worth and retirement planning
- Rich interactive charts
- Goal tracking
Budget Zero vs Paisa: key differences
Budget Zero is written in Vue, while Paisa is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Budget Zero versus AGPL-3.0 for Paisa. Budget Zero is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Paisa. Budget Zero is the more established project (first released 2019), while Paisa arrived in 2022. Paisa has the considerably larger community, at 3,217 GitHub stars versus 655. Paisa lists first-class Docker deployment; Budget Zero does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Budget Zero if…
- Works fully offline
- Simple budgeting workflow
Watch out for
- Small project
- Limited reporting
Choose Paisa if…
- Beautiful visualizations
- Plain-text portable data
Watch out for
- Requires Ledger knowledge
- Single-user focused
Frequently asked questions
Is Budget Zero or Paisa better?
Neither is universally better. Paisa 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 Budget Zero and Paisa free and open-source?
Yes. Budget Zero is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Paisa under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Budget Zero and Paisa with Docker?
Budget Zero: check the project docs for container support. Paisa: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Budget Zero or Paisa?
Budget Zero has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Paisa. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.