Budget Zero vs Sure
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 | Sure |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 62 · Good | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Vue | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 655 | ★ 10,024 |
| First released | 2019 | 2025 |
| Replaces | YNAB, Mint | Mint, Quicken |
What are Budget Zero and Sure?
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
Sure
Sure is a self-hosted personal finance application maintained by the community as a continuation of an archived finance project. It tracks accounts, transactions, budgets, and net worth in a single dashboard.
- Accounts and transaction tracking
- Budgets and net worth view
- Community-maintained
- Self-hosted with Docker
Budget Zero vs Sure: key differences
Budget Zero is written in Vue, while Sure is built with Ruby. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Budget Zero versus AGPL-3.0 for Sure. Budget Zero is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Sure. Budget Zero is the more established project (first released 2019), while Sure arrived in 2025. Sure has the considerably larger community, at 10,024 GitHub stars versus 655. Sure 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 Sure if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 10k GitHub stars
- Written in Ruby
Frequently asked questions
Is Budget Zero or Sure better?
Neither is universally better. Sure 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 Sure free and open-source?
Yes. Budget Zero is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Sure under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Budget Zero and Sure with Docker?
Budget Zero: check the project docs for container support. Sure: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Budget Zero or Sure?
Budget Zero has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Sure. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.