Beancount vs Rotki
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?
Beancount
Double-entry bookkeeping in plain text with a query language
VS
Rotki
Privacy-focused portfolio and crypto accounting tool
| Feature | Beancount | Rotki |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | Budgeting & Finance |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,881 | ★ 3,968 |
| First released | 2008 | 2018 |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, Xero | CoinTracker, Koinly |
Why pick each one
Choose Beancount if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Mature project with 5.9k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Rotki if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Beancount or Rotki better?
Neither is universally better. Beancount has the larger community, while Rotki is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Beancount and Rotki free and open-source?
Yes. Beancount is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Rotki under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Beancount and Rotki with Docker?
Beancount: check the project docs for container support. Rotki: yes.