Beancount vs Bigcapital
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — 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
Bigcapital
Open-source accounting and financial management
| Feature | Beancount | Bigcapital |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Budgeting & Finance | CRM & Business Apps |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,881 | ★ 3,821 |
| First released | 2008 | 2022 |
| Replaces | QuickBooks, Xero | QuickBooks, Xero |
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 Bigcapital if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Beancount or Bigcapital better?
Neither is universally better. Beancount has the larger community, while Bigcapital is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Beancount and Bigcapital free and open-source?
Yes. Beancount is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Bigcapital under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Beancount and Bigcapital with Docker?
Beancount: check the project docs for container support. Bigcapital: yes.