Firefly III
Free, self-hosted personal finance manager with double-entry accounts, budgets and rules.
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About Firefly III
Firefly III is an open-source personal finance manager you run on your own server, typically with Docker. It tracks money with double-entry bookkeeping behind the scenes, so every transaction moves between accounts such as your bank, credit cards and expense categories, and it adds budgets, bills, piggy banks for savings goals, tags and reports on top. A rule engine can categorise transactions automatically as they arrive. Bank data is brought in through a separate Data Importer that reads CSV files or connects to supported bank-data providers, and a REST API lets you script your own imports or build dashboards. Because it is self-hosted and free under the AGPL, your financial data never sits with a vendor, but you take on the setup and upkeep. Access is through a web browser, with third-party mobile apps available. It suits privacy-minded people and tinkerers who want detailed control over their finances.
Best for: Privacy-minded people comfortable self-hosting who want detailed, rule-driven money tracking.
Pros and cons
What works
- Free and open source, with data kept on your own server
- Double-entry accounts plus budgets, bills and savings goals
- Rules categorise transactions automatically
- REST API and a separate data importer for CSV and bank feeds
Why people leave
- You must host, update and back it up yourself
- No official mobile app
- More complex to learn than envelope-style budgeting apps
Top Firefly III alternatives
See all 5- 1
Actual Budget79.4Also free and self-hostable, but simpler envelope budgeting with a fast local-first app.
- 2
YNAB76.8Paid hosted envelope budgeting with bank sync and polished mobile apps, no hosting needed.
- 3
Monarch Money66.0Hosted all-in-one tracker with bank sync, investments and shared household access.
- 4
Lunch Money62.5Hosted, developer-friendly budgeting with rules and an API, without maintaining a server.
- 5
GnuCash54.4Free double-entry accounting on the desktop, with no server to run.
Why people left Firefly III
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Firefly III: common questions
Is Firefly III free?
Yes. Firefly III is free, open-source software.
Is Firefly III open source?
No, Firefly III is not open source. Open-source alternatives include Actual Budget and GnuCash.
What platforms does Firefly III run on?
Firefly III is available for Web and Self-hosted.
What are the best alternatives to Firefly III?
The highest-ranked Firefly III alternatives right now are Actual Budget, YNAB and Monarch Money. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.