Actual
Local-first personal finance tool based on zero-sum budgeting, supporting synchronization across devices, custom rules, manual transaction importing (from QIF, OFX, and QFX files), and optional automatic synchronization with many banks.
Actual vs Firefly III
Two self-hosted Money, Budgeting & Management apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.
Side by side
| Actual | Firefly III | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Local-first personal finance tool based on zero-sum budgeting, supporting synchronization across devices, custom rules, manual transaction importing (from QIF, OFX, and QFX files), and optional automatic synchronization with many banks. | Modern financial manager. It helps you to keep track of your money and make budget forecasts. It supports credit cards, has an advanced rule engine and can import data from many banks. |
| GitHub stars | 29,978 | 25,075 |
| Forks | – | – |
| Open issues | – | – |
| Commits (12 months) | 1.4k | 2.7k |
| Last activity | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-26 |
| Latest release | v26.11.0 (2026-11-02) | develop-20261102 (2026-11-02) |
| Maintenance health | Active | Active |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language / platform | Nodejs, Docker | PHP, Docker |
| Docker Hub image | – | – |
| Docker pulls | – | – |
| Est. server size | ~1 GB, 1 vCPU | ~1 GB, 1 vCPU |
| Est. hosting from | $5/mo | $5/mo |
| Categories | Money, Budgeting & Management | Money, Budgeting & Management |
| Links | Website · Source | Website · Source |
What the numbers say
- Actual and Firefly III have a similar number of GitHub stars (30k vs 25.1k).
- Firefly III had more commits in the last 12 months (2,653 vs 1,436).
- Actual is licensed under MIT, Firefly III under AGPL-3.0. Actual's license is permissive; Firefly III's is copyleft (changes you distribute must stay open).
- Actual is written in Nodejs; Firefly III in PHP.
- Deployment options listed upstream: Actual: Docker; Firefly III: Docker.
Summary: Firefly III leads on commit activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.
This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.
Frequently asked questions
Is Actual or Firefly III more popular?
They are close: Actual has 29,978 GitHub stars and Firefly III has 25,075 (as of 2026-11-05).
Which is more actively maintained, Actual or Firefly III?
Firefly III had more commits over the last 12 months (2,653 vs 1,436). The last recorded activity was 2026-11-04 for Actual and 2026-10-26 for Firefly III. Releases in the past year: Actual 10+, Firefly III 10+. Our health labels: Actual is “Active”, Firefly III is “Active”.
What licenses do Actual and Firefly III use?
Actual: MIT. Firefly III: AGPL-3.0. Actual's license is permissive; Firefly III's is copyleft (changes you distribute must stay open).
Can I run Actual and Firefly III with Docker?
We did not detect a Docker Hub image for either app. The upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option for Actual and Firefly III. Check each project's documentation for install options.
Read more
Firefly III
Modern financial manager. It helps you to keep track of your money and make budget forecasts. It supports credit cards, has an advanced rule engine and can import data from many banks.
Browse all self-hosted Money, Budgeting & Management apps.