Important: no real receipt capture
None of these tools offers Dext's OCR-based receipt and invoice extraction. YAFFA mentions receipt processing but at a basic level, so expect to enter or import data yourself.
Alternatives / Dext
8 open-source alternatives
8 Best Open Source Dext Alternatives in 2026
Looking for an open source Dext alternative? We compared 8 open source accounting and finance tools by license, scope, and maintenance. None is a receipt capture service like Dext, so they cover the invoicing and bookkeeping that Dext feeds into.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
Best Dext alternatives at a glance
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Akaunting | Accounting with a client portal | BSL 1.1 |
| Wealthfolio | Local investment tracker (not business) | AGPL-3.0 |
| Invoice Ninja | Invoicing with payments | Elastic License 2.0 |
| Crater | Invoicing app (unmaintained) | AGPL-3.0 |
| Bigcapital | Accounting with inventory and multi-currency | AGPL-3.0 |
| Frappe Books | Offline desktop accounting (archived) | AGPL-3.0 |
| Monetr | Paycheck-based budgeting (not business) | FSL-1.1-MIT |
| YAFFA | Self-hosted personal finance | MIT |
How we chose these Dext alternatives
We looked for open-source tools that handle small-business invoices, expenses, and bookkeeping. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its repository, and flag personal-finance tools that do not cover business accounting. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Business accounting
Akaunting is self-hostable accounting with invoicing, expenses, cash flow, and a client portal. Invoice Ninja handles invoices, online payments, and expenses with many integrations, and Bigcapital is accounting software with multi-currency and inventory. Frappe Books is an offline desktop accounting app.
Personal finance tools
Wealthfolio tracks investments locally, Monetr is a paycheck-based budgeting tool, and YAFFA is a self-hosted personal finance app. They are not business accounting tools.
Important: licenses and maintenance
Akaunting uses the Business Source License 1.1 and Invoice Ninja uses the Elastic License 2.0. Monetr uses FSL-1.1-MIT, which is source available. Frappe Books is archived, and Crater's last commit was in August 2024, so we do not recommend it here.
License details
Wealthfolio and Bigcapital are AGPL-3.0, Frappe Books is AGPL-3.0, and YAFFA is MIT.
Maintenance status
Akaunting, Invoice Ninja, Bigcapital, Wealthfolio, Monetr, and YAFFA had commits within weeks of this update.
Why look for a Dext alternative?
Dext is a proprietary subscription service that extracts data from receipts and invoices and sends it to your accounting software. Open-source tools keep financial data on your own infrastructure, but automatic receipt extraction is mostly missing.
invoiceninja.com
Invoice Ninja is invoicing software with customizable templates, recurring invoices, payment reminders, client portals, expense and vendor management, time tracking, and e-signing. It runs as a hosted service or self-hosted, with desktop and mobile apps. The source is available under the Elastic License 2.0, which forbids offering it as a hosted service.
10.3K2.8KElastic License 2.0Self-hosted
Pricing: Free self-hosted with all Pro and Enterprise features in the source; optional white-label license from $40 per year; hosted plans are paid.
- Full invoicing with payments, expenses, and time tracking
- Web, desktop, and mobile apps
- Self-hosting includes all features
- Source available, not OSI-approved open source
- Invoicing-focused rather than full double-entry accounting
akaunting.com
Akaunting is accounting software covering invoicing, expense tracking, cash flow, a client portal, and transaction management, available in 50+ languages. It is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1, which converts to GPLv3 after four years and limits free production use.
10.2K3KBSL 1.1Self-hosted
Pricing: Free for up to two users, one company, and 1,000 invoices; paid on-premise and cloud plans beyond that.
- Invoicing, expenses, cash flow, and client portal
- 50+ languages and an app ecosystem
- Active development
- Source available with usage limits, not standard open source
- No white-labeling or offering it as an accounting service without a license
wealthfolio.app
Wealthfolio is a local-first desktop app for tracking investment portfolios, accounts, income, performance, and goals, with contribution limit monitoring. Manual tracking and CSV import are free, and an optional paid Wealthfolio Connect service provides account connections.
9.2K765AGPL-3.0Local app
Pricing: Free and open source; optional paid Wealthfolio Connect.
- Local-first with data privacy
- Portfolio, income, and performance tracking
- macOS, Windows, and Linux
- Investment tracking, not business accounting
- Account connections need the paid Connect service
craterapp.com
Crater is an AGPL-3.0 web and mobile app for tracking expenses and payments and creating professional invoices and estimates, built with Laravel and Vue. The repository has had no commits since August 2024.
8.4K1.7KAGPL-3.0Self-hosted
Pricing: Free and open source.
- Invoices, estimates, expenses, and payments
- Web and mobile apps
- AGPL-3.0 license
- No commits since August 2024
- Not a full accounting system
frappe.io
Frappe Books is a desktop accounting and bookkeeping app for small businesses and freelancers, with invoicing, customizable HTML templates, fuzzy search, financial reports, and a local SQLite database.
5K1.2KAGPL-3.0Local app
Pricing: Free and open source.
- Local data storage with no subscription
- Invoicing and financial reports
- Actively maintained
- Desktop only, with no cloud collaboration
- Fewer integrations than QuickBooks
bigcapital.app
Bigcapital is accounting software for bookkeeping, real-time reports, multi-currency transactions, inventory management, expense tracking, and customizable invoicing with collaboration features. It is open source under AGPL, can be self-hosted with Docker, and has a hosted Bigcapital Cloud.
4K547AGPL-3.0Self-hosted
Pricing: Free self-hosted; paid hosted cloud plans.
- Bookkeeping, multi-currency, and inventory
- Self-hosting with Docker
- Collaboration and real-time reports
- Smaller ecosystem than QuickBooks
- Self-hosting requires maintenance
monetr.app
Personal finance application for tracking spending, categorizing expenses, planning recurring bills, forecasting balances, and allocating money around upcoming costs and savings goals. It is closer to YNAB than a group expense splitter. Current releases use FSL-1.1-MIT, a Fair Source license rather than standard open source; some banking features depend on external providers such as Plaid.
68747FSL-1.1-MITSelf-hosted
Pricing: Self-hostable source-available project; banking integrations may rely on external providers.
- Recurring bill planning, spending categories, and savings goals
- Financial forecasting and paycheck-oriented budgeting
- Self-hostable with active development and modern Go/TypeScript stack
- Not a direct Splitwise replacement and lacks group debt settlement
- Focused on personal finance rather than shared expenses
- Fair Source license and some banking features depend on third parties
yaffa.cc
YAFFA is a personal finance web application focused on long-term financial planning, with expense tracking, budgets, investment monitoring, transaction categorization, analytics, forecasting, and automated receipt processing.
11211MITSelf-hosted
Pricing: Free and open source.
- Budgets, investments, and forecasting
- Self-hosted with no subscription
- MIT license
- Personal finance, not business accounting
- Small community
Compare Dext alternatives
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Akaunting | Accounting | BSL 1.1 | Yes | Small businesses |
| Wealthfolio | Personal finance | AGPL-3.0 | Local | Investors |
| Invoice Ninja | Invoicing | Elastic License 2.0 | Yes | Freelancers |
| Crater | Invoicing | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Not recommended |
| Bigcapital | Accounting | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Bookkeeping |
| Frappe Books | Desktop accounting | AGPL-3.0 (archived) | Local | Not recommended |
| Monetr | Personal finance | FSL-1.1-MIT (source available) | Yes | Personal budgets |
| YAFFA | Personal finance | MIT | Yes | Personal budgets |
Which one should you choose?
Want self-hosted business accounting
Akaunting covers invoicing, expenses, and cash flow under the Business Source License.
Want invoices with online payments
Invoice Ninja supports many payment gateways, under the Elastic License 2.0.
Want accounting with inventory
Bigcapital is AGPL-3.0 with multi-currency transactions and inventory.