Alternatives / YNAB
Looking for an open source YNAB alternative? We compared 12 open source budgeting and personal finance apps by license, self-hosting, budgeting method, bank sync, and pricing. They range from envelope budgeting to net worth, investment tracking, and small business bookkeeping.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
| Alternative | Best for | License |
|---|---|---|
| Actual | Closest YNAB alternative: envelope budgeting | MIT |
| Firefly III | Double-entry personal finance | AGPL-3.0 |
| Sure | All-in-one finance tracking with AI | AGPL-3.0 |
| Maybe | Net worth tracking (archived) | AGPL-3.0 |
| Midday | Freelancer finances and invoicing | AGPL-3.0 (non-commercial) |
| Wealthfolio | Private investment tracking | AGPL-3.0 |
| Ghostfolio | Multi-asset portfolio oversight | AGPL-3.0 |
| ezBookkeeping | Detailed categories and receipts | MIT |
| Frappe Books | Desktop bookkeeping | AGPL-3.0 |
| Financial Freedom | Docker-based budgeting | GPL-3.0 |
| Monetr | Paycheck-based budgeting | FSL-1.1-MIT |
| YAFFA | Long-term planning and investments | MIT |
We looked for open-source apps that overlap with YNAB's core: budgeting, tracking spending, and planning ahead. We verified each project's license, recent activity, stars, and self-hosting in its GitHub repository. YNAB is a zero-based, envelope-style budgeting service, but few alternatives follow that method exactly, so we note which ones budget and which ones track net worth or investments. We also flag archived projects and licenses with commercial restrictions. See our methodology for the full criteria.
Actual is the closest, with envelope budgeting, bank sync, YNAB importers, multi-device sync, and optional end-to-end encryption. Monetr budgets around your paychecks, and YAFFA and Financial Freedom offer budgets with forecasting. Firefly III, ezBookkeeping, and Sure are broader personal finance trackers. Wealthfolio and Ghostfolio track investments, and Frappe Books and Midday target freelancers and small businesses.
The original Maybe Finance repository is no longer maintained, and its final release marks the end of the project. Sure is a community fork that continues the codebase under AGPL-3.0, with account, debt, and net worth tracking, budgeting, rules, and AI-powered queries.
Actual, ezBookkeeping, and YAFFA are MIT, Firefly III, Sure, Maybe, Wealthfolio, Ghostfolio, and Frappe Books are AGPL-3.0, and Financial Freedom is GPL-3.0. Midday is AGPL-3.0 for non-commercial use and requires a commercial license for commercial use. Monetr uses FSL-1.1-MIT, a Fair Source license.
Actual supports bank sync and imports from multiple formats, including YNAB. Firefly III provides a data import tool and rules engine, Financial Freedom imports CSV exports, and Midday connects to banks through providers. Bank connections often depend on third-party aggregators that may charge fees.
Maybe has been archived since July 2025 and Midday's last commit was in June 2026. Actual, Firefly III, Sure, Ghostfolio, ezBookkeeping, Wealthfolio, and Financial Freedom were updated within days or weeks of this update.
YNAB is a proprietary subscription budgeting app that stores your financial data on its servers. Open-source alternatives let you self-host or keep data on your own device, avoid subscriptions, import your YNAB history, and use APIs and automation, at the cost of fewer polished bank connections and mobile apps.
| Alternative | Type | License | Self-hosted | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maybe | Net worth tracker | AGPL-3.0 (archived) | Yes | Historic reference |
| Actual | Envelope budgeting | MIT | Yes | YNAB-style budgeting |
| Firefly III | Personal finance manager | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Accounting rigor |
| Midday | Freelancer finance | AGPL-3.0 (non-commercial) | Yes | Freelancers |
| Sure | Personal finance platform | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Tracking with AI |
| Wealthfolio | Investment tracker | AGPL-3.0 | Local app | Private investing |
| Ghostfolio | Wealth management | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Multi-asset portfolios |
| ezBookkeeping | Personal finance | MIT | Yes | Detailed categories |
| Frappe Books | Desktop accounting | AGPL-3.0 | Local app | Small businesses |
| Financial Freedom | Budgeting | GPL-3.0 | Yes | Docker users |
| Monetr | Paycheck budgeting | FSL-1.1-MIT | Yes | Regular paychecks |
| YAFFA | Personal finance | MIT | Yes | Long-term planning |
Want the closest YNAB alternative
Actual offers envelope budgeting, bank sync, YNAB importers, multi-device sync, optional end-to-end encryption, and an API, under the MIT license.
Want accounting-style personal finance
Firefly III uses double-entry bookkeeping with multi-currency support, a rule engine, a data import tool, and a REST API.
Want net worth and account tracking
Sure tracks accounts, debts, and net worth with budgets, smart rules, and AI queries, as a maintained fork of Maybe.
Want to track investments privately
Wealthfolio is a local-first desktop app for portfolios, performance, income, and goals.
Want multi-asset portfolio tracking
Ghostfolio tracks stocks, ETFs, and crypto with performance analysis and self-hosting.
Want detailed categories and receipt scanning
ezBookkeeping offers two-level accounts and categories, multi-currency, scheduled transactions, and AI receipt recognition.
Manage finances as a freelancer
Midday combines financial overview, time tracking, invoicing, and file storage, but commercial use needs a license.
Want paycheck-based budgeting
Monetr plans recurring bills, savings goals, and forecasts around your paychecks, under a Fair Source license.