Actual Budget vs Firefly III: Budget Apps Compared

Unlike most self-hosted app comparisons where one tool clearly dominates, Actual Budget and Firefly III solve personal finance from completely different angles. Actual Budget is an envelope budgeting tool — it tells you what you can spend. Firefly III is a financial manager — it tells you where your money went. Choosing between them depends entirely on how you think about money.

Quick Verdict

For budgeting (planning future spending), choose Actual Budget. Its envelope system gives every dollar a job and syncs across devices in real time. For financial tracking and reporting (understanding past spending), choose Firefly III. Its double-entry accounting, rule-based categorization, and reporting engine are far more powerful. Many self-hosters run both.

Updated March 2026: Verified with latest Docker images and configurations.

Overview

Actual Budget started as a commercial SaaS product before being open-sourced in 2022. It implements zero-based envelope budgeting (similar to YNAB) where you allocate income to spending categories before you spend it. The sync server lets you access your budget from any device with real-time updates. It uses SQLite for storage, needs no external database, and is one of the simplest self-hosted apps to deploy.

Firefly III is a full personal finance manager built on Laravel (PHP). It uses double-entry bookkeeping to track every transaction across all your accounts — bank accounts, credit cards, loans, assets. It includes automated transaction rules, recurring transactions, budgets, piggy banks (savings goals), and detailed reports. It connects to European banks via GoCardless for automatic imports.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Actual Budget 26.3	Firefly III 6.5.3
Methodology	Zero-based envelope budgeting	Double-entry bookkeeping
Transaction import	CSV, OFX, QFX, bank sync (SimpleFIN/GoCardless)	CSV, camt.xml, GoCardless (EU banks)
Multi-device sync	Yes (built-in sync server)	Yes (web-based, any browser)
Mobile app	Progressive Web App	Progressive Web App
Multi-currency	Yes	Yes (with exchange rates)
Recurring transactions	Yes	Yes
Budgets	Envelope-based (core feature)	Traditional budgets (secondary)
Savings goals	Envelope funding	Piggy banks
Reports/charts	Basic (spending trends)	Detailed (income/expense, net worth, category breakdowns)
Automated rules	Basic transaction rules	Powerful rule engine (regex, multi-condition)
API	REST API	Full REST API
Docker dependencies	None (SQLite embedded)	MariaDB/PostgreSQL + cron container
Docker services	1	3 (app + database + cron)
Minimum RAM	~50-100 MB	~200-400 MB
License	MIT	AGPL-3.0

Installation Complexity

Actual Budget is one of the simplest self-hosted apps to deploy — a single container with an embedded SQLite database. No external services required.

Actual Budget Docker Compose

services:
  actual:
    image: actualbudget/actual-server:26.3.0
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "5006:5006"
    volumes:
      - actual_data:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "node src/scripts/health-check.js"]
      interval: 60s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 20s

volumes:
  actual_data:

Start it with docker compose up -d, open http://your-server:5006, and set a password. That’s the entire setup.

Firefly III Docker Compose

Firefly III needs a database server and a separate cron container for scheduled tasks.

services:
  app:
    image: fireflyiii/core:version-6.5.4
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    volumes:
      - firefly_upload:/var/www/html/storage/upload
    env_file: .env
    depends_on:
      db:
        condition: service_healthy
    networks:
      - firefly

  db:
    image: mariadb:11.8.6
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - firefly_db:/var/lib/mysql
    environment:
      MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: "yes"
      MYSQL_USER: firefly
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: CHANGE_THIS_DB_PASSWORD       # Must match DB_PASSWORD in .env
      MYSQL_DATABASE: firefly
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "healthcheck.sh --su-mysql --connect --innodb_initialized"]
      interval: 10s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 5
    networks:
      - firefly

  cron:
    image: alpine
    restart: unless-stopped
    command: >
      sh -c "echo '0 3 * * * wget -qO- http://app:8080/api/v1/cron/CHANGE_THIS_CRON_TOKEN' | crontab - && crond -f -L /dev/stdout"
    depends_on:
      - app
    networks:
      - firefly

volumes:
  firefly_upload:
  firefly_db:

networks:
  firefly:
    driver: bridge

Create a .env file:

# Firefly III configuration
APP_KEY=CHANGE_THIS_32_CHAR_RANDOM_STRING   # Exactly 32 characters, required
APP_URL=http://localhost:8080
SITE_OWNER=[email protected]
TZ=America/New_York

# Database
DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=db
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=firefly
DB_USERNAME=firefly
DB_PASSWORD=CHANGE_THIS_DB_PASSWORD          # Must match MYSQL_PASSWORD above

# Cron
STATIC_CRON_TOKEN=CHANGE_THIS_CRON_TOKEN     # Exactly 32 chars

# Locale
DEFAULT_LANGUAGE=en_US
TRUSTED_PROXIES=**

Firefly III requires more initial configuration — the APP_KEY must be exactly 32 characters, database passwords must match between the app and database containers, and the cron token needs to be set in two places. Not difficult, but more error-prone than Actual Budget’s zero-config approach.

Performance and Resource Usage

Resource	Actual Budget	Firefly III
RAM (idle)	~50-80 MB	~200-350 MB
RAM (active use)	~80-150 MB	~300-500 MB
CPU (idle)	Negligible	Low
Disk (application)	~100 MB	~500 MB
Disk (data, typical)	~5-50 MB	~100 MB-1 GB
Startup time	~2 seconds	~10-15 seconds
Docker services	1	3

Actual Budget is remarkably lightweight — SQLite storage and a Node.js server mean it runs comfortably on a Raspberry Pi. Firefly III’s Laravel stack plus MariaDB is still modest by self-hosted app standards, but it’s roughly 4-5x heavier than Actual Budget.

Community and Support

Aspect	Actual Budget	Firefly III
GitHub stars	~16,000+	~18,000+
Contributors	300+	200+
Release cadence	Weekly	Monthly
Documentation	Good (docs.actualbudget.org)	Excellent (firefly-iii.org/docs)
Mobile experience	PWA (works well offline)	PWA (requires connection)
Active development	Very active (daily commits)	Very active
Plugin ecosystem	Limited	Some community tools

Both have active communities and responsive maintainers. Firefly III’s documentation is more comprehensive, covering every feature in detail. Actual Budget’s docs focus on getting started and budgeting methodology.

Use Cases

Choose Actual Budget If…

• You follow envelope/zero-based budgeting (like YNAB)
• You want real-time sync across multiple devices
• Budget planning (what you can spend) matters more than tracking (what you did spend)
• You want the simplest possible deployment (one container, no database)
• You’re running on low-spec hardware (Raspberry Pi, old laptop)
• You want offline support (PWA works without connection)

Choose Firefly III If…

• You want detailed financial reports and net worth tracking
• Automated transaction categorization with rules is important
• You manage multiple accounts (banks, credit cards, investments, loans)
• You want European bank imports via GoCardless
• Double-entry bookkeeping appeals to you
• You need multi-user support (Firefly III supports multiple users)

Final Verdict

The practical choice is Actual Budget if your primary goal is budgeting — telling your money where to go before you spend it. Its envelope system is polished, sync works seamlessly, and the one-container deployment means near-zero maintenance.

If you need a comprehensive financial manager that tracks every account, generates detailed reports, and automatically categorizes transactions, Firefly III is the right tool. It’s more work to set up and maintain, but it provides a much deeper view of your finances.

The tools complement each other well. Some self-hosters use Actual Budget for monthly budget planning and Firefly III for historical financial analysis and reporting.

FAQ

Can I import YNAB data into Actual Budget?

Yes. Actual Budget has a built-in YNAB4 importer. For nYNAB (the current subscription version), you can export to CSV and import that way. The envelope budgeting model translates directly.

Does Firefly III support bank sync?

Firefly III supports automated imports from European banks via GoCardless (formerly Nordigen). US bank sync is not built in — you can use the Data Importer companion app with CSV exports or third-party services like SimpleFIN.

Can Firefly III do envelope budgeting?

Firefly III has a budgeting feature, but it’s a traditional “set a spending limit per category” model, not zero-based envelope budgeting. You can approximate envelopes using piggy banks and budgets together, but it’s not the same workflow as Actual Budget or YNAB.

Related

• How to Self-Host Actual Budget
• How to Self-Host Firefly III
• Actual Budget vs YNAB
• Best Self-Hosted Personal Finance
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to YNAB
• Self-Hosted Alternatives to Mint
• Docker Compose Basics