Actual Budget vs Maybe: Self-Hosted Finance Apps

Want a self-hosted finance app that actively gets better? Actual Budget is the only serious choice between these two. Maybe showed promise as a modern portfolio tracker, but development stopped in mid-2025 and the project is no longer maintained.

Overview

Actual Budget is an envelope budgeting app — you assign every dollar a purpose, track spending against categories, and sync across devices. It started as a paid SaaS product, went open source in 2022, and now has an active community maintaining it. The sync server is lightweight and the web app works offline.

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

Maybe was a modern personal finance tracker that aimed to combine budgeting, investment tracking, and net worth monitoring in one app. Built with Ruby on Rails by a funded startup, it was open-sourced after the company shut down. The last release (v0.6.0) shipped in July 2025, and the repository is now archived.

Feature	Actual Budget	Maybe
Primary focus	Envelope budgeting	Portfolio + net worth tracking
Docker image	actualbudget/actual-server:26.3.0	ghcr.io/maybe-finance/maybe:0.6.0
Language	Node.js	Ruby on Rails
License	MIT	AGPL-3.0
Actively maintained	Yes (weekly updates)	No (archived July 2025)
Database	SQLite (built-in)	PostgreSQL
Bank syncing	GoCardless (EU), SimpleFIN (US)	None in self-hosted version
Offline support	Yes (local-first architecture)	No
Multi-device sync	Yes (via sync server)	Yes (web app)
Investment tracking	No	Yes
RAM usage	~50-80 MB	~300-500 MB
Mobile app	PWA (installable)	Responsive web only
Import formats	OFX, QFX, QIF, CSV	CSV

Installation Complexity

Actual Budget

One container, no external database needed. SQLite handles everything:

services:
  actual-budget:
    image: actualbudget/actual-server:26.3.0
    container_name: actual-budget
    ports:
      - "5006:5006"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data
    restart: unless-stopped

Start it, open the web UI, create a budget file. Working in under 60 seconds.

Maybe

Requires PostgreSQL and more configuration:

services:
  maybe:
    image: ghcr.io/maybe-finance/maybe:0.6.0
    container_name: maybe
    environment:
      - RAILS_ENV=production
      - SECRET_KEY_BASE=generate-a-64-char-hex-string-here
      - DB_HOST=maybe-db
      - DB_PORT=5432
      - DB_NAME=maybe
      - DB_USERNAME=maybe
      - DB_PASSWORD=changeme-maybe-db-pass
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    depends_on:
      - maybe-db
    restart: unless-stopped

  maybe-db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    container_name: maybe-db
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_DB=maybe
      - POSTGRES_USER=maybe
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=changeme-maybe-db-pass
    volumes:
      - ./db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    restart: unless-stopped

Default credentials: [email protected] / password. Functional, but expect no bug fixes or security patches going forward.

Performance and Resource Usage

Metric	Actual Budget	Maybe
Docker image size	~150 MB	~500 MB
RAM (idle)	~50 MB	~300 MB
RAM (under load)	~80 MB	~500 MB
CPU	Negligible	Low-medium (Rails)
Database	SQLite (no extra container)	PostgreSQL (separate container)
Startup time	~3 seconds	~15-20 seconds
Minimum server	256 MB RAM	1 GB RAM

Actual Budget is dramatically lighter. Its local-first architecture means the sync server does minimal work — the heavy lifting happens in the browser’s IndexedDB.

The Maintenance Problem

This is the decisive factor. Actual Budget has:

• Weekly releases with bug fixes and features
• Active GitHub community (500+ contributors)
• Regular security updates
• New bank connection integrations being added
• Responsive issue tracker

Maybe has:

• No updates since July 2025
• Repository archived on GitHub
• Known bugs will never be fixed
• No security patches
• Dependencies will gradually become vulnerable

Running unmaintained software on your network with access to financial data is a risk that compounds over time.

Use Cases

Choose Actual Budget If…

• You want envelope-style budgeting (the YNAB methodology)
• Long-term maintenance and security updates matter
• You want bank syncing (GoCardless for European banks, SimpleFIN for US)
• You need offline access and mobile PWA support
• You want the lightest possible deployment

Choose Maybe If…

• You specifically want net worth and investment portfolio tracking
• You understand the risks of running unmaintained software
• You’re willing to fork and maintain it yourself
• You need a starting point for a custom finance app (Rails codebase)

Final Verdict

The practical choice is Actual Budget because it’s actively maintained, lighter on resources, and more mature for day-to-day budgeting. Maybe’s investment tracking features are genuinely useful, but a project that stopped receiving updates — including security patches — isn’t something you should run long-term with access to sensitive financial data. For investment tracking, consider Ghostfolio alongside Actual Budget instead.

FAQ

Can Actual Budget track investments?

No. Actual Budget is focused on envelope budgeting and expense tracking. For investment portfolio tracking, pair it with Ghostfolio.

Is Maybe safe to run if it’s unmaintained?

The code works, but dependencies won’t receive security patches. If you isolate it on a private network and accept the risk, it functions. Don’t expose it to the internet without a reverse proxy and network segmentation.

Can I import data from Maybe into Actual Budget?

Not directly. You’d need to export from Maybe as CSV, then reformat the CSV to match Actual Budget’s import expectations. The data models are different — Maybe tracks net worth and assets, while Actual Budget tracks income and expenses by category.

Related

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