# Alternatives to Actual Budget

Open source local-first budgeting.

Actual Budget ranks #4 of 14 in Budgeting apps, with an Alt Score of 78. It is licensed under MIT, free and available on Windows, macOS, Linux and Web. 10 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/actual-budget/
Category: Budgeting apps

## Where Actual Budget stands out

- **Envelope / zero-based budgeting** — 5 of 13 apps with a verified answer have this
- **Local-only data option** — 5 of 10 apps with a verified answer have this

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: People who want full ownership of their financial data and prefer a self-hosted or local-first alternative to cloud budgeting apps like YNAB — DIY and privacy-minded budgeters comfortable managing their own server or desktop install.
- **What you get**: An envelope-style, zero-based budgeting app where every dollar is assigned a job. It supports multi-device sync (with optional end-to-end encryption), bank connections via GoCardless and SimpleFIN, and transaction import from OFX, QFX, QIF, CSV, and CAMT.053 files. Custom reports and net worth tracking help track spending over time. It's open source and can run entirely on your own hardware.
- **How it works**: You create budget categories and assign your available money to them, then import or sync transactions from your bank (or enter them manually) and categorize each one. Spending draws down the assigned category balance rather than a projected income total, and unspent funds roll over to the next month.

## Profile

- **License**: MIT (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, Web
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Lunch Money](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lunch-money.md) | 86 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 2 | [Quicken](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/quicken.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 3 | [Simplifi](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/simplifi.md) | 82 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 4 | [YNAB](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ynab.md) | 73 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 5 | [GnuCash](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/gnucash.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 6 | [KMyMoney](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/kmymoney.md) | 68 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 7 | [PocketGuard](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pocketguard.md) | 68 | Proprietary | ? |
| 8 | [Goodbudget](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/goodbudget.md) | 64 | Proprietary | iOS, Android, Web |
| 9 | [Monarch Money](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/monarch-money.md) | 64 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 10 | [Copilot Money](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/copilot-money.md) | 60 | Proprietary | macOS, iOS, Web |
| 11 | [EveryDollar](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/everydollar.md) | 60 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android |
| 12 | [Firefly III](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/firefly-iii.md) | 60 | AGPL-3.0 | Web |
| 13 | [HomeBank](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/homebank.md) | 60 | GPL-2.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Budgeting apps checklist | Actual Budget | Lunch Money | Quicken | Simplifi | YNAB | GnuCash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Free |
| Starts at | ? | $100/year | $3.49/month | $2.99/month | $109/year | ? |
| License | MIT | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, Web | Web, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Bank sync (regions) | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Manual entry mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Envelope / zero-based budgeting | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Investment tracking | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Multi-currency | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Shared budgets | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Reports & net worth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CSV import | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Local-only data option | Yes | ? | Partial | No | ? | Yes |
| Subscription price | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |

## Sources

Sources for Actual Budget. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **License**: MIT — <https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/blob/master/LICENSE.txt> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Copyright James Long ... Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://github.com/actualbudget/actual> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “A local-first personal finance app”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux, Web — <https://actualbudget.org/download/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Actual has two parts, the client and a sync server”
- **Status**: active — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/releases/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “26.7.0”
- **Bank sync (regions)**: Partial — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/advanced/bank-sync/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Akahu (New Zealand Banks) ... Enable Banking (European Banks) ... SimpleFIN Bridge (North American Banks) ... Pluggy.ai (Brazilian Banks)”
- **Manual entry mode**: Yes — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/tour/accounts/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Manually add transactions by clicking on Add New.”
- **Envelope / zero-based budgeting**: Yes — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/getting-started/envelope-budgeting/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Envelope budgeting is a time-tested method of managing money. Traditionally, people would divide their physical cash into different physical envelopes, each representing a specific expense category li”
- **Investment tracking**: Partial — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/accounts/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Off budget accounts don't affect the budget and are meant to track stuff like investments and mortgages. Transactions in off budget accounts can't be categorized; they simply track balances over time.”
- **Multi-currency**: Partial — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/budgeting/multi-currency/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The Actual Budget software is currency agnostic and does not support multi-currency.”
- **Shared budgets**: Yes — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/config/multi-user/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Users with the Basic role can create new budgets and collaborate on budgets made by others.”
- **Reports & net worth**: Yes — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/tour/reports/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Net worth represents the overall balance of all your accounts over time. It is calculated by subtracting your debts from the total value of your cash and assets.”
- **CSV import**: Yes — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/transactions/importing/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Actual supports importing CSV, QIF, OFX, QFX and CAMT files.”
- **Local-only data option**: Yes — <https://actualbudget.org/docs/install/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “All data is saved to your local browser. The Actual web app never has access to any of your personal data.”
- **Subscription price**: No — <https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/blob/master/LICENSE.txt> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/