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.
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.
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.
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.
Where Actual Budget stands out
Verified capabilities most alternatives don't have.
Why people leave Actual Budget
Dashed reasons are sourced facts; the rest are opinions. Vendors can dispute.
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Ranked alternatives
Ordered by Alt Score. Click any score to see the breakdown.
Feature comparison
Rows come from the Budgeting apps checklist (14 rows). Human-verified cells only. ? means the value has not been verified.
| Budgeting apps checklist | Actual Budget | Lunch Money | Quicken | Simplifi | YNAB | GnuCash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ||||||
| Starts at | ||||||
| License | ||||||
| Platforms | ||||||
| Bank sync (regions) | ||||||
| Manual entry mode | ||||||
| Envelope / zero-based budgeting | ||||||
| Investment tracking | ||||||
| Multi-currency | ||||||
| Shared budgets | ||||||
| Reports & net worth | ||||||
| CSV import | ||||||
| Local-only data option | ||||||
| Subscription price |
Every fact and feature listed for Actual Budget is verified against its own pages. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.
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License MIT verified 2026-07-11
Copyright James Long ... Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/blob/master/LICENSE.txt -
Pricing model Free verified 2026-07-11
A local-first personal finance app
https://github.com/actualbudget/actual -
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, Web verified 2026-07-11
Actual has two parts, the client and a sync server
https://actualbudget.org/download/ -
Status active verified 2026-07-11
26.7.0
https://actualbudget.org/docs/releases/ -
Bank sync (regions) Partial verified 2026-07-11
Akahu (New Zealand Banks) ... Enable Banking (European Banks) ... SimpleFIN Bridge (North American Banks) ... Pluggy.ai (Brazilian Banks)
https://actualbudget.org/docs/advanced/bank-sync/ -
Manual entry mode Yes verified 2026-07-11
Manually add transactions by clicking on Add New.
https://actualbudget.org/docs/tour/accounts/ -
Envelope / zero-based budgeting Yes verified 2026-07-11
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
https://actualbudget.org/docs/getting-started/envelope-budgeting/ -
Investment tracking Partial verified 2026-07-11
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.
https://actualbudget.org/docs/accounts/ -
Multi-currency Partial verified 2026-07-11
The Actual Budget software is currency agnostic and does not support multi-currency.
https://actualbudget.org/docs/budgeting/multi-currency/ -
Shared budgets Yes verified 2026-07-11
Users with the Basic role can create new budgets and collaborate on budgets made by others.
https://actualbudget.org/docs/config/multi-user/ -
Reports & net worth Yes verified 2026-07-11
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.
https://actualbudget.org/docs/tour/reports/ -
CSV import Yes verified 2026-07-11
Actual supports importing CSV, QIF, OFX, QFX and CAMT files.
https://actualbudget.org/docs/transactions/importing/ -
Local-only data option Yes verified 2026-07-11
All data is saved to your local browser. The Actual web app never has access to any of your personal data.
https://actualbudget.org/docs/install/ -
Subscription price No verified 2026-07-11
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
https://github.com/actualbudget/actual/blob/master/LICENSE.txt
FAQ
Yes. GnuCash, KMyMoney and PocketGuard have a free tier or are fully free. Free-tier limits in the comparison table are verified and dated.
GnuCash, KMyMoney and Firefly III — every license claim links its source.