head to head · open source
ERPNext vs hledger
ERPNext has 39,326 GitHub stars, 12,835 forks, 1,822 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hledger has 4,709 stars, 414 forks, 328 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ERPNext leads on adoption by 735% (39,326 vs 4,709 stars). ERPNext is written in Python under GPL-3.0; hledger is written in Haskell under GPL-3.0. ERPNext has attracted 33% as many forks as stars, hledger 9%. hledger was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (accounting), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| ERPNext | hledger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 4.7K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Haskell |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 13K | ⑂ 414 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ERPNext if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick hledger if
- You want the hledger feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Haskell
- You evaluated both and hledger fits your workflow better
About ERPNext
ERPNext is a free and open source Enterprise Resource Planning system built on the Frappe Framework. It unifies core business functions—including accounting, procurement, manufacturing, CRM, HRMS, and asset management—into a single platform, eliminating the need for multiple proprietary tools. The project lives in the Python based Frappe ecosystem and is licensed under GPL 3.0.
read the full ERPNext overview →
About hledger
hledger is lightweight, cross platform, multi currency, double entry accounting software that stores all data in a plain text journal format. It lives in the Plain Text Accounting ecosystem, a community of tools and practices built around the plaintextaccounting.org project, and it is inspired by and partly compatible with Ledger CLI, with Beancount files interconvertible as well. The project is written in Haskell, licensed under GPL 3.0 or later, has been developed since 2007, and offers command line, terminal, web, mobile, and editor/IDE interfaces.
read the full hledger overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Finance & Accounting projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Finance & Accounting field.
Frequently asked questions
Is ERPNext or hledger more popular?
ERPNext has 39,326 GitHub stars and hledger has 4,709. ERPNext has the larger community by that measure.
Are ERPNext and hledger free?
Both are open source. ERPNext is licensed under GPL-3.0 and hledger under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ERPNext and hledger?
ERPNext is written in Python and hledger in Haskell. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ERPNext or hledger?
Choose ERPNext if you want the larger community (39,326 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose hledger if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.