head to head · open source
Actual vs Firefly III
Actual has 29,923 GitHub stars, 3,242 forks, 252 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Firefly III has 25,061 stars, 2,361 forks, 169 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Actual leads on adoption by 19% (29,923 vs 25,061 stars). Actual is written in TypeScript under MIT; Firefly III is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. Actual has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Firefly III 9%. Actual was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (budgeting, finance), 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.
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Side by side
| Actual | Firefly III | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 30K | ★ 25K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 2.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Actual if
- You weight community size — 30K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Firefly III if
- You want the Firefly III feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Firefly III fits your workflow better
About Actual
Getting Started Actual is a local first personal finance tool. It is 100% free and open source, written in NodeJS, it has a synchronization element so that all your changes can move between devices without any heavy lifting. If you are interested in contributing, or want to know how development works, see our contributing document we would love to have you. Want to say thanks? Click the ⭐ at the top of the page. Key Links Actual discord community. Actual Community Documentation Frequently asked questions Installation There are four ways to deploy Actual: 1. One click deployment via PikaPods ( 2.00 $/month)…
read the full Actual overview →
About Firefly III
[![Packagist][packagist shield]][packagist url] [![License][license shield]][license url] [![Stargazers][stars shield]][stars url] [![Donate][donate shield]][donate url] Firefly III A free and open source personal finance manager Explore the documentation View the demo · Report a bug · Request a feature · Ask questions Billionaires and fascists are breaking democracies and international alliances. Their profits are costing us our safety. (Digital) sovereignty is more important than ever. Firefly III is free open source software and originates from, and lives in the European Union (🇳🇱). Support your local…
read the full Firefly III overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Actual or Firefly III more popular?
Actual has 29,923 GitHub stars and Firefly III has 25,061. Actual has the larger community by that measure.
Are Actual and Firefly III free?
Both are open source. Actual is licensed under MIT and Firefly III under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Actual and Firefly III?
Actual is written in TypeScript and Firefly III in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Actual or Firefly III?
Choose Actual if you want the larger community (29,923 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Firefly III if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.