Actual

Actual is a free, open source personal finance and budgeting tool built around envelope budgeting, the same method popularized by YNAB. It's local-first: budget data lives on the user's device and syncs across devices without a mandatory hosted backend, though several hosting options exist for people who want their budget available everywhere. The application is written in Node.js and split into a core package, a desktop UI, and an Electron desktop app, and the project describes contributions as core to how it develops, with a dedicated contributing guide covering how the codebase fits together.

Key features

• Envelope budgeting: Money is allocated to categories ("envelopes") ahead of spending, following the budgeting method Actual's own documentation credits as its foundation.
• Local-first data with sync: Budget data is stored on-device, and a synchronization layer moves changes between devices without requiring a central server to hold the source of truth.
• Cross-platform desktop apps: Downloadable apps are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux for people who prefer a fully local, offline setup with no account creation.
• Self-hostable server: A Docker image lets teams or individuals run their own sync server instead of using a hosted option, keeping financial data entirely under their own control at all times.
• Migration tooling: Community guides cover migrating from other budgeting apps, aimed at reducing the switching cost for people moving over from YNAB specifically.
• Active translation project: Internationalization is managed through Weblate, with Actual's own project hosted under Weblate's Libre plan for open source projects, expanding the app to non-English-speaking users without a paid translation vendor.

Self-hosting and deployment

Actual can be deployed four ways: a one-click PikaPods deployment for roughly $1.40 a month aimed at non-technical users, managed hosting via Fly.io for about $1.50 a month, self-hosting with a Docker image, or running the downloadable local-only desktop apps with no server at all. All four options are documented in Actual's installation docs, so the choice comes down to how much infrastructure the user wants to manage themselves, and switching between them later does not require abandoning existing budget data. The project also publishes repository activity metrics directly in its README, giving prospective self-hosters a quick view of how actively the codebase is maintained before committing to it.

Getting started

New users are pointed to Actual's envelope budgeting guide to understand the underlying method, and a "Starting Fresh" community guide for people setting up a budget for the first time rather than importing years of transaction history. People switching from another budgeting app can follow a dedicated migration guide instead of starting from a blank budget. Feature requests are tracked as GitHub issues labeled "needs votes," and the project accepts community votes via reactions to prioritize what gets built next, which gives users a direct way to influence the roadmap.