Firefly III

What is Firefly III?

Firefly III is a free, open source personal finance manager that tracks your accounts, income, and spending using double-entry bookkeeping. Built with PHP and Laravel, it runs entirely on your own server and never contacts an outside service unless you set one up — so your full financial history stays private and under your control.

What is Firefly III best for?

People who want to understand exactly where their money goes and are willing to trade simplicity for control. It fits detail-oriented budgeters, multi-currency households, and privacy-conscious users comfortable running a Docker container. If that sounds heavier than you need, a lighter envelope-budgeting app like Actual Budget may be a better fit.

What can Firefly III do?

• Track unlimited accounts with double-entry bookkeeping, where every transaction has a clear source and destination
• Set flexible budgets, categories, tags, and bills, with budget limits in multiple currencies
• Save toward goals with piggy banks, and automate recurring transactions and subscriptions
• Auto-process transactions with a rules engine that can categorize, rename, or split them on import
• Import data through the separate Firefly III Data Importer — CSV and CAMT.053 files, plus GoCardless, Spectre, and SimpleFIN bank connections
• Analyze spending with weekly, monthly, and yearly reports and charts
• Automate and integrate through a full REST JSON API, webhooks, and two-factor authentication
• Run multiple users and currencies from a single instance

Where does Firefly III fall short?

• Steep learning curve. The double-entry model and dense, function-first interface are far more involved than Mint’s or YNAB’s — powerful once it clicks, but frustrating if you just want quick, casual tracking.
• No built-in automatic bank sync. Imports run through a separate Data Importer tool you install and configure; the free GoCardless connection is oriented toward European banks (Spectre and SimpleFIN widen coverage), so nothing is one-click out of the box.
• No official mobile app. You use the responsive web interface or community-built third-party apps rather than a first-party iOS or Android client.

Is Firefly III free?

Yes — Firefly III is completely free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no paid tiers, feature gates, or hosted upsell. You self-host it and only pay for the server it runs on. The optional Data Importer is free too, and GoCardless’s bank-data API is free for both personal and commercial use.

What does Firefly III replace?

Firefly III is a self-hosted Mint alternative and YNAB alternative. It covers Mint’s account tracking, categorization, and reporting, plus YNAB’s budgeting — without a subscription and without handing your transactions to a third party. Unlike Mint, which Intuit shut down in 2024, a tool you host yourself can’t be discontinued out from under you.

FAQ

Is Firefly III open source? Yes. It’s fully open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with all code public on GitHub — there’s no source-available catch or paid edition.

Can I self-host Firefly III for free? Yes. It’s free to run; you only pay for the server. It ships as a Docker image and works with MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or SQLite.

Is Firefly III a good Mint or YNAB alternative? For detail-focused users, yes — it tracks and budgets in more depth than either and keeps your data private. Mint and YNAB still win on polished apps, effortless bank sync, and a gentler learning curve.

What do I need to run Firefly III? A server with Docker (or a PHP and Laravel host) and a database — MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, or SQLite. For automatic imports, add the separate Data Importer and a GoCardless, Spectre, or SimpleFIN account.