Monarch Money alternatives: 3 open-source picks
Monarch Money costs $14.99/mo — $179.88 a year. These 3 alternatives replace it for $0, led by Actual Budget, Firefly III and Wealthfolio. All 3 are open source. License, stars and last commit checked by hand on 2026-08-11. No trials, no crippled tiers.
Budgets, imported transactions, schedules and reports on your disk; investment analytics are much thinner.
licenseMIT
runsyour machine or their cloud
installNative desktop app for local-only use, or the official Docker/Node server for browser access and device sync
dataEach client works from a local SQLite budget; the server keeps account metadata plus budget blobs under its data directory, and optional end-to-end encryption covers budget contents but not bank-sync tokens.
setup✓ installs clean
the catch vs Monarch MoneyActual has much weaker investment and net-worth analytics and no equally seamless household collaboration or managed multi-provider account aggregation.
facts verified 2026-08-11
Transactions, budgets, goals and net worth in Docker; portfolio analysis is not its favourite spreadsheet.
licenseAGPL-3.0+
runsyour server
installOfficial Docker Compose deployment; a separate Firefly III Data Importer is normally added for bank files
dataTransactions, accounts, budgets, rules, and metadata live in the configured MariaDB/MySQL or PostgreSQL database; uploads and generated files live in persistent server volumes.
the catch vs Monarch MoneyFirefly III requires server administration and is weaker than Monarch for investment tracking, household collaboration, polished goals, automatic institution sync, and mobile usability.
setupThe first obstacle is operating a real web service, Docker, a database, application secrets, TLS, mail, backups, upgrades, and usually the separate importer plus an API token.
facts verified 2026-08-11
Investments, net worth, spending, budgets and goals on your device; automatic broker sync is the paid shortcut.
licenseAGPL-3.0
runsyour machine or their cloud
installNative desktop or iOS app, or the official Docker image/Compose deployment for web mode
dataDesktop and self-hosted modes use a local SQLite database (the web server exposes a configurable app.db path); optional Wealthfolio Connect and encrypted device sync send selected holdings/account data through the vendor service.
setup✓ installs clean
the catch vs Monarch MoneyWealthfolio's free local mode lacks Monarch's turnkey multi-institution sync, household collaboration, automatic transaction cleanup, recurring detection, and integrated goal planning.
facts verified 2026-08-11
What each one is, in full: Actual Budget · Firefly III
last updated 2026-08-11 · no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
how to choose a Monarch Money alternative
Easiest to get running
Actual Budget — a one-click install, no server to maintain.
Most proven
Actual Budget, with 28,000 GitHub stars — the largest community of the 3, which usually means more answers when something breaks.
Works on your phone
Wealthfolio has a mobile app.
what you give up by leaving Monarch Money
- bank/investment sync
- transaction categorization
- household collaboration
- mobile apps
- support
- data security posture
None of the picks above covers all of it. The full verdict says which gaps matter.
Monarch Money alternatives at a glance
| tool | license | running it | platforms | stars | active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual Budget | MIT | one-click install | web, macos, windows, linux, self-hosted | 28,000 | 2026-08 |
| Firefly III | AGPL-3.0+ | docker to self-host | web, self-hosted | 24,200 | 2026-08 |
| Wealthfolio | AGPL-3.0 | one-click install | web, macos, windows, linux, ios, self-hosted | 8,500 | 2026-08 |
why people still pay for Monarch Money
They pay because personal finance apps are only valuable when data arrives automatically and safely. If none of that applies to you, any pick above saves $179.88 a year.
questions about switching from Monarch Money
Is there an open-source alternative to Monarch Money?
Yes: Actual Budget, Firefly III, Wealthfolio. Every tool on this page is open source: no trials, no crippled tiers.
Can open source really replace Monarch Money?
Our verdict is YES. Actual Budget (28k stars), Firefly III (24k stars), Wealthfolio (9k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Monarch Money — self-host in one command and stop paying $14.99/mo. The full verdict, and what you give up by switching, is at caniopensourceit.online/monarch-money.
What is the easiest open-source Monarch Money alternative to set up?
Actual Budget — a one-click install, no server to maintain.
What is the most popular open-source Monarch Money alternative?
By GitHub stars, Actual Budget (28,000). Firefly III is next with 24,200.
