ActualvsShields
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Actual | Shields | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 81/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 62 in Personal Finance | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools |
| GitHub stars | 29 844 | 27 332 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +708 | +126 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 15 | 0 |
| Latest release | v26.10.0 · 2 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | JavaScript |
Which one should you pick?
Actual scores 81/100 against 80/100 for Shields, so it is the safer default.
Actual ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.
If you want the quickest setup, Shields is easier to run; Actual needs more configuration.
Actual is growing faster right now (+708 stars in 30 days).
Actual details →Shields details →
Swap a project
Keep Actual, compare it with
Keep Shields, compare it with