ExpenseOwlvsFirefly III
Two self-hosted Personal Finance projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| ExpenseOwl | Firefly III | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 57/100 | 83/100 |
| Rank in category | #15 of 63 in Personal Finance | #2 of 63 in Personal Finance |
| GitHub stars | 1 531 | 25 236 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +7 | +383 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 16 |
| Latest release | — | develop-20261112.5 · 12 Nov 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | HTML | PHP |
Which one should you pick?
Firefly III scores 83/100 against 57/100 for ExpenseOwl, so it is the safer default.
Firefly III ships more often: 16 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for ExpenseOwl.
If you want the quickest setup, ExpenseOwl is easier to run; Firefly III needs more configuration.
Firefly III is growing faster right now (+383 stars in 30 days).
Key differences
- License: ExpenseOwl is MIT, Firefly III is AGPL-3.0.
- Language: ExpenseOwl is written mainly in HTML, Firefly III in PHP.
- Platforms only ExpenseOwl lists: Linux.
- Platforms only Firefly III lists: Docker, Windows.
- Features only ExpenseOwl lists: Cashflow indicator, CSV import/export, Custom Categories, Custom currency symbols and 6 more.
- Features only Firefly III lists: Bank and CSV data import, Budget management, Charts and dashboards, Double-Entry Bookkeeping and 9 more.
- Both offer: Recurring Transactions.
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