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GnuCash VS Actual Budget

Compare GnuCash VS Actual Budget and see what are their differences

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  3. » Reviews
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GnuCash logo GnuCash

A personal and small-business financial-accounting software, licensed under GNU/GPL and available for Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, BSD, and Solaris.

Actual Budget logo Actual Budget

Robust and simple budgeting that works
  • GnuCash Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-04
  • Actual Budget Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-18

GnuCash features and specs

  • Open Source
    GnuCash is free and open-source software, which means there are no licensing fees, and the source code is available for anyone to review and modify.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    GnuCash is available for multiple operating systems including Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it versatile and accessible for a wide range of users.
  • Comprehensive Features
    The software includes a variety of features such as double-entry accounting, scheduled transactions, financial reports, and support for multiple currencies.
  • Community Support
    As an open-source project, GnuCash has a strong community of users and developers who contribute to its development and offer support through forums and mailing lists.
  • Customizability
    Due to its open-source nature, GnuCash can be customized to meet specific needs by those with technical expertise.

Possible disadvantages of GnuCash

  • User Interface
    The user interface can feel outdated and less intuitive compared to some commercial accounting software, which may pose a learning curve for new users.
  • Limited Mobile Support
    GnuCash does not have robust mobile app support; there is only a basic Android app, which might not meet the needs of users looking for full mobile functionality.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    The comprehensive features can make the software complex and challenging to learn for those who are new to accounting and bookkeeping.
  • Limited Third-Party Integration
    GnuCash has limited integration options with third-party applications and services, which could be a drawback for users who need seamless connectivity with other business tools.
  • Manual Updates
    Updates and new releases are not as frequent or automatic as some commercial software, requiring users to manually update the software periodically.

Actual Budget features and specs

  • Privacy
    Actual Budget offers a high level of privacy as it runs locally on your computer, meaning your financial data does not get stored on third-party servers.
  • Speed and Performance
    Since Actual Budget is a local application, it runs faster and is more responsive compared to some web-based tools.
  • Offline Access
    Users can access and manage their budgets even without an internet connection, which is not always possible with cloud-based budgeting tools.
  • Unique Budgeting Approach
    Actual Budget uses an envelope budgeting system, which can be particularly effective for people who prefer this method of financial management.
  • Customizability
    The software allows for a high degree of customization, enabling users to tailor it to their specific budgeting needs.
  • Data Import Options
    It supports importing transactions from various financial institutions and accepts data from other budgeting tools to make the transition smoother.

Possible disadvantages of Actual Budget

  • Initial Setup
    The initial setup can be time-consuming and might require a steep learning curve for users unfamiliar with envelope budgeting.
  • Manual Updates
    Users may need to manually update their financial transactions frequently, which can be tedious compared to services that offer automatic syncing.
  • Limited Mobile Support
    Actual Budget does not offer a dedicated mobile app, which might be a drawback for users who prefer managing their finances on-the-go.
  • Platform Dependency
    Being a locally installed software, it is dependent on the platform it runs on, which may cause issues for users with different types of operating systems.
  • Cost
    While there is a free version, some advanced features require a subscription, which may not be ideal for users seeking a completely free solution.
  • Community and Support
    With a smaller user base compared to some more established budgeting tools, finding community support or troubleshooting advice may be more challenging.

GnuCash videos

+ Add

Introduction to GnuCash - Free Accounting Software

More videos:

  • Review - GnuCash free software vs. Quicken & other accounting applications - Richard Cashin - 2018-09-20
  • Review - KMyMoney vs GNUCash

Actual Budget videos

No Actual Budget videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GnuCash and Actual Budget)

GnuCash

Actual Budget

Personal Finance
77 77%
Personal Finance
23% 23
Accounting
100 100%
Accounting
0% 0
Finance
59 59%
Finance
41% 41
Financial Planner
85 85%
Financial Planner
15% 15

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GnuCash and Actual Budget

GnuCash Reviews

11 Alternatives to QuickBooks in 2024
GNUCash’s strength is that it lets you do basically anything you want. Whether it’s budgeting, expense tracking, reporting, double-entry accounting, GNUCash probably already has the tools to do it. It’s also secure, malware free, cost-free, and the team behind it has consistently released new features since the project was first launched in 1997.
Source: www.bench.co
Best personal finance software of 2024
GnuCash is simple enough to be used for home finances, but flexible enough to be put to use by small businesses as well. While the software is easy to use, the fact that it's suitable for small business accounting is thanks to the inclusion of a number of extra features that you would not necessarily expect to find – support for payroll management and double-entry...
Source: www.techradar.com
An open-source alternative to QuickBooks | Hacker News
One thing GnuCash doesn't currently do, but this Bigcapital apparently does, is inventory management.
Source: news.ycombinator.com
My favorite open source tools for personal finance
GnuCash is a popular open source personal finance or small business accounting program for Linux users. It is a full-featured double-entry accounting system that supports multiple accounts, investments, and currency conversions. The app also provides a variety of helpful financial tools, including budgeting, reporting, invoicing, and more. GnuCash is a great choice for users...
Source: opensource.com
18 Best Free GnuCash Alternatives for Free Accounting
Spreadsheets is another great alternative to GnuCash that’s perfect for managing your financial data for free. What we like about this dedicated budgeting tools is that, it does not involve any complex formulas. It offers a peace of mind with the fact that there are any other who are using this tool so, you have got help with this when needed. Moreover, it does not store...
Source: thegeekpage.com

Actual Budget Reviews

We have no reviews of Actual Budget yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Actual Budget might be a bit more popular than GnuCash. We know about 56 links to it since March 2021 and only 38 links to GnuCash. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GnuCash mentions (38)

  • Intuits Mint is garbage this year, need other recs for tracking expenses.
    Https://gnucash.org/ is a pretty solid free and open source option. The catch being its UI probably isn't as refined as some other options, and I'm not sure how/if online banking connections work, so can be a bit manual. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Spending tracking app that meets my needs
    Could checkout https://gnucash.org/. Probably not as nice as a UI as some other options, but its quite robust in terms of tracking your finances. It has a budgeting feature, but I never used it. Worst case could use another app just for budgeting and GnuCash for general tracking of the current state of your accounts, and generating reports and such. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Are the GnuCash team all dead?
    As of today (2/22/2023), gnucash.org seems to be up and running. Do the young folks still use "woot" as an exclamation of delight or is that already passe??😄. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Are the GnuCash team all dead?
    I guess PART of my concern is that when you have a blank screen at gnucash.org for too long, it APPEARS to the outside world... People who might wish to consider using and supporting gnucash... that there is a problem that the organization is unable to handle and therefore the question arises "Are the team at gnucash competent or incompetent"? Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Are the GnuCash team all dead?
    I am a fan of Open Source projects and I've known about GnuCash for some time. I've started an online personal finance course that uses GnuCash, HOWEVER, the gnucash.org site seems to have been down for days or weeks lately. What's up. I thought the pandemic was over and the 'ronavirus was going into obscurity... Am I wrong? Did the team all die off? Are they not taking this seriously? OR... Is there actually... Source: almost 2 years ago
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Actual Budget mentions (56)

  • GnuCash 5.9 Released
    For this I recommend https://actualbudget.com/ . It is in many ways like You Need A Budget but you can host it yourself for free. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Show HN: Wealthfolio: A Private, Open-Source Investment Tracker
    For that very reason I tried selfhosting Actual Finance[1] but it is more of a budgeting app than a networth tracking app. I ended up coding a small exporter[2] since I already had some stack in place that queries SimpleFI[3], which essentially allows querying balance and transaction information for most US-based banks (read only); most similar to plaid but a lot more developer-friendly afaik. [1]... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Tell HN: YNAB will partly remove direct bank imports
    I use Actual budget. It’s open source, free, but you’ll have to figure out hosting. Bank sync is currently provided in North America by SimpleFin ($15/year) And in Europe by GoCardless I host mine in a Docker container on my NAS. [1] https://actualbudget.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
  • Budgeting App
    If you are tech-savvy then maybe https://actualbudget.com/ - similar to YNAB, but free & open-source. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Local-first software: You own your data, in spite of the cloud (2019)
    Looks visually quite similar to https://actualbudget.com/ (open-source, local-first). Did one influence the other? Are they both inspired by some other budget software? - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GnuCash and Actual Budget, you can also consider the following products

Mint - Free personal finance software to assist you to manage your money, financial planning, and budget planning tools. Achieve your financial goals with Mint.

Firefly III - Financial manager, it can help you keep track of expenses, income, budgets and everything in...

HomeBank - Access Financial Services. Easy, fee-free banking for entrepreneurs Get the financial tools and insights to start, build, and grow your business.

YNAB - Working hard with nothing to show for it? Use your money more efficiently and control your spending and saving with the YNAB app.

Money Manager Ex - Money Manager Ex is a free, open-source, cross-platform, easy-to-use personal finance software.

Quicken - Stay in control of your monthly cash flows, budgets, and expenditures. Quicken provides a navigable interface where you can organize your debit, credit, and savings, and build good habits accordingly.

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