ezBookkeeping is a free, open-source, self-hosted personal finance app for recording daily transactions and analyzing spending from a web browser. It organizes money with two-level accounts and categories, scheduled transactions, image attachments, and location tracking, and it runs as a lightweight server on your own hardware with multi-currency support and automatic exchange-rate updates.[1][2]
Quick verdict
Individuals who want free, private, self-hosted bookkeeping with full control of their data benefit most from ezBookkeeping. Its concrete strength is lightweight daily transaction tracking with two-level accounts, broad bank-app imports, multi-currency updates, and an API, CLI, and MCP surface for automation. The material constraints are missing budgeting and split transactions and no official hosted service, so you must run the server yourself. If free self-hosted recording with automation matters most, choose ezBookkeeping; if budgeting or split transactions are required, choose Firefly III or Actual Budget instead.[1][2][3]
Key features
Dated transaction records Record transactions with date, time, time zone, categories, tags, geographic location, images, and notes, so each entry keeps its full context.[1]
Scheduled transactions Set up scheduled transactions for repeating income and expenses instead of re-entering them, and adjust many records at once with batch modification.[1][2]
Two-level accounts Organize money with two-level accounts and categories that model real bank, cash, and expense structure rather than a flat list.[1]
Broad data imports Bring existing books along by importing CSV, Excel, OFX, QFX, QIF, IIF, Camt.052, Camt.053, MT940, GnuCash, Firefly III, and Beancount data, with custom column mapping, rules, and scripts for CSV and Excel files.[1]
Multi-currency and locale Track money in multiple currencies with several exchange-rate sources and automatic updates, plus multi-timezone support and custom date, number, and currency formats.[1]
Login security Protect the books with two-factor authentication, OIDC external authentication, login rate limiting, and an application lock using a PIN code or WebAuthn.[1]
Automation surface Automate beyond the browser with an HTTP API and command-line interface, Model Context Protocol support for AI integration, and AI-assisted text and receipt-image recognition plus AI-generated custom charts.[1][2]
Lightweight self-hosting Run the Go and Vue.js server with minimal resources, needing only tens of megabytes of disk and memory and starting in about one second even on a Raspberry Pi 4, with Docker support and SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL storage on Windows, macOS, or Linux across x86, amd64, and ARM.[1][2]
Who will love it
Privacy-first bookkeeping People who want their finances off vendor clouds get a complete free core where all data stays on their own server, and the project states it collects no user information.[1][2]
Low-resource self-hosters Operators with a home server, NAS, or Raspberry Pi benefit from the tiny footprint and one-server deployment instead of a heavy stack that needs real infrastructure.[1][2]
Import-and-automate movers Anyone migrating from GnuCash, Firefly III, Beancount, or bank exports benefits from the wide import formats plus the API, CLI, and MCP surface for scripted follow-up.[1]
Who should avoid it
No budgeting The official January 2026 comparison marks budgeting as not supported in ezBookkeeping while both Firefly III and Actual Budget support it, so envelope or budget planners should look elsewhere.[1]
No split transactions Splitting one transaction across several categories is not supported, while both compared peers support it, which limits mixed-receipt bookkeeping.[1]
Self-hosting required There is no official hosted service and the program is a server, not a desktop app you double-click, so anyone unwilling to run a server gets no supported path.[1]
Deployment and fit
Against Firefly III and Actual Budget Against Firefly III and Actual Budget, ezBookkeeping competes on footprint and license: a 57.7 MiB amd64 Docker image and MIT license against larger images and Firefly III's AGPL. Choose ezBookkeeping for light free bookkeeping; choose a peer when budgeting or split transactions are required.[1]
Run it yourself Deployment means running the server on your own machine with Docker or a binary against SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL, then reaching it from any device browser or the installable PWA. Pick hosted personal-finance software instead when nobody will administer a server.[1][2]
Questions worth asking
What is the best ezBookkeeping alternative for non-technical users?
If running your own server is the blocker, ezBookkeeping has no official hosted service, so a hosted alternative fits better. Firefly III and Actual Budget are the documented self-hosted peers for the same personal-finance job, and either suits a non-technical user who still wants self-hosting only if someone else administers it. That peer choice was not separately researched beyond the official comparison.[1][2]
Is ezBookkeeping really no-code?
Day-to-day bookkeeping is no-code: you record and analyze transactions through a desktop or mobile browser interface with search, filters, and charts. Code and server administration enter only at deployment and optional automation, since the app runs as a self-hosted server with an HTTP API and CLI for those who want them.[1][2]
How much does ezBookkeeping cost per month?
The software itself costs nothing per month: it is free open source under the MIT license with no paid features, and the project accepts no donations or sponsorships. Your only cost is whatever hosting you already have, since you run it on your own server or personal computer with no per-user or subscription fee.[1]
Can you self-host ezBookkeeping?
Yes. ezBookkeeping is a self-hosted server program with Docker support and SQLite, MySQL, or PostgreSQL storage on Windows, macOS, or Linux, and a mobile-friendly PWA interface. It is ready to use out of the box with no required configuration, though setting a secret key is recommended for production. There is no official hosted service.[1][2]
Sources and editorial review
Source research. Reviewed on October 9, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.
We have not run or tested this product.
- ezBookkeeping homepage
official · Observed October 9, 2026
Official homepage: open-source self-hosted positioning, Docker and database support, desktop/mobile UI with PWA and dark mode, bookkeeping capabilities, imports, multi-currency, 2FA/OIDC security, AI and MCP automation.
- ezBookkeeping feature list
official · Observed October 9, 2026
Official feature list: Golang plus Vue.js stack, OS and architecture support, minimal resource use, UI/API/CLI availability by version, transaction data fields, scheduled transactions, batch modification.
- ezBookkeeping FAQ
official · Observed October 9, 2026
Official FAQ: MIT license with no paid features or donations, no official hosted service, no user-data collection, lightweight resource figures, server-program nature, out-of-the-box configuration with secret key recommended for production.
- ezBookkeeping feature comparison
official · Observed October 9, 2026
Official feature comparison as of January 2026: ezBookkeeping 1.3.2 against Firefly III 6.4.16 and Actual Budget 26.1.0, including Docker image sizes and the budgeting and split-transaction gaps.
Compared with these products
No explicit proprietary baseline is recorded.