Firefly III (Deep)
Firefly III — the comprehensive self-host personal finance manager; double-entry, rules engine, importers, the heaviest OSS option.
Firefly III is the comprehensive self-host personal finance manager — heavier than Actual Budget, more web-app than Beancount, with a serious rules engine and import suite. Best fit for a household that wants one OSS web app for everything: budgeting, tracking, investments-light, recurring bills, rules-based categorization. For envelope budgeting see Actual Budget; for plain-text accounting see Beancount + Fava; for desktop double-entry see GnuCash; for portfolio see Ghostfolio; for the broader index see Self-Hosted Personal Apps; for bank import see Bank Import & SimpleFIN; for the post-Mint paid landscape see Bill Tracking & Household Finance.
What it is
- ★ ★ Firefly III — free OSS (AGPLv3); the most comprehensive self-host personal finance manager in 2026; double-entry; PHP / Laravel; MySQL or Postgres backend.
What it does (★ feature surface)
- ★ Double-entry transactions — every transaction has source + destination; balances always reconcile.
- ★ Asset, expense, revenue, liability accounts — full account taxonomy.
- ★ Categories + tags + budgets — categories are envelopes; tags are cross-cutting (e.g., "vacation 2025"); budgets cap a category for a period.
- ★ Rules engine — fire-on-import rules that auto-categorize, tag, split, alert.
- ★ Bills — recurring expense templates with amount ranges; "did I get charged?" detection.
- ★ Recurring transactions — fixed schedule auto-creators.
- ★ Piggy banks (savings goals) — soft-allocate money inside an account.
- Reports + charts — built-in; PDF export.
- Multi-currency — yes; with daily rate updates.
- API + OAuth — full REST + GraphQL-shape; build custom integrations.
- Webhooks — fire on transaction create/update/delete.
- Two-factor auth — TOTP + WebAuthn.
Self-host deployment
- ★ Docker Compose — official compose with MySQL or Postgres + cron container.
- Helm chart / k8s — community-maintained.
- PikaPods / Coolify / Dokploy / Sliplane — managed self-host PaaS; one-click.
- Bare-metal PHP-FPM + Nginx — for traditionalists.
- TrueNAS / Synology / Unraid — community templates.
Bank import + automation
- ★ Firefly III Data Importer — separate companion app; CSV / Spectre / Nordigen / SimpleFIN routes.
- ★ CSV import — every Firefly user does this; rules engine cleans up on landing.
- ★ Camt.053 / MT940 — for European bank exports.
- ★ Plaid via Firefly Plaid Connector — community; paid Plaid usage.
- ★ GoCardless / Nordigen Spectre — free for accounts you own (PSD2-based EU + UK).
- SimpleFIN Bridge — community import path; see Bank Import & SimpleFIN.
Rules engine (★ the killer feature)
Each transaction triggers a chain of rules:
- IF description contains "Trader Joe's"
- THEN set category = Groceries
- AND add tag "weekly-shop"
- AND notify if amount > $200
Rules can also: split transactions, link transactions to bills, convert to a transfer, set notes, convert currency. Way more powerful than what Actual Budget exposes today.
When Firefly is right
- ★ Household with many accounts (10+) including credit cards, brokerages, mortgage, joint, kids' accounts.
- ★ Recurring-bill tracking discipline ("did the gym charge me twice?").
- ★ Want rule-based categorization (you'd be coding it in Beancount; Firefly has a UI).
- ★ Want a proper web app, multi-user, mobile-friendly UI.
- ★ Comfortable with PHP / Laravel / MySQL operationally.
When Firefly is wrong
- Just want envelopes — Actual Budget is simpler and faster.
- Want plain-text in git — Beancount + Fava.
- Want desktop, no web app — GnuCash.
- Want investment-tracking-first — Ghostfolio (pair with Firefly for the rest).
- Don't want to run MySQL / Postgres — Actual is single-file SQLite.
Mobile
- Official mobile app is read-mostly + manual entry; the web app is mobile-friendly enough that many users skip the native app.
- 3rd-party apps: Wallet for Firefly (Android / iOS) — community-built front-ends.
Backups
- ★ Database dump (mysqldump / pg_dump) daily.
- ★ Encrypted backup off-host — see Backup & Disaster Recovery.
- Export to JSON built-in for portability.
Patterns / community lore
- ★ Behind Tailscale / Cloudflare Access — Firefly III is the canonical "personal data, do not expose to the internet" app.
- ★ Rules-engine annual review — re-tune categorization quarterly.
- ★ Pair with Ghostfolio for portfolio — Firefly's investment tracking is light.
- Pair with Wallos for subscription-specific tracking — see Subscription Management.
License / pricing
- Firefly III + Data Importer: free OSS (AGPLv3).
- Hosting (Coolify / PikaPods / VPS): paid (a few $/mo) or self-host on existing hardware.
- SimpleFIN Bridge: paid (~$1.50/mo donation).
- GoCardless / Nordigen Spectre: free for accounts you own.
- Plaid (if used): paid above small free tier.
Pick this if…
- Want the most comprehensive OSS self-host personal-finance app: Firefly III.
- Many accounts, want rules-based auto-categorization: Firefly III.
- Budget-first, simpler: Actual Budget.
- Plain-text-in-git: Beancount + Fava.
- Desktop only: GnuCash.
- Investment-first: Ghostfolio (then add Firefly for the rest if you want).