Head-to-Head Comparison
Actual Budget vs Firefly III
A side-by-side technical evaluation across security posture, maintenance cadence, community vitality, and commercial licensing within the Finance & Budgeting category.
Option A
Actual Budget
actualbudget/actual94/100
Privacy-focused zero-based budgeting system with local-first encryption.
HealthyFull Audit Report →
Option B
Firefly III
firefly-iii/firefly-iii91/100
Free and open-source personal finance manager with double-entry bookkeeping.
HealthyFull Audit Report →
Technical & Metric Comparison
Verifiable data scraped directly from GitHub API and OpenSSF scorecards.
| Metric | Actual Budget | Firefly III | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Composite Safety Score | 94/100 | 91/100 | Actual Budget |
| Status Verdict | Healthy | Healthy | — |
| License SPDX | MIT | AGPL-3.0-only | — |
| GitHub Stars | 18,200 | 16,400 | Actual Budget (+1,800) |
| Primary Language | TypeScript | PHP / Laravel | — |
| Self-Host Difficulty | Easy | Medium | — |
| OpenSSF Scorecard | 8.8/10 | 8.4/10 | Actual Budget |
| Last Push | 1d ago | 1d ago | Firefly III |
Which Should You Pick? (Algorithmic Verdict)
Both tools demonstrate competitive quality, with Actual Budget holding a slight operational edge (94/100 vs 91/100). Choose Actual Budget if you prioritize stricter automated testing and recent release hygiene; choose Firefly III if its specific feature set (PHP / Laravel) better matches your internal infrastructure.
Pick Actual Budget if:
- You prefer a TypeScript-based stack.
- You require MIT licensing terms.
- Its easy deployment fits your ops requirements.
Pick Firefly III if:
- You prefer a PHP / Laravel-based runtime.
- Your team works comfortably with AGPL-3.0-only.
- You value its specific community ecosystem and client support.
ADVERTISEMENTReserved Zero-CLS Placement