Actual Budget review
Free, open-source budgeting with local storage, imports, reports, and optional self-hosting.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Actual Budget is a free, open-source personal finance application for individuals who want envelope-style budgeting with control over how their data is stored. It supports account management, transaction categorization and imports, scheduled bills and subscriptions, net-worth and cash-flow reporting, and custom reports. Desktop clients are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, alongside a responsive web application and a programmatic API.
Its strongest distinction is the local-first approach. Budget data can remain stored locally, while optional multi-device synchronization can run through a self-hosted server. Optional end-to-end encryption adds another layer for budget data. The software can import CSV, QIF, OFX, QFX, and CAMT files, and it supports bank integration through Akahu, Enable Banking, GoCardless BankAccountData, SimpleFIN Bridge, and Pluggy.ai. These connections require an Actual server, and bank synchronization is manually triggered rather than fetched automatically.
The published plan is Free and open source, with envelope budgeting, desktop and web access, optional self-hosted synchronization, and MIT-licensed software. There is no paid tier to compare, so the main trade-off is operational rather than plan-based: users who want mobile access should rely on the responsive Progressive Web App because the official mobile applications are deprecated. Actual Budget suits people who value privacy, customization, file-based portability, and self-hosting. It is less suitable for anyone who expects a current official mobile app or fully automatic bank updates.
Actual Budget pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Free MIT-licensed software with envelope-style budgeting
- Local-first storage with optional synchronization and encryption
- Supports broad file imports, reports, exports, and an API
- Where it doesn't
- Official mobile applications are deprecated
- Bank synchronization must be triggered manually
- Multi-device synchronization requires an Actual server
Actual Budget fact sheet, pricing and score →
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