Solova review
An open-source work and bookkeeping hub for freelancers who want to host their own system.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Solova brings project and business records together for freelancers and small studios. Its Kanban boards support drag-and-drop lists and cards, while a client CRM holds company and contact records, with contracts associated with clients. Calendar, table and statistics board views offer different ways to follow work. The product is open source and self-hostable, making it a fit for people who want to manage client work and bookkeeping on infrastructure they control rather than rely on a hosted service.
The bookkeeping scope is a notable strength: Solova supports invoices, products, services, expenses and payment records, alongside a double-entry ledger with profit-and-loss and balance-sheet reports. Time can be recorded with a one-click timer or manual entries. That combination suits freelancers who want project tracking tied to business records. Payment records are not the same as payment processing, however: Solova does not process transactions through a payment gateway. Freelancers who need clients to pay directly through their management system should consider another product for that part of their workflow.
Deployment is centered on Docker and PostgreSQL, and the project describes the software as free to use, self-host and modify under the MIT license. That makes Solova appealing to technically comfortable users who value open-source control and can take responsibility for hosting. It is also a narrower ecosystem proposition: integrations are not described, and worker classification support is not described. Choose Solova for self-hosted client management, time tracking and bookkeeping; look elsewhere if payment processing or a documented integrations ecosystem is central to your freelance operations.
Solova pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Combines client CRM, contracts, projects and time tracking
- Supports invoices, expenses and recorded payment entries
- Double-entry ledger includes profit-and-loss and balance-sheet reports
- Where it doesn't
- Does not process payments through a gateway
- Integrations are not described
- Requires Docker-based self-hosting with PostgreSQL
Solova fact sheet, pricing and score →
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