Actual Budget
Maybe Finance
| Feature | Actual Budget | Maybe Finance |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $0/mo | Free / from $0/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.2 / 5 |
| Best For | budget-conscious-individuals, self-hosters, ynab-migrants, privacy-focused-budgeters | self-hosters, privacy-focused-individuals, developers, personal-finance-enthusiasts |
| Founded | 2019 | 2021 |
| Envelope Budgeting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bank Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
| Goal Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rules | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scheduled Transactions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hostable | ✓ | ✓ |
| Net Worth Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Investment Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Budgeting | ✗ | ✓ |
| Transaction Categorization | ✗ | ✓ |
| Goal Planning | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Currency | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Actual Budget Pros
- Open-source with no subscription fees
- Local-first with optional sync
- Beautiful and fast interface
- Bank sync via SimpleFIN/GoCardless
✗ Actual Budget Cons
- Self-hosting required for sync features
- Smaller community than YNAB
- Mobile experience less polished than native apps
✓ Maybe Finance Pros
- Fully open-source and free to self-host
- Comprehensive financial dashboard
- No ads, no data selling, full privacy
- Active development community
✗ Maybe Finance Cons
- Self-hosting only (no managed cloud option yet)
- Still in active development (features incomplete)
- Requires Plaid API key for bank connections
The Verdict
Actual Budget is built for budget conscious individuals and self hosters, with a focus on envelope-budgeting and bank-sync. Maybe Finance targets self hosters and privacy focused individuals and leads with net-worth-tracking and investment-tracking.
Both tools come in at similar price points ($0/mo for Actual Budget, $0/mo for Maybe Finance), so pricing won't make the decision for you.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for self hosters — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
Bottom line: Actual Budget has a slight overall edge — but if fully open-source and free to self-host matters most to you, Maybe Finance may still be the right call.