Actual Budget
Pirsch
| Feature | Actual Budget | Pirsch |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $0/mo | From $4/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✗ No |
| Rating | 4.5 / 5 | 4.3 / 5 |
| Best For | budget-conscious-individuals, self-hosters, ynab-migrants, privacy-focused-budgeters | privacy-focused-websites, european-businesses, bloggers, saas-companies |
| Founded | 2019 | 2021 |
| Envelope Budgeting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Bank Sync | ✓ | ✗ |
| Reports | ✓ | ✗ |
| Goal Tracking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Rules | ✓ | ✗ |
| Scheduled Transactions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hostable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Pageview Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Event Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Goals | ✗ | ✓ |
| Utm Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Server Side Tracking | ✗ | ✓ |
| Api Access | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ 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
✓ Pirsch Pros
- No cookies required
- GDPR compliant out of the box
- Lightweight script (less than 1KB)
- Server-side tracking option
✗ Pirsch Cons
- No free plan
- Less detailed than GA4
- Limited e-commerce tracking
The Verdict
Actual Budget is built for budget conscious individuals and self hosters, with a focus on envelope-budgeting and bank-sync. Pirsch targets privacy focused websites and european businesses and leads with pageview-tracking and event-tracking.
Pricing is close: Actual Budget starts at $0/mo versus $4/mo for Pirsch — not a deciding factor on its own.
Actual Budget has a free plan, which gives it a meaningful edge for individuals and small teams exploring their options. Pirsch requires a paid subscription from day one.
Feature-wise, Actual Budget offers broader built-in capabilities (7 features vs 6), while Pirsch takes a more focused approach — which can mean a simpler, faster onboarding experience.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.