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Actual Budget

Actual is a local-first personal finance tool, a 100% free and open-source application. Since the v26.5.0 (May 2026) release, it features advanced reporting capabilities including Age of Money and Sankey diagrams.

What it is

Actual is a privacy-focused personal finance manager that uses a local-first architecture. It provides a robust, fast interface for budgeting, transaction tracking, and account management, originally developed as a commercial product before being open-sourced.

What problem it solves

It solves the problem of "cloud-dependency" in personal finance. Traditional apps like YNAB or Mint can shut down, change pricing, or suffer from data breaches. Actual ensures your financial data stays on your device, working offline while offering optional end-to-end encrypted synchronization.

Where it fits in the stack

In a home-automation stack, Actual serves as the Financial Intelligence Layer. It can ingest data from automated bank scrapers or manual CSV exports and provide a clean API for other home-office agents to query budget status or transaction history.

Typical use cases

  • Zero-Based Budgeting: Implementing the "Give Every Dollar a Job" philosophy.
  • Privacy-First Finance: Managing sensitive financial data without uploading it to a third-party cloud.
  • Multi-Device Syncing: Keeping budget data in sync between a desktop and mobile device via a self-hosted synchronization server.

Strengths

  • Local-First Performance: Extremely fast UI because all data is local.
  • End-to-End Encryption: Secure synchronization that the server cannot read.
  • Active Community: Rapidly evolving since going open-source.
  • YNAB Migration: Excellent compatibility for users moving from YNAB.
  • Advanced Reporting: Built-in support for Age of Money, Sankey Diagrams, and custom budget analysis.
  • Multi-User support: Native OIDC integration for multi-user environments.

Limitations

  • Self-Hosting Required: Requires a server (Docker) for multi-device sync.
  • Learning Curve: Zero-based budgeting requires a specific mindset and setup.
  • Limited Investment Tracking: Primarily focused on budgeting rather than complex portfolio analysis.

When to use it

  • When you want a privacy-focused, local-first budgeting tool.
  • For users who want full control over their financial data.
  • When you need a 100% free and open-source alternative to YNAB.

When not to use it

  • If you require advanced investment tracking or complex portfolio management.
  • If you are not comfortable managing a self-hosted server for synchronization.

Getting started

Docker

To run Actual Budget using Docker:

docker run -d \
  --name actual_server \
  -p 5006:5006 \
  -v actual-data:/data \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  actualbudget/actual-server:latest

Access the web interface at http://localhost:5006.

CLI examples

Actual Budget is primarily a web application, but you can manage the container or use the experimental Actual CLI (v26.4.0+).

Container Management

# View server logs
docker logs actual_server

# Check version (if supported by the image)
docker exec actual_server node src/app.js --version

# Restart the synchronization server
docker restart actual_server

Actual CLI (Experimental)

The Actual CLI allows for headless interaction with your budget. 

# Initialize the CLI
npx @actual-app/api --server-url http://localhost:5006 --password YOUR_PASSWORD

# List accounts and their balances
npx @actual-app/api accounts

API examples

Actual Budget provides a REST API for programmatic interaction:

# Get server info
curl http://localhost:5006/info
  • Firefly III
  • n8n
  • Vikunja — For managing financial tasks and goals.
  • Paperless-ngx — For archiving receipts and financial documents.
  • Home Assistant — To display budget status on home dashboards.
  • Authentik — For OIDC multi-user authentication.
  • Syncthing — For manual file-based budget synchronization.
  • Gitea — For version-controlling budget exports and backups.

Bank Synchronization

Actual Budget supports automated transaction ingestion from banks via the GoCardless (formerly Nordigen) API. This allows for a "set it and forget it" workflow for tracking expenses.

GoCardless Setup

  1. Create a free account at GoCardless (Bank Account Data).
  2. Generate a Secret ID and Secret Key in the GoCardless dashboard.
  3. In Actual Budget, navigate to Settings > GoCardless and enter your credentials.

Linking Accounts

  1. Once configured, click Add Account in the sidebar.
  2. Select Link Bank Account.
  3. Follow the secure OAUTH flow provided by GoCardless to authorize Actual to read your transaction history.
  4. Map the discovered bank accounts to your internal Actual budget accounts.

Manual CSV Imports

For banks not supported by GoCardless, Actual provides a robust CSV import tool with "Import Rules" that can automatically categorize transactions based on descriptions or amounts.

Backlog

  • [x] Perform quarterly technical freshness audit (May 2026).
  • [ ] Document the new Sankey Diagram configuration options.

Contribution Metadata

  • Confidence: high
  • Last reviewed: 2026-05-26

Sources / References