Firefly III
Self-hosted personal finance manager for tracking expenses, budgets, and net worth.
Quick facts
- Price model
- Self-hosted
- Starting price
- Free (self-hosted)
- Best for
- Tracking where household money goes · Couples who want their own finance dashboard · Avoiding finance apps that sell your data
- Replaces
- Mint, Personal Capital premium tools, Monarch Money
- Platforms
- Self-hostedWeb
- Last verified
- 2026-06-22
Why it's listed
Full-featured finance dashboard without selling your data or charging a monthly seat.
Firefly III imports transactions, supports budgets and piggy banks, and runs on your server. No monthly fee to see where your money went—just hosting costs you may already have.
The catch
Jump to setup guide ↓You operate updates and backups; bank sync may need third-party connectors.
How to set up Firefly III
Self-hosted money dashboard—transactions, budgets, and piggy banks without Mint-style data harvesting.
- Time
- 60–90 min
- Difficulty
- Technical
- Verified
- 2026-06-22
Before you start
- Docker Compose or a NAS with container support
- Decide import path: CSV from bank exports is the reliable free start
- Rough category list (rent, groceries, subscriptions, fun)
Deploy with Docker
Use official docker-compose from github.com/firefly-iii/docker. Set APP_KEY and DB credentials in .env. docker compose up -d → open http://server-ip:8080.
Walk through first-run wizard
Create admin login. Set default currency and fiscal year start. Skip bank linking plugins on day one—CSV import is enough.
Create asset accounts
Add checking, savings, and credit card accounts with today's balances. Firefly tracks transfers between your own accounts separately from expenses.
Import or enter transactions
Upload bank CSV (Transactions → Import) or add manually for the last 30 days. Map columns once—save the mapping for next month.
Set budgets and piggy banks
Budgets → monthly envelopes per category. Piggy banks for goals (vacation, new laptop). This is where subscription cuts show up in red.
Schedule a monthly reconcile
First Sunday of the month: import new CSV, categorize, check budget bars. Pair with our subscription audit checklist when trimming recurring bills.
Troubleshooting
- Import fails
- Bank CSV format differs—download Firefly's example CSV and align columns.
- Duplicate transactions
- Import overlap with manual entries. Use Rules to auto-categorize and avoid double imports.
- Too complex for envelope-only budgeting
- Households wanting simpler YNAB-style local budgets may prefer Actual Budget (see our Actual guide).
Keep it working
- Export a backup from the UI before upgrades
- Update containers when security releases ship
- Automated bank sync often needs paid third-party bridges—CSV stays free
Official docs: docs.firefly-iii.org/references/firefly-iii/installation/docker/
Good fit for
- Privacy-minded households
- People comfortable running it on a home computer
Not ideal for
- Non-technical users wanting zero setup
Alternatives
Actual Budget
Open-source envelope budgeting app you can self-host or sync—no SaaS subscription required.
Replaces: YNAB, Monarch Money…
GnuCash
Desktop double-entry accounting for households and small businesses—free forever.
Replaces: QuickBooks Simple Start, Paid personal finance apps
Subscription Detox Kit
A pay-once template bundle to audit, cancel, and prevent subscription creep—coming soon.
Replaces: Rocket Money, Trim…
Free Trial Tracker
Spreadsheet template that logs trial end dates so free doesn't become forgotten paid.
Replaces: Trial reminder apps with subscriptions