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Actual Budget

actualbudget · Personal finance

GitHub stars

29,237
—Collecting 30d data

Stats updated

29,179 stars on Sep 27 to 29,237 stars on Oct 1, up 58.5 measured star snapshots

What is Actual Budget?

Actual combines a desktop-like budgeting workspace with data ownership. Accounts, transactions, category envelopes, and reports stay available locally, while an optional synchronization server keeps devices aligned. End-to-end encryption is an additional setting for synchronized budget data, not a blanket guarantee covering every credential or local file.

Actual Budget is a local-first personal finance app built around envelope budgeting. It can sync across devices through a self-hosted service, with optional end-to-end encryption and bank syncing.

Core capabilities

  • Allocate available money across envelope-style category groups
  • Import statement files or use supported bank-sync connections
  • Analyze cash flow, balances, and net worth through configurable reports

Local-first envelope budgeting

Actual organizes money already available into envelope-style categories rather than treating forecast income as spendable cash. Split transactions and linked transfers support detailed records, while cash-flow, net-worth, and custom reports help explain where the money went.

  • envelopes
  • transactions
  • reports

Synchronization with explicit privacy boundaries

Devices can retain local data and synchronize through a server selected by the user. Optional end-to-end encryption protects budget data from that server, but bank-sync credentials are stored separately and local-device data is not encrypted by this feature. Server security, disk encryption, and recoverable backups remain separate responsibilities.

  • sync
  • self-hosting
  • encryption

Where it fits

Use cases

  1. 01

    Assign a paycheck before spending it

    Import income, distribute the available balance among category envelopes, and move money between categories as priorities change without building a budget from forecasted money that has not arrived.

  2. 02

    Reconcile finances across several devices

    Keep a working copy on each client, connect devices to a synchronization server you choose, and optionally enable end-to-end encryption for budget data.

  3. 03

    Turn transaction history into a review routine

    Import statement files or supported bank feeds, categorize transactions, and inspect custom reports for spending, cash flow, or net worth changes.