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Firefly III Review

Depends

Should I use Firefly III?

A free and open source personal finance manager - firefly-iii.org

· 1 month ago

Buy only if you're comfortable self-hosting with Docker and want free, private double-entry budgeting. Skip if you want polished mobile apps, automatic bank sync, or support you can call.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~30 public sources: official pages, one 2024 CVE advisory, and mostly r/selfhosted community discussion. No formal review ratings found.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Self-hosted

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Privacy-focused self-hosters
  • Double-entry bookkeeping fans
  • Mint refugees wanting data control
  • Docker tinkerers

Not for

  • Non-technical users unwilling to run Docker
  • Anyone expecting automatic bank syncing out of the box
  • Casual budgeters who just want a simple expense app
  • People who want a vendor to call when it breaks

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Bank linking means CSV imports or third-party tools; a common pain point

medium

You handle hosting, updates and backups yourself; no vendor support

medium

Unofficial mobile apps vary in quality and lag the web app

medium

CVE-2024-37893 (medium): you must patch promptly since you host it

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open source, no subscriptions
  • Double-entry bookkeeping built in
  • Supports budgets, categories and tags
  • Advanced reporting by week, month, year
  • Community ecosystem: unofficial Android apps and integrations

Cons

  • Self-hosted only; Docker setup required
  • No built-in bank syncing; users hunt workarounds
  • No official mobile app; Android apps are unofficial
  • Users question whether the data importer is safe
  • Medium-severity CVE affected versions in 2024

Sources & method

- 10 sources - One medium-severity CVE on record (2024); the project publishes a security page and ships fixes.

official x3review x4security x2news x1
  • CVE-2024-37893 (Medium), Firefly III was listed as vulnerable to a medium-severity issue in 2024; affected versions were documented in advisories. Self-hosters must update promptly.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Completely free, open source, no subscriptions
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Docker setup and importer friction show in user threads
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Double-entry, budgets, tags, advanced reporting
  • Support quality. No support-quality evidence found
  • Security posture: 3/5. One medium CVE; publishes security page
  • $0 Price Free and open source
  • 1 Known CVEs Medium severity, CVE-2024-37893
  • None Official mobile app Unofficial Android apps only

Pricing

Self-hosted

$0

  • Full double-entry finance manager
  • Budgets, categories, tags, reports
  • Community support only

Security

One medium-severity CVE on record (2024); the project publishes a security page and ships fixes.

  • CVE-2024-37893 (Medium)Firefly III was listed as vulnerable to a medium-severity issue in 2024; affected versions were documented in advisories. Self-hosters must update promptly.⁴

What users say

Popular in r/selfhosted as a privacy-first Mint alternative, with recurring threads about bank syncing and Docker setup.

“hello everyone For the first time I am learning to use docker, and I instal”
Reddit, r/selfhosted
Full analysis

Based on ~30 public sources: official pages, one 2024 CVE advisory, and mostly r/selfhosted community discussion. No formal review ratings found.

Free, private, double-entry budgeting for self-hosters — but you run Docker, import manually, and get no support SLA.

Methodology

Based on ~30 public sources: official pages, one 2024 CVE advisory, and mostly r/selfhosted community discussion. No formal review ratings found.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Firefly III official sitefirefly-iii.org
    official
  2. Firefly III GitHub repositorygithub.com
    official
  3. Firefly III product security pagefirefly-iii.org
    official
  4. CVE-2024-37893 advisorybreachspider.com
    security
  5. CVE-2024-37893 analysissocradar.io
    security
  6. Reddit: bank linking with Firefly IIIreddit.com
    review
  7. Reddit: data importer safetyreddit.com
    review
  8. AlternativeTo: Firefly III alternativesalternativeto.net
    review
  9. Hacker News launch discussionnews.ycombinator.com
    news
  10. Reddit: Firefly III vs Actual vs Surereddit.com
    review

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