shouldiuse.io

Report

Should I Use Firefly III?

firefly-iii.org·Analyzed 17 hours ago··Based on 10 sources

A free and open source personal finance manager

Depends

Depends

Buy only if you're comfortable self-hosting with Docker and want free, private double-entry budgeting.

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

Confidence: Medium

$0

Price

Free and open source

1

Known CVEs

Medium severity, CVE-2024-37893

None

Official mobile app

Unofficial Android apps only

Value for money5

Completely free, open source, no subscriptions

Ease of use3

Docker setup and importer friction show in user threads

Feature depth4

Double-entry, budgets, tags, advanced reporting

Security posture3

One medium CVE; publishes security page

Pros

  • Free and open source, no subscriptions²
  • Double-entry bookkeeping built in¹
  • Supports budgets, categories and tags
  • Advanced reporting by week, month, year
  • Community ecosystem: unofficial Android apps and integrations

Cons

  • Self-hosted only; Docker setup required⁷
  • No built-in bank syncing; users hunt workarounds⁶
  • No official mobile app; Android apps are unofficial
  • Users question whether the data importer is safe⁷
  • Medium-severity CVE affected versions in 2024⁴

Gotchas

  • highBank linking means CSV imports or third-party tools; a common pain point⁶
  • mediumYou handle hosting, updates and backups yourself; no vendor support²
  • mediumUnofficial mobile apps vary in quality and lag the web app
  • mediumCVE-2024-37893 (medium): you must patch promptly since you host it⁴

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

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

Alternatives

Compare Firefly III with each alternative.

GnuCash

Free desktop double-entry accounting; no hosting needed

Actual Budget

Local-first envelope budgeting, easier setup

Full analysis

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

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

Rate this review

Anonymous. You can change your vote.

Loading votes…

Ask a follow-up

Ask if a use case fits. Answers stay inside this report and its sources.

    Comments

    One queue. No replies. Give a display name first. Limit: 7 comments per day.

    Save a name to write a comment.

    No comments yet.