# Open source YNAB alternatives for AI agents

4 alternatives to YNAB. 4 have an interface an agent can drive. 4 are open source.

Page: alternatives/ynab.html

## Actual Budget

Local-first envelope budgeting with an official Node API package and CLI.

- Listing: apps/actualbudget--actual.html
- JSON: apps/actualbudget--actual.json
- License: MIT
- Agent interface: SDK, from the builder
- Reach: 9 of 10 jobs
- Last activity: 2026-09-02
- Effort: config-only
- Agent cannot reach: Custom reports and dashboards
- Use it when: I want a budget my agent can post transactions into and read balances from, with the file on my own machine
- Use it when: I am moving off YNAB and want an app I can script
- Gotcha: Personal budgeting; no invoicing, clients or tax reporting
- Gotcha: The API opens the budget file directly and should not run against the same file the desktop app has open in some setups; read the API docs on sync
- Gotcha: A finished product: the Customization surface is deployment only

## Expense Budget Tracker

Self-hosted expense and budget tracker on Postgres with an OAuth MCP server and a SQL agent API.

- Listing: apps/kirill-markin--expense-budget-tracker.html
- JSON: apps/kirill-markin--expense-budget-tracker.json
- License: MIT
- Agent interface: MCP server, from the builder
- Reach: 6 of 7 jobs
- Last activity: 2026-09-02
- Effort: config-only
- Use it when: I want my coding agent to file my expenses from bank exports with SQL it can inspect
- Use it when: I want a budget tracker whose MCP works with any remote MCP client over OAuth
- Gotcha: Authenticated mode requires AWS Cognito; AUTH_MODE=none is local-only
- Gotcha: The hosted instance sends chat data to OpenAI and Langfuse; the README says so plainly
- Gotcha: Real-software signal is thin: 30 stars, all 100 issues filed by the maintainer, no pricing on the hosted edition

## Firefly III

Self-hosted double-entry personal finance manager with a REST API that covers almost everything.

- Listing: apps/firefly-iii--firefly-iii.html
- JSON: apps/firefly-iii--firefly-iii.json
- License: AGPL-3.0
- Agent interface: API, from the builder
- Reach: 9 of 10 jobs
- Last activity: 2026-09-02
- Effort: config-only
- Agent cannot reach: Import bank statements
- Use it when: I want my money tracked on my own server and my agent to file transactions and check budgets
- Use it when: I run a sole trade and need double-entry books without paying for accounting software
- Gotcha: AGPL-3.0: modifications you host for others must be published
- Gotcha: Personal finance by design; no invoicing, client portal or tax reports
- Gotcha: Bank imports need the separate Data Importer container and its own credentials

## Fungible

Keyboard-first personal finance TUI with Plaid sync and a built-in MCP server and HTTP API.

- Listing: apps/tomfunk--fungible.html
- JSON: apps/tomfunk--fungible.json
- License: MIT
- Agent interface: MCP server, from the builder
- Reach: 8 of 11 jobs
- Last activity: 2026-09-03
- Effort: config-only
- Agent cannot reach: Import CSV statements; Dedup review of CSV vs Plaid
- Use it when: I live in the terminal and want Claude to tidy my transactions and answer 'how much did I spend on travel'
- Use it when: I want a local finance dataset my agent can query without a cloud budgeting service
- Gotcha: The desktop GUI does not start the MCP or API servers; use stdio MCP with the GUI
- Gotcha: Installers are un-notarized: Gatekeeper and SmartScreen warnings on first launch
- Gotcha: Deleting ~/.fungible/key means re-linking every bank

## Questions

### Is there an open source alternative to YNAB?

Yes. All 4 listings here are open source: Actual Budget (MIT), Expense Budget Tracker (MIT), Firefly III (AGPL-3.0), Fungible (MIT).

### Which YNAB alternatives have an MCP server?

Expense Budget Tracker and Fungible have MCP servers from their builders.

### Which YNAB alternative can an agent do the most with?

Actual Budget: 9 of 10 recorded jobs reachable. Firefly III: 9 of 10 recorded jobs reachable. Jobs differ by listing, so read each list before you choose.