What is Beancount used for?

Beancount is a double-entry accounting system that works from plain text files, with command-line tools for reports and queries. It is a good fit for personal finance in plain text and auditable bookkeeping kept in Git.

Is Beancount open source?

Yes. Beancount is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at beancount/beancount and is written mainly in Python.

Yes. Beancount is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What is Beancount an alternative to?

Beancount is an open-source alternative to Quicken and YNAB. Other open-source alternatives to Quicken include Fava, hledger and Paisa.

Is Beancount actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Beancount was on 23 August 2026. The project has 6k stars on GitHub.

Beancount: open-source alternative to Quicken, YNAB

About Beancount

Beancount is a double-entry accounting system in which your financial records live in plain text files. The project describes itself as double-entry accounting from text files, and the approach is popular with people who prefer to keep their books in version control and process them with scripts. The software is written in Python and licensed under GPL-2.0.

The main repository holds the project details, while the website points to documentation. The latest documentation is hosted in Google Docs, and a frequently updated copy converted to Markdown is available at beancount.github.io. The project's topics tag it for plain-text accounting and its category is finance and accounting.

Beancount is a command-line oriented toolset and a text format, so it usually pairs with other software to present results. One commonly used companion is Fava, a separate web interface for browsing a Beancount ledger. It is suited to people who are comfortable editing text files and want transparent, auditable personal or small-business bookkeeping.

Key features

Double-entry bookkeeping from text files
Plain-text ledger format suited to version control
Python implementation
Documentation in Google Docs and Markdown
Works with the Fava web interface

Good fit for

→Personal finance in plain text
→Auditable bookkeeping kept in Git

Built with: Python
Tags: beancount; plaintext-accounting; double-entry; accounting; python; ledger; finance; command-line

Beancount: questions and answers

What is Beancount used for?: Beancount is a double-entry accounting system that works from plain text files, with command-line tools for reports and queries. It is a good fit for personal finance in plain text and auditable bookkeeping kept in Git.
Is Beancount open source?: Yes. Beancount is open source under the GPL-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at beancount/beancount and is written mainly in Python.
Is Beancount free?: Yes. Beancount is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What is Beancount an alternative to?: Beancount is an open-source alternative to Quicken and YNAB. Other open-source alternatives to Quicken include Fava, hledger and Paisa.
Is Beancount actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Beancount was on 23 August 2026. The project has 6k stars on GitHub.