What is Fava used for?

Fava is a web interface for the Beancount double-entry accounting system, built to make plain-text bookkeeping easier to explore. It is a good fit for reviewing plain-text accounts in a browser and personal finance tracking with Beancount.

Yes. Fava is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at beancount/fava and is written mainly in Python.

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

Can I self-host Fava?

Yes. Fava can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Fava an alternative to?

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

Is Fava actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Fava was on 2 October 2026. The project has 2.6k stars on GitHub.

Fava: open-source alternative to Quicken, YNAB

About Fava

Fava is a web interface for Beancount, a double-entry bookkeeping tool that keeps your accounts in plain text files. Fava focuses on features and usability: it reads your ledger and presents it in a browser so you can view reports and explore your finances without working only from the command line.

If you already know Beancount, getting started is short. You install Fava with pip, point it at your Beancount file with the fava command, and open the interface at localhost on port 5000. New users are directed to a Getting Started guide, and there is an online demo to try first. The documentation also covers the Python API and extension points.

The project is written in Python and licensed under MIT. It ships a changelog, development notes and API documentation for modules such as the core, beans, plugins and extension system, and it offers a chat room and an issue tracker for support. It is a good fit for people who already keep their accounts in Beancount and want a visual front end.

Key features

Web interface for Beancount ledgers
Runs locally with a single command
Online demo available
Extension system for custom features
Python API documentation

Good fit for

→Reviewing plain-text accounts in a browser
→Personal finance tracking with Beancount

Built with: Python
Tags: beancount; plaintext-accounting; accounting; bookkeeping; ledger; python; web-interface; personal-finance

Fava: questions and answers

What is Fava used for?: Fava is a web interface for the Beancount double-entry accounting system, built to make plain-text bookkeeping easier to explore. It is a good fit for reviewing plain-text accounts in a browser and personal finance tracking with Beancount.
Is Fava open source?: Yes. Fava is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at beancount/fava and is written mainly in Python.
Is Fava free?: Yes. Fava is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Fava?: Yes. Fava can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Fava an alternative to?: Fava is an open-source alternative to Quicken and YNAB. Other open-source alternatives to Quicken include Beancount, Paisa and Firefly III.
Is Fava actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Fava was on 2 October 2026. The project has 2.6k stars on GitHub.