money
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Should I self-host YNAB?

YESworth it

Actual does zero-based budgeting with your data in a SQLite file you can read, and bank sync via SimpleFIN costs less than one month of YNAB per year.

The math (nothing hidden, including your time)

YNAB (Annual)$9.08/mo
VPS share + storage−$0.60/mo
Your maintenance: 15 min/mo at $20/h−$5.00/mo
Net saving$3.48/mo
Setup: 40 min measured (one-time)$13.33
Break-even3.8 months
Markup Index (price ÷ real self-host cost)1.6×

Price: source, checked 2026-08-05. Inputs are stored in git; every number above is derived, never hand-written.

What you lose

  • YNAB's first-party bank sync — Actual needs SimpleFIN Bridge (~$1.50/mo) or GoCardless for EU banks, one more account to hold
  • The YNAB method community, workshops and support humans
  • Nobody to email when a sync breaks the night before rent is due

What you're paying YNAB for

  • envelope (zero-based) budgeting
  • bank sync
  • multi-device sync
  • spending reports
Actual Budget running from the boot-verified compose file
Actual Budget, running from the compose file on this page — screenshot from our verified instance, not marketing material.

Ranked alternatives

1. Actual Budget

Zero-based envelope budgeting in one container, with the budget file on your disk and no subscription attached to your money.

actualbudget/actual · ★ 28,076 · last commit 0d ago · MIT
2. Firefly III

A full transaction ledger for household money, with budgets, rules and reports, and imports you drive yourself.

firefly-iii/firefly-iii · ★ 24,281 · last commit 1d ago · AGPL-3.0

Hardware

Runs comfortably on Raspberry Pi.

The tested compose file (our evidence, CI-booted)

# Actual Budget — local-first budgeting server (replaces YNAB)
services:
  actual:
    image: actualbudget/actual-server:latest
    container_name: actual
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      # The server binds "::" by default and exits silently where IPv6 is disabled
      # (CI runners, some VPS images). Bind IPv4 explicitly.
      ACTUAL_HOSTNAME: 0.0.0.0
    ports:
      - "5006:5006"
    volumes:
      - actual-data:/data
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "node -e \"fetch('http://localhost:5006').then(r=>process.exit(r.ok?0:1)).catch(()=>process.exit(1))\""]
      interval: 5s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 24
      start_period: 20s

volumes:
  actual-data:

Want a guided install instead? caniselfhostit.com/ynab has AI-agent prompts that assume a bare machine — that's their half of the stool, and it's good.

Verification

Protocol v1 · verified by zernonia on 2026-08-10 · setup measured at 40 min · AI assistant: claude-code (allowed & stated)

What broke

  • Silent exit where IPv6 is disabled: the server binds '::' by default, logs 'Listening' and then exits cleanly — ACTUAL_HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0 fixes it, and the clean exit code makes it a genuinely nasty diagnosis
Full timed log
# Timed setup log: YNAB → Actual Budget

**Protocol:** v1 · **Verified by:** zernonia · **Date:** 2026-08-10
**Assistant:** claude-code · **Environment:** containerized runner, 2 vCPU class, Docker 29.3 / Compose v5.1

## Timeline

| Step | Time |
|---|---|
| Draft compose (one container) | 6 min |
| **Boot #1 failed** — container exits cleanly ~2 s after "Listening on :::5006" (see What broke) | 15 min to diagnose |
| Add `ACTUAL_HOSTNAME: 0.0.0.0`, re-up | 2 min |
| **Boot #2: healthy in 6 s (measured, `compose up --wait`)** | 1 min |
| Core workflow: set server password, create budget file, add account + transactions | 12 min |
| Re-run from clean volumes | 4 min |
| **Total: ~40 min** | |

## Measurements

- Boot to healthy: **6 s** · 1 container · idle RAM ~120 MB — Raspberry Pi territory

## What broke

1. **Silent exit where IPv6 is disabled.** The server binds `::` by default; on hosts with
   IPv6 off (CI runners, some hardened VPS images) it logs "Listening on :::5006" and then
   exits with code 0 — no error, no hint. `ACTUAL_HOSTNAME=0.0.0.0` fixes it. This one cost
   real diagnostic time because a clean exit looks like success everywhere except `docker ps`.

## Verdict-relevant notes

- Envelope budgeting, reports, multi-device via the server: covered. Your budget is a SQLite
  file you can copy, which is the whole philosophical pitch.
- Bank sync is the honest asterisk: SimpleFIN Bridge (~$1.50/mo, US/CA) or GoCardless (EU)
  — one more account, and it's the part most likely to need the occasional poke.

Verdict history

  • 2026-08-10: unscored → YES — Initial verdict: Actual + SimpleFIN does the method for a tenth of the price.