8 self-hosted options
Open-source alternatives to QuickBooks
The best self-hosted alternatives to QuickBooks are Bigcapital, ERPNext and Invoice Ninja.
About QuickBooks: Intuit's accounting and invoicing software for small businesses.
Every option below is free to self-host and ranked by GitHub stars, so you can move off QuickBooks without giving up the features you rely on.
Top picks
- Rank 1:
Bigcapital
bigcapitalhq/bigcapital
Financial accounting and inventory management software for small to medium businesses.
Accounting & InvoicingTypeScriptDocker - Rank 2:
ERPNext
frappe/erpnext
ERP system to help you run your business.
ERP & InventoryPythonDocker - Rank 3:
Invoice Ninja
invoiceninja/invoiceninja
Powerful tool to invoice clients online.
Source-availableAccounting & InvoicingPHPDocker
Why switch
Why teams move off QuickBooks
Self-hosting is not only about saving money. These are the reasons people make the switch.
Own your data
Your data lives on a server you control, not on QuickBooks's infrastructure. No surprise policy changes and no lock-in.
No per-seat pricing
Most self-hosted alternatives to QuickBooks are free to run for as many users as your server can handle; source-available ones may cap usage, so check each license. A small VPS often costs less than a single subscription.
Customize and extend
Read the code, add plugins, connect it to your own tools and automate it through open APIs. When you need a feature, you can build it or fund it.
Full ranking
All 8 QuickBooks alternatives
Ranked by GitHub stars. Open any app for live stats, license details and a deploy option.
- 1
Bigcapital
Financial accounting and inventory management software for small to medium businesses.
Accounting & InvoicingDocker - 2
ERPNext
ERP system to help you run your business.
ERP & InventoryDocker - 3
Invoice Ninja
Powerful tool to invoice clients online.
Source-availableAccounting & InvoicingDocker - 4
Akaunting
Accounting software designed for small businesses and freelancers.
Source-availableAccounting & Invoicing - 5
Odoo
Free open source ERP system.
ERP & InventoryDocker - 6
LedgerSMB
Integrated accounting and ERP system for small and midsize businesses, with double entry accounting, budgeting, invoicing, quotations, projects, orders and inventory management, shipping and more.
Accounting & InvoicingDocker - 7
ERPSAAS
Laravel and Filament accounting platform with double-entry accrual accounting, invoicing, bank connections and financial reports.
Accounting & Invoicing - 8
InvoiceShelf
Track expenses, payments & create professional invoices & estimates (fork of Crater).
Accounting & InvoicingDocker
What is the best open-source alternative to QuickBooks?
Bigcapital is the most popular open-source alternative to QuickBooks, with 3,921 GitHub stars. ERPNext and Odoo are also strong choices. Compare features, license and recent activity to find the best fit for your team.
Is there a free alternative to QuickBooks?
Yes. 6 of the 8 apps on this page are open source; 2 are source-available. The open-source ones are free to self-host without per-user fees; source-available licenses add conditions such as user caps, limits on hosted use or a paid license for production, so read them before you commit. You only pay for the server, and a small VPS is usually enough for personal use or a small team.
Can I self-host an alternative to QuickBooks?
Yes. Bigcapital, ERPNext and Invoice Ninja ship a Docker image, so you can run them on a home server or VPS with Docker Compose in a few minutes. Your data then stays on hardware you control.
How do I migrate from QuickBooks?
Start by exporting your data from QuickBooks, then check the import options of the app you pick, since many projects ship importers for popular formats. Run both side by side for a week before you switch so nothing is lost.