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10 top picks · 2 audience rankings

Best open source accounting software

The best open source accounting software is Odoo, with 54,848 GitHub stars, the LGPL-3.0 license and a Docker image; ERPNext and Dolibarr are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: Odoo leads for startups, small business and freelancers. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 23 apps in the accounting & invoicing category of the appsgit catalog.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    Odoo

    odoo/odoo

    Free open source ERP system.

    ERP & InventoryPythonDocker

    Odoo has 54,848 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 10,679 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS.

  2. Rank 2:

    ERPNext

    frappe/erpnext

    ERP system to help you run your business.

    ERP & InventoryPythonDocker

    ERPNext has 39,821 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,664 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS.

  3. Rank 3:

    Dolibarr

    Dolibarr/dolibarr

    Modern CRM software package to manage your company or foundation activity (contacts, suppliers, invoices, orders, stocks, agenda, accounting, ...).

    ERP & InventoryPHPDocker

    Dolibarr has 7,686 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 8,073 commits in the last year; it replaces Square POS and Shopify POS.

1 of 3 · 10 picks

Top picks

10 of the 23 apps in the accounting & invoicing category, ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Odoo

    Free open source ERP system.

    Odoo has 54,848 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 10,679 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS.

  2. 2

    ERPNext

    ERP system to help you run your business.

    ERPNext has 39,821 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,664 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS.

  3. 3

    Dolibarr

    Modern CRM software package to manage your company or foundation activity (contacts, suppliers, invoices, orders, stocks, agenda, accounting, ...).

    Dolibarr has 7,686 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 8,073 commits in the last year; it replaces Square POS and Shopify POS.

  4. 4

    Aureus ERP

    Modular Laravel and FilamentPHP ERP with plugins for accounting, invoicing, inventory, HR, CRM and projects.

    Aureus ERP has 12,031 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 2,329 commits in the last year; it replaces NetSuite and SAP Business One.

  5. 5

    Lago

    Metering and usage-based billing.

    Lago has 10,657 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 174 commits in the last year.

  6. 6

    Invoice Ninja

    Powerful tool to invoice clients online.

    Invoice Ninja has 10,223 GitHub stars, is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0 (not an open-source license), ships a Docker image and had 2,002 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Xero.

  7. 7

    hledger

    Plain text double-entry accounting with command-line, terminal and web interfaces, multi-currency support and CSV import.

    hledger has 4,746 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,992 commits in the last year.

  8. 8

    Bigcapital

    Financial accounting and inventory management software for small to medium businesses.

    Bigcapital has 3,921 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,005 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Xero.

  9. 9

    Kill Bill

    Subscription billing & payments platform. Have access to real-time analytics and financial reports.

    Kill Bill has 5,783 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 201 commits in the last year.

  10. 10

    TaxHacker

    Self-hosted AI accounting app that extracts data from receipts and invoices, converts currencies and organizes income and expenses.

    AI-nativeTaxHacker has 6,734 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 69 commits in the last year.

2 of 3 · 5 picks

Best for startups

Ranked for startups on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Odoo

    Free open source ERP system.

    Odoo has 54,848 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 10,679 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    ERPNext

    ERP system to help you run your business.

    ERPNext has 39,821 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,664 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Dolibarr

    Modern CRM software package to manage your company or foundation activity (contacts, suppliers, invoices, orders, stocks, agenda, accounting, ...).

    Dolibarr has 7,686 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 8,073 commits in the last year; it replaces Square POS and Shopify POS. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Aureus ERP

    Modular Laravel and FilamentPHP ERP with plugins for accounting, invoicing, inventory, HR, CRM and projects.

    Aureus ERP has 12,031 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 2,329 commits in the last year; it replaces NetSuite and SAP Business One. For startups it also scores on a permissive license (MIT), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    Kill Bill

    Subscription billing & payments platform. Have access to real-time analytics and financial reports.

    Kill Bill has 5,783 GitHub stars, uses the Apache-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 201 commits in the last year. For startups it also scores on a Docker image, a permissive license (Apache-2.0), a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

3 of 3 · 5 picks

Best for small business and freelancers

Ranked for small business and freelancers (the same order for each) on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    Odoo

    Free open source ERP system.

    Odoo has 54,848 GitHub stars, uses the LGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 10,679 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    ERPNext

    ERP system to help you run your business.

    ERPNext has 39,821 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 6,664 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Square POS. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Dolibarr

    Modern CRM software package to manage your company or foundation activity (contacts, suppliers, invoices, orders, stocks, agenda, accounting, ...).

    Dolibarr has 7,686 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 8,073 commits in the last year; it replaces Square POS and Shopify POS. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Lago

    Metering and usage-based billing.

    Lago has 10,657 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 174 commits in the last year. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    hledger

    Plain text double-entry accounting with command-line, terminal and web interfaces, multi-currency support and CSV import.

    hledger has 4,746 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,992 commits in the last year. For small business it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license, a project website and a commit in the last 90 days.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source accounting software?

The best open source accounting software is Odoo, with 54,848 GitHub stars, the LGPL-3.0 license and a Docker image; ERPNext and Dolibarr are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: Odoo leads for startups, small business and freelancers. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 23 apps in the accounting & invoicing category of the appsgit catalog.

Is Odoo free?

Yes. Odoo is open-source software released under the LGPL-3.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Which open source accounting software is best for a startup?

Odoo ranks first for startups, with 54,848 GitHub stars, the LGPL-3.0 license and a Docker image; ERPNext and Dolibarr follow. The startups ranking adds points for Docker images, permissive licenses, project websites and recent commits on top of stars and activity.

Which open source accounting software is best for a small business?

Odoo ranks first for small business, with 54,848 GitHub stars, the LGPL-3.0 license and a Docker image; ERPNext and Dolibarr follow. The small business ranking adds points for Docker images, open-source licenses, project websites, recent commits and deploy guides on top of stars and activity.

Can I self-host these accounting software options with Docker?

Yes, 9 of the 10 picks. Odoo, ERPNext and Dolibarr publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose. The others install from their own packages or source; follow each project's install guide.

Are all of these accounting software options open source?

9 of the 10 apps on this list are open source; 1 is source-available. Source-available licenses add conditions, such as limits on hosted or commercial use, so read them before you deploy.

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