Key Highlights:
- Online accounting software
- Completely free and open source
- Client Portal
- Invoicing
- Expense tracking
- Reporting
- Cashflow
If you are looking for a FreshBooks alternative, you should give Akaunting a try. It is an interesting online accounting software that offers a whole lot of features, ranging from invoicing to managing deposits and transfers. You can get started for free and upgrade to premium plans for more features and better customer support.
The free plan should be sufficient for most individuals and small businesses. Akaunting is suitable for both personal and enterprise needs. You have the option to use the hosted instance provided by Akaunting or host it yourself. Go ahead and give it a try!
2. Skrooge
Key Highlights:
- Personal finances manager
- Tailored for Plasma Desktop but compatible with others too
- Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, and macOS)
Skrooge is one of the most useful personal finances managers by KDE. It supports most basic features (reporting, budgeting, etc.) and allows you to work on pretty big data sets. It is originally tailored for the Plasma Desktop, but other desktop environments are compatible.
3. Frappe Books
Key Highlights:
- Good user experience
- Offline app
- Cross-platform support
Frappe Books is an offline desktop app that uses a local SQLite file as the database. You can refer to its documentation and GitHub page to learn more.
It offers a nice user experience while providing the essentials across multiple platforms. You can use it for invoicing, double-entry accounting, journal, payments, financial reports, and more.
Frappe Book is a free open-source accounting software tailored for businesses and freelancers.
4. Apache OFBiz
Key Highlights:
- ERP & CRM
- Developer-friendly
- Powerful Java Web Framework
- Cross-platform (Linux and macOS)
Apache OFBiz is an impressive open-source solution that incorporates an ERP system and a CRM suite for various requirements. We’ve already mentioned this in our list of best open source CRM software.
In addition to all the basic features needed for accounting software, it lets a developer extend/enhance features easily while being a Java-based web framework. It’s completely free – however, you will have to host it yourself (or hire someone to do it).
5. iDempiere
Key Highlights:
- Community-focused
- Simple and useful
- Cross-platform (Linux and Windows)
iDempiere is a community-focused accounting software maintained by an active group of people. Originally based on ADEmpiere ERP, it aims to utilize technologies like Apache Maven to provide a business suite ERP/CRM/SCM.
You can download installers like Docker image to host it yourself or utilize their online demo.
6. Openmiracle
Key Highlights:
- Plug-ins available
- Completely free
Openmiracle is a quite popular open source and free accounting software. So, you can utilize all the power and flexibility for free. There’s no premium plans to it.
There are a lot of things to explore in Openmiracle. It features all the necessary options needed in an accounting software, from setting the budget to managing the payroll.
7. GnuCash
Key Highlights:
- Cross-platform (Linux, Windows, and macOS)
- Fit for personal and small businesses
GNUCash is a great open-source financial accounting software available across multiple platforms (including Linux), so that’s a plus. It is perfect for managing stocks, income, and expenses for small businesses or individuals.
It has a lot to offer, from quick calculation features to comprehensive reports.
8.LedgerSMB
Key Highlights:
- Dead simple open source ERP
- Optional commercial support available
- Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, and macOS)
A powerful yet simple open source accounting solution tailored to small and medium-sized businesses. You also get the ability to translate (up to 45 languages supported), starting from managing invoices to inventory. You can test it out yourself by trying the pre-release version or getting the latest stable build.
9. GNUKhata
Key Highlights:
- GST, VAT compliant Invoices if you are based in India (tailored for Indian users)
- Easy to use
- Simple user interface
- Cross-platform (Windows and Linux)
GNUKhata is a simple and robust accounting software available for free.
From the looks of it, the setup is easy and anyone can get used to it. Feel free to try it out and explore
10. KMyMoney
Key Highlights:
- Simple and functional
- Cross-platform
- Easy-to-use
KMyMoney is yet another free and open-source software managed by KDE. It offers a simple user interface but gets the job done. You can easily utilize it for managing accounts, transactions, ledgers, and a lot more. As you can see in the screenshot above, it appears to be a full-fledged solution. You can choose to install it from the software center or install it from git if you want the latest version
11. Odoo
Key Highlights:
- Web-based app
- 15-days trial (not completely free)
- Bunch of 3rd party integrations
If you might have read about the best open source CRM software, you could have noticed the suite of open-source web apps offered by Odoo.
Fortunately, they also offer something for accounting. If you do not mind paying for accounting software (maybe for your enterprise) while having an open-source solution, this can be your choice.
Try it out or check out their GitHub page to learn more about their suite of apps available.
12. HomeBank
Key Highlights:
- Cross-platform
- Simple and easy-to-use
HomeBank is a decent tool, although it may not be a popular choice. If you want just another alternative to take a look at, HomeBank is worth considering.
You can find it in the software center, just like some others. However, if you want the latest version installed, you can follow the official download instructions for Ubuntu by adding a PPA.
