# Monarch Money vs Firefly III (2026): Free Alternative to Monarch Money

Canonical: https://caniforkit.com/vs/monarch-money-vs-firefly-iii
Last updated: 2026-08-11

Compare Monarch Money ($14.99/mo) vs Firefly III ($0/mo open source AGPL-3.0+ alternative to Monarch Money). Side-by-side breakdown of pricing, self-hosting setup, data storage, and practical trade-offs.

## Side-by-Side Comparison Matrix

| Feature / Metric | Monarch Money | Firefly III |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Subscription | $14.99/mo | $0.00 / month |
| 1-Seat Annual Cost | $180/yr | $0.00 / year |
| 5-Person Team Annual Cost | $899/yr | $0.00 / year |
| 10-Person Team Annual Cost | $1,799/yr | $0.00 / year |
| License Model | Proprietary Commercial SaaS | AGPL-3.0+ |
| Hosting / Runtime | Vendor Cloud | Self-host |
| Data Ownership | Stored on vendor servers | Transactions, accounts, budgets, rules, and metadata live in the configured MariaDB/MySQL or PostgreSQL database; uploads and generated files live in persistent server volumes. |
| GitHub Stars | Closed Source | ★ 24k |
| Code Repository | None | https://github.com/firefly-iii/firefly-iii |
| The Catch / Trade-off | Recurring subscription cost | Firefly III requires server administration and is weaker than Monarch for investment tracking, household collaboration, polished goals, automatic institution sync, and mobile usability. |

## About Firefly III
Transactions, budgets, goals and net worth in Docker; portfolio analysis is not its favourite spreadsheet.

- **Installation**: Official Docker Compose deployment; a separate Firefly III Data Importer is normally added for bank files
- **Setup Notes**: The first obstacle is operating a real web service, Docker, a database, application secrets, TLS, mail, backups, upgrades, and usually the separate importer plus an API token.
- **Data Storage**: Transactions, accounts, budgets, rules, and metadata live in the configured MariaDB/MySQL or PostgreSQL database; uploads and generated files live in persistent server volumes.
- **Supported Platforms**: web, self-hosted, docker to self-host
- **The Catch vs Monarch Money**: Firefly III requires server administration and is weaker than Monarch for investment tracking, household collaboration, polished goals, automatic institution sync, and mobile usability.

## Cost Savings Breakdown
Switching from Monarch Money to Firefly III eliminates ongoing per-seat subscriptions:
- **Solo / 1-seat**: Save **$180/year**
- **5-person team**: Save **$899/year**
- **10-person team**: Save **$1,799/year**

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is Firefly III a good free alternative to Monarch Money?
Yes. Firefly III is a verified open source (AGPL-3.0+) replacement for Monarch Money. Transactions, budgets, goals and net worth in Docker; portfolio analysis is not its favourite spreadsheet.

### What is the catch when switching from Monarch Money to Firefly III?
Firefly III requires server administration and is weaker than Monarch for investment tracking, household collaboration, polished goals, automatic institution sync, and mobile usability.

## Related

- [All Monarch Money Alternatives](https://caniforkit.com/monarch-money)
- [Firefly III Full Profile](https://caniforkit.com/fork/firefly-iii)
- [personal finance Category Hub](https://caniforkit.com/category/personal-finance)
- [All Paid SaaS Alternatives Index](https://caniforkit.com/alternatives)