Firefly III or Actual Budget?

Actual is envelope budgeting: simple, opinionated, built for "give every dollar a job". Firefly III is fuller accounting: multiple account types, rules, bills and deep reporting. If you are unsure, start with Actual; if you outgrow it, Firefly is waiting.

Does it connect to my bank?

The Firefly III data importer connects to European banks through GoCardless and to many US banks through SimpleFIN. Elsewhere, including Australia, most users import CSV exports from their bank; saved mappings make that a five-minute weekly habit.

Is my financial data private?

Your instance is yours alone, in your chosen region, with daily backups. We access instance contents only to operate the service. The acceptable use policy spells that out.

Who keeps Firefly III updated?

We do. Curated updates roll out shortly after upstream releases and are tested on our platform first; security fixes move fast. If an update changes behaviour in a breaking way, we email you before it lands.

What happens to my data if I cancel?

Take a final export or SFTP copy any time before you cancel. After termination we keep your data for 14 days (in case you change your mind), then purge it, backups included.

Can I use my own domain?

Yes. Point a CNAME at your instance, prove ownership with a TXT record, and TLS certificates are issued automatically. Cloudflare-proxied domains work; if you use CAA records, allow letsencrypt.org.

Finance

Managed Firefly III hosting

See where every dollar goes: budgets, bills and net worth on your own server

Live in minutes
Daily backups, one-click restore
SFTP access, no lock-in
from US$1.70/mo in Poland

Deploy Firefly IIIStart free with $5 credit · no card needed

Firefly IIIWhat you're getting

Firefly III is a full double-entry personal finance manager: accounts, budgets, bills, rules, reports and charts. It is the serious tool for people who want to understand their money, not just categorise it.

Your complete financial picture is exactly the data most people hesitate to hand a startup. On CoreHost, Firefly III runs on your own managed instance in your region, served over HTTPS, backed up daily with one-click restore.

Replaces paid budgeting SaaS: typically US$8 to $15/mo, with your finances in their cloud.

On CoreHost

Double-entry accounting with budgets, bills and rules
Powerful rule engine auto-categorises transactions
CSV/camt import from practically any bank export
Reports and charts that answer real questions

In the browserSee it running

Screenshot published by the Firefly III project.

Included with every appStandard, not add-ons

Daily backups, one-click restore

Every instance is backed up daily. Restore any snapshot yourself from the panel. No support ticket, no fee.

SFTP file access

Direct SFTP access to your app's data folders. Your files are never locked away from you.

Custom domain + auto TLS

Bring your own domain with a CNAME and a TXT verification record. Certificates are issued and renewed automatically.

AI + human support

A 24/7 AI engineer that can actually inspect and fix your app, with a human escalation path. App-level help included.

Automatic updates with rollback

Each update is tested on a copy and backed up first, and rolled back automatically if the app fails its checks.

Per-app firewall

Restrict access to the IP addresses you choose, with an Add my IP button. Off by default.

Backups to your own S3

Add encrypted, incremental backups to your own S3-compatible storage on top of the daily ones we include.

Resize any time

Move up or down a tier from the panel. Your balance is drawn by the hour, so you pay the new rate from the change.

RegionsWhere Firefly III runs

Firefly III can be deployed in Sydney, the US and Poland. Pick the region closest to the people who use it. Daily backups are encrypted and stored in the EU.

Sydneyfrom US$2.30/moClosest to Australia and New Zealand.
The USfrom US$2.30/moClosest to the Americas.
Polandfrom US$1.70/moLowest price, 25% less than the other regions.

Moving to CoreHostMove your existing Firefly III here

Already running Firefly III on PikaPods, a VPS or your own server? You can bring your data with you. Deploy the app here first, then follow the route below, and keep your old app until you are happy.

Use Firefly III's own import

Export CSV files from your bank and import them under Automation, then set up rules so new transactions sort themselves. Moving an existing Firefly III with its history is a database and key copy: open a ticket.

Ways to move it

Do it yourself. Deploy Firefly III, let it start once, then use the steps on this page, with SFTP and the file manager in the Files tab. A backup taken first gives you a clean point to go back to.
Ask us to move it. Open a ticket from your control panel with the app and where it runs now. Support will tell you what can be moved and help you do it, and nobody touches your old app.

Coming from PikaPods? Switch on SFTP in the pod's settings, stop the pod and copy its files; PikaPods documents this as its manual backup for migrations.

How moving to CoreHost works CoreHost compared with PikaPods More Budgeting and finance apps

DeployPick a size and a region

1. Plan (Firefly III needs Standard or larger to run well)

Prices exclude GST/VAT where applicable. Drawn hourly from your prepaid balance, cancel any time.

Too small for this app

Lite

$1.50/mo

1 vCPU
1 GB RAM
5 GB NVMe

Lightweight tools: bookmarks, feeds, uptime checks, password vaults.

Standard

$2.30/mo

1 vCPU
2 GB RAM
10 GB NVMe

The right fit for most apps: automation, wikis, databases.

Power

$3.90/mo

2 vCPU
4 GB RAM
20 GB NVMe

Busy teams and heavier workloads with room to breathe.

Scale

$6.30/mo

3 vCPU
8 GB RAM
40 GB NVMe

The most demanding apps in the catalog, at full stride.

Extra storage+25 GB NVMe per block, stackable on any tier

+$0.00/mo

2. Region

…

Australia

$2.30/mo

…

United States