Actual Budget - Self-Hosted

Personal finance management with native Plaid integration, running locally via Docker.

Features

• 📊 Budget Management - Zero-based budgeting system
• 🏦 Bank Sync - Native Plaid integration for automatic transaction imports
• 📱 Modern UI - Fast, responsive interface
• 🔒 Self-Hosted - Your data stays on your computer
• 💾 End-to-End Encryption - Optional encrypted sync
• 📊 Reports - Cash flow, net worth, spending trends
• 🔄 Multi-Device Sync - Sync across devices (optional)

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop installed on your Mac
• Docker Compose (included with Docker Desktop)

Installation

1. Start Actual Budget:

   docker-compose up -d

2. Access the application:

   • Open your browser to: http://localhost:5006
   • Create your budget and set a password

3. Check status:

   docker-compose ps
   docker-compose logs -f actual-budget

First Time Setup

1. Open http://localhost:5006
2. Click "Start fresh" or "Import from..."
3. Set a password for your budget
4. Start adding accounts!

Bank Integration (Plaid)

Setting up Bank Sync:

1. In Actual Budget, go to Settings → Experimental Features
2. Enable SimpleFIN or GoCardless integration
3. Or use the Plaid integration (requires SimpleFIN bridge)

Option 1: SimpleFIN (Recommended)

• SimpleFIN provides Plaid-based bank connections
• $1.50/month per connected institution
• Go to: https://beta-bridge.simplefin.org/

Option 2: Direct CSV Import

• Download transactions from your bank
• Import via File → Import Transactions

Option 3: Manual Plaid Integration

If you have a Plaid developer account:

1. Use Actual Budget's API
2. Build a custom bridge (community examples available)

Common Commands

# Start the container
docker-compose up -d

# Stop the container
docker-compose down

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f

# Update to latest version
docker-compose pull
docker-compose up -d

# Backup your data
docker run --rm -v actual-budget_actual-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/actual-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /data

# Restore from backup
docker run --rm -v actual-budget_actual-data:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar xzf /backup/actual-backup-YYYYMMDD.tar.gz -C /

File Structure

actual-budget/
├── docker-compose.yml    # Docker configuration
├── README.md            # This file
└── backups/            # Create this for storing backups

Port Configuration

• Default Port: 5006
• To change the port, edit docker-compose.yml:

  ports:
    - "YOUR_PORT:5006"

Data Location

Your budget data is stored in a Docker volume named actual-budget_actual-data.

To see where it's physically stored:

docker volume inspect actual-budget_actual-data

Backups

Automated Backup Script

Create backup.sh:

#!/bin/bash
BACKUP_DIR="./backups"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
docker run --rm \
  -v actual-budget_actual-data:/data \
  -v $(pwd)/backups:/backup \
  alpine tar czf /backup/actual-backup-$DATE.tar.gz /data
echo "Backup created: actual-backup-$DATE.tar.gz"

Make it executable:

chmod +x backup.sh

Troubleshooting

Container won't start

# Check logs
docker-compose logs actual-budget

# Remove and recreate
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

Can't access http://localhost:5006

• Ensure Docker Desktop is running
• Check if port 5006 is in use: lsof -i :5006
• Try accessing via: http://127.0.0.1:5006

Reset everything

docker-compose down
docker volume rm actual-budget_actual-data
docker-compose up -d

Upgrading

To get the latest version:

docker-compose pull
docker-compose up -d

Mobile Access

To access from your phone on the same network:

1. Find your Mac's IP address: ifconfig | grep inet
2. Access from phone: http://YOUR_MAC_IP:5006

Resources

• Official Documentation: https://actualbudget.org/docs/
• GitHub: https://github.com/actualbudget/actual
• Community Forum: https://actualbudget.org/community/
• Discord: https://discord.gg/pRYNYr4W5A

Next Steps

1. ✅ Start Actual Budget with docker-compose up -d
2. ✅ Create your first budget at http://localhost:5006
3. ✅ Add your accounts
4. ✅ Set up bank sync with SimpleFIN or CSV imports
5. ✅ Create budget categories
6. ✅ Start tracking your finances!

Comparison with Firefly III

Feature	Actual Budget	Firefly III
Bank Sync	✅ Native (SimpleFIN)	⚠️ Via Data Importer
Setup Difficulty	⭐ Easy	⭐⭐⭐ Complex
UI	Modern, Fast	Feature-rich
Budgeting Method	Zero-based	Flexible
Mobile App	Web-based	Web-based
Plaid Support	✅ Yes	⚠️ Indirect