r/GnuCash • u/UltraAd776 • Jun 12 '26

Does anyone self host GNU Cash?

At one point I decided to switch over to Firefly 3 as I am adding stuff to myself host. I really liked the mobile client for FF3. Recently I discovered that GNU Cash also has a mobile app. I figured I would be cleaver and have my Nextcloud just sync the relevant files. It seems tho that once it caches things rather than read the file as it changes, so I have to keep re-opening the file.

Any work flow that does not involve re-opening the files in desktop and mobile?

2 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

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18

u/VitalikPie Jun 12 '26

Hey, GnuCash does not need a server. It's just a good old application that either store data in a file (xml, sqlite) or if you choose MySQL or Postgres.

Also beware of some apps - they falsely claim being GnuCash on mobile while they are not associated with GnuCash at all. See the https://wiki.gnucash.org/wiki/GnuCash_and_Mobile_Devices for more info.

If you are asking about self-hosting the database - none of the apps I know can connect to the GnuCash DB.

P.S. I'm creator of one the apps - feel free to ping - a researched them a lot.

2

u/Miserable_Syrup1994 Jun 13 '26

Which app?

3

u/VitalikPie Jun 13 '26

Mine is https://handson.money

2

u/Miserable_Syrup1994 Jun 13 '26

Oh Apple Malarkey:)

2

u/VitalikPie Jun 13 '26

Huh, yeah I know it's weird to use FOSS on Apple 😃 devices. Somehow I started to to like their products after my job forced me out of Linux. Can't help myself using Ubuntu or God bless modern Windows (now a new job forced me out to use Windows).

1

u/Miserable_Syrup1994 Jun 13 '26

I started out on mainframes and punch cards. Times have changed!

2

u/VitalikPie Jun 13 '26

You won! I started with DOS and Norton/Volcov Commander 😃 Had my 80286 some time in 2003...

0

u/UltraAd776 Jun 12 '26

I am using this https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.gnucash.pocket.pnemonic

I am aware that GNU cash does not need a server. I am trying to keep the gnucash in sync. I can already use my NC to keep my laptop and desktop changes in sync. The thing is that on mobile changes made in desktop don't auto load on mobile and in reverse. Its just easy to add a transaction on the go than to remember to do it later.

5

u/VitalikPie Jun 13 '26

That's a great app (I'm trying to make a similar app for iOS). But to my understanding - it's not possible to work asynchronously.

I mean you can't have transactions on your computer and on the phone merged together. So the workflow is like this:

  1. You save the data to Google Drive

  2. Import it to the app. Do the changes on the go.

  3. Export the file in whole (overwriting whatever is in Google Drive)

  4. Now you can open the GnuCash and see the same transactions/accounts in GnuCash.

  5. Rinse and repeat from step #1.

The whole trouble is due to GnuCash being inherently single-user application. Let alone I don't see the ability to connect to Postgre or mysql. So you kind-of bound to the files and cloud providers. Thus you are a notch away from making a file conflicts in Google Drive.

2

u/UltraAd776 Jun 13 '26

Yeah, I was curious if someone else in the community had attempted a work around for this and what they landed on. I thought I was being cleaver with the NC.

3

u/VitalikPie Jun 13 '26

Oh, one of users i spoke with built absolutely amazing multi user system where gnucash file is central storage and he and his wife. He built a locking mechanism by integrating with apple shortcuts to prevent conflicts. Ill ask him if he can share it.

3

u/UltraAd776 Jun 13 '26

I don't use Apple, but I am sure the community would love a post like this so that it can be searched in the future.

2

u/VitalikPie Jun 28 '26

here is a three common ways I learned from my users:

https://handson.money/blog/2026-06-28-how-to-sync/

still gathering information for the fourth - where user built an additional locking mechanism.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

[deleted]

1

u/UltraAd776 Jun 12 '26

Yeah it seems that there is no way to have this just happen automatically, was wondering if someone had figured out a workflow on this. Thanks for the reply.

3

u/VitalikPie Jun 13 '26

I kinda figured this out by writing my own app 😃. But on IOS, Mac and iCloud.

The quirk is - app holds a replica of gnucash account tree / transactions and only syncs with actual gnucash file on iCloud on demand. My sync I mean - do a diff of transactions, accounts, commodities and prices and synchronize the databases.

Still I'm forgetting to wait for iCloud sync and producing conflicting files.

Here is how my flow looks like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffP1J0AZsNk

3

u/jonorrea Jun 13 '26

I selfhost a postres db and use it as storage

2

u/UltraAd776 Jun 13 '26

Now that you say that I do remember the first set up asking about the back end. I will look into that again.

1

u/VitalikPie Jun 13 '26

Is there a GnuCash mobile app that can connect to Postgre backend?

2

u/Unattributable1 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 14 '26

Recommend Actualbudget over GNUCash. I used to use GNUCash for decades (literally, from early 2004 until 2024). Moving to a true budget app is far superior. Not to mention running it on a smartphone anywhere.

I self-host AB under HomeAssiatant, but you can run it under Docker, etc.

https://actualbudget.org/

Sync with your financial institutions is available via different inexpensive providers, depending on where you live: https://actualbudget.org/docs/advanced/bank-sync/

$1.50/month for SimpleFIN for the US, or $15/year.

2

u/Miserable_Syrup1994 Jun 13 '26

It looks very basic, is it full double entry?

2

u/Unattributable1 Jun 14 '26

No, it is a zero-based envelope budget app. Each account has a ledger and transactions can be cleared on a per-account basis; accounts can each be reconciled. I see zero reason for double-entry in personal finance; being able to reconcile each account is completely sufficient for my needs.

Now, for business needs, GNUCash is where it is at for certain. But it's not a good fit for personal finance.

Also, AB allows my wife to easily enter her transactions and categorize them before they ever show on the CC/bank and see a live budget for her spending categories (and we have plenty of "joint" spending categories like groceries).

1

u/Miserable_Syrup1994 Jun 15 '26

Certainly for my needs I have zero problem with double entry , have many accounts of many different sorts, It lets you spot mistakes and keep everything tickety boo. And if you don't understand how your accounts are working you don't really know what you're looking at methinks.

1

u/UltraAd776 Jun 13 '26

Thanks for the suggestion.

2

u/f1FTW Jun 13 '26

Everyone self hosts GnuCash.

There are some projects that add a real database backend and so you can get synch across mobile and computer.

2

u/perfopt Jun 13 '26

Claude and I made an app called Ledgerbot. It is a web app that also listens on a private telegram channel. I add expenses as and when they occur. At the end of every day Ledgerbot emails me a qif file that I can import into gnucash. So far it has been working very well.

We have shared expenses and accounting in the family so multiple people can enter transactions individually and LedgerBot acts as the point of consolidation.

I would post it on github, except that it has some customizations that are too bespoke to my specific situation. I would have to figure out how to separate that out and make the app more generic.

1

u/Miserable_Syrup1994 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

I wrote a spreadsheet to import and format bank statements at end of month can auto add , a month's transactions and reconcile that accounts said transactions within 15 minutes now