hledger Review (2026)
hledger is free, plain-text accounting software: you keep double-entry books in a text file and get reports from the command line, a terminal screen or a local web page. It suits people comfortable in a terminal who want fast, version-controlled records and a built-in budget report. There is no bank sync and no official phone app.
By Wealthy Pot Editorial · Facts checked October 18, 2026
Facts checked October 18, 2026 against hledger's own pricing, help and policy pages (9 sources, listed below). We re-check prices about once a month. We do not earn a commission from hledger.
hledger at a glance
| Price | Free software [1] |
|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later [5] |
| Stable release | 1.52.4, September 10, 2026 [2] |
| Preview release | 1.99.5 ("2.0 preview 5"), October 2, 2026; the docs call both fit for daily use [2] |
| History | Developed continuously since the first release in 2007 [1] |
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, Linux and BSD binaries; community Docker image [2] |
| Interfaces | Command line, terminal UI (hledger-ui), web UI (hledger-web) [2] |
| Phone app | None official; the FAQ suggests MoLe, a third-party data-entry app [3] |
| Bank connections | None; CSV import with rules files, and an import --get command you configure [1] |
| Input formats | journal, CSV, TSV, SSV, rules, timeclock, timedot [1] |
| Budgets | Built-in periodic budget report (balance --budget) [4] |
| Investments | Tracks investments, cryptocurrency, time or any countable commodity [1] |
What hledger costs
| Plan | Paying monthly, 1 year | Annual plan, 1 year | 3 years (cheapest way) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | - | $0 |
Our arithmetic from the listed prices, before sales tax, assuming today's prices hold; subscriptions can renew at a different rate. hledger has no paid version or hosted service. It is created by Simon Michael and contributors.
How hledger works
You write transactions into a plain text journal file, each one listing the accounts it moves money between. hledger reads the file and prints balance sheets, income statements, registers and multi-period reports, which you can also output as HTML, CSV, JSON or SQL. If you prefer screens to commands, hledger-ui browses the same file in a terminal and hledger-web shows it in a browser.
Budgets are periodic transaction rules. A hypothetical example: you add a rule starting ~ monthly that sets $600 for expenses:food and $1,000 for expenses:personal, then run hledger balance --budget -M. Each month gets a column comparing actual spending with those goals, so $450 spent on food shows against the $600 target.
Bank data arrives as CSV. You write a rules file once per bank that says which column holds the date, amount and description and which account each payee belongs to; after that, the import command reads each new download with the same rules. The same periodic rules also drive forecasts of future balances.
Pros
- Budget report built into the main program
- Three interfaces over one text file: command line, terminal and web
- Ready-made binaries for Windows, Mac, Linux and BSD
- Reports export to HTML, CSV, JSON and SQL
- Developed continuously since 2007
Cons
- Commands and journal syntax take time to learn
- Each bank needs its own CSV rules file
- No official phone app
- hledger-web had two security fixes in August 2026, so web users must keep it updated
Who hledger fits, and who should skip it
A good fit if
- You live in a terminal and want accounting that runs from scripts and fits in Git.
- You want a budget-versus-actual report without adding another tool.
- You track investments, crypto or even hours worked in the same books.
Look elsewhere if
- You want point-and-click books with no commands: GnuCash is a desktop app with menus.
- You want a web app that several people use from phones: Firefly III or Actual Budget are built for that.
- You want bank sync done for you: Monarch Money connects to US banks.
Limitations to know
- There is no direct bank connection; transactions come in through CSV files and rules you write. [1]
- There is no official mobile app; the FAQ points to the third-party app MoLe for entering data on a phone. [3]
- hledger 1 now gets only essential fixes while 2.0 is in preview (1.99.x releases). [2]
- The Docker image is maintained by the community, not the hledger project. [2]
hledger compared with alternatives
| App | Price | Free plan | Bank sync | Platforms | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hledger | Free | Yes | No (CSV import with rules files) | Desktop, Self-host, Web | Plain-text double-entry |
| Beancount | Free | Yes | No (statement importers you write or borrow) | Desktop, Self-host | Plain-text double-entry |
| GnuCash | Free | Yes | OFX Direct Connect only where the bank offers it | Desktop | Double-entry + investments |
| Firefly III | Free (self-host only) | Yes | Via Data Importer (SimpleFIN or Sophtron in the US) | Web, Self-host | Double-entry + rules |
| Actual Budget | Free (self-host); hosting about $1.50/mo (PikaPods); US bank sync needs SimpleFIN ($15/yr) | Yes | Via SimpleFIN ($15/yr), US | Web, Desktop, Self-host | Envelope / zero-based, local-first |
- Pick Beancount if you want plain-text books in Python with the Fava web interface.
- Pick GnuCash if you want double-entry accounting with menus instead of commands.
- Pick Firefly III if you want a self-hosted web app with rules and an API.
- Pick Actual Budget if you want an envelope budget you can host, without learning accounting.
Security and privacy
- Your books are a text file you keep, so nothing leaves your computer unless you put it somewhere. [1]
- Cross-site scripting bugs in hledger-web were fixed in 1.52.2 and 1.52.3 (August 2026); if you run the web interface, use 1.52.3 or later. [8]
- The code is open source under GPL-3.0-or-later. [5]
Recent changes
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| Oct 2, 2026 | hledger 1.99.5 (2.0 preview 5) released. [9] |
| Sep 10, 2026 | Stable 1.52.4 released; the 1.99.4 preview (September 11) added a holdings command and better lot tracking. [7] |
| Aug 2026 | hledger-web cross-site scripting fixes in 1.52.2 (August 24) and 1.52.3 (August 27). [7] |
hledger FAQ
Is hledger free?
Yes. It is free software under GPL-3.0-or-later, with no paid tier.
Does hledger have a graphical interface?
It has two: hledger-ui, a terminal screen, and hledger-web, which runs in your browser. Both read the same journal file as the command line.
How do I import bank transactions into hledger?
Download a CSV from your bank and write a rules file that maps its columns to hledger fields and accounts. Then the import command reads each new download with those rules.
Which hledger version should I install?
The docs list 1.52.4 as stable and 1.99.5 as the 2.0 preview, and say both are suitable for daily use. hledger 1 now gets only essential fixes.
How we researched this review
We did not get paid or receive a free account for this page. We read hledger's own pricing page, help center, security and privacy pages and app-store listing on October 18, 2026, quoted each fact from those pages, and link every one below. We did not run a long-term hands-on test, so we do not score the app; where a point rests on what the company says rather than something we can check, we attribute it to hledger. Cost figures are our own arithmetic. We re-check prices and plans about once a month and log changes in the table above.
Sources
- hledger, Homepage, checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, Install, checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, FAQ, checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, Budgeting and forecasting, checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, Package file (license), checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, GitHub repository, checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, Releases, checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, Release 1.52.3, checked October 18, 2026.
- hledger, Release 1.99.5, checked October 18, 2026.
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