GnuCash
Ranked 3 of 5 accounting software by recommenders
Free desktop accounting app that works, charges nothing for your own data, and is very stable. Common caveat: heavy, tedious data entry and weak multi-currency handling.
Free desktop accounting app that works, charges nothing for your own data, and is very stable. Common caveat: heavy, tedious data entry and weak multi-currency handling.
26 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 10
- approval share
- 62%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 3 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free, no subscription upsells
“GNU cash website immediately tells that it is not a Saas and doesn't need to upsell the latest trendy addons”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “Claude for Small Business” “It just works, they don't charge me to access my own data, and the interface is extremely stable.”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Living off-grid: Hundred Rabbits” Used for small business reports
“I use GnuCash for my small business. I am not a programmer, but know enough to be dangerous.”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “Claude for Small Business” “They were all happy to work with Gnucash so long as I could provide the needed reports”
Comment from 21 Dec 2025 in “I can't upgrade to Windows 11, now leave me alone” Auto-categorization and net worth view
“It's pretty good at auto-categorization.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design” “it can show me the true net worth graph”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household” Helps a lot despite flaws
“It's not without its flaws, but it's great if you agree with the above views”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “10 years of personal finances in plain text files” “I love/hate GnuCash. I've been using it for years, and it helps a lot.”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “10 years of personal finances in plain text files”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Weak multi-currency handling
“Tracking finance is a nightmare, since you basically need an exchange rate for every operation.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design” “I reached a point where I started writing scripts on top to support my multi-currency setup.”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “10 years of personal finances in plain text files” “haven't found a good way of handling multiple currencies in Gnucash”
Comment from 25 Apr 2026 in “"Plain text has been around for decades and it's here to stay." – Unsung” Slow, tedious data entry
“correct, but heavy enough that even I dreaded the daily entry”
Comment from 10 Jun 2026 in “GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app” “it's a whale of a lot faster than manually entering through GNUCash”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Spanish traders set the standard forGnuCash database design” “typing credit card charges in by hand is tedious”
Comment from 15 Apr 2026 in “Minimal Viable Programs (2014)” Hard to do bulk actions
“My main gripe with GnuCash is that it's impossible to do "mass actions" from the UI.”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “10 years of personal finances in plain text files” “I couldn't find a way to do it quickly through the UI”
Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Tell HN: AI coding is sexy, but accounting is the real low-hanging target” Hard setup and migration
“there were migration issues with GNU Cash”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “10 years of personal finances in plain text files” “GNUcash is too hard to set up”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything”
Other accounting software people recommend
The four most recommended other accounting software, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beancount | 25 | 3 | 89% | 8 | 4 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| hledger | 17 | 3 | 85% | 6 | 3.5 yrs4 owners | Approved |
| GnuCashThis page | 16 | 10 | 62% | 6 | 3 yrs3 owners | — |
| QuickBooks | 12 | 28 | 30% | 6 | — | — |
| Xero | 5 | 5 | 50% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
28 of the 32 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“This is more or less how I already set up GNUCash. Couple dozen scheduled transactions created 90 days into the future”
“It just works, they don't charge me to access my own data, and the interface is extremely stable.”
“GNUcash is too hard to set up”
“correct, but heavy enough that even I dreaded the daily entry”
“you always know what money you have, where”
“it has pretty good UX for transactions entry”
“it's a whale of a lot faster than manually entering through GNUCash”
“It's pretty good at auto-categorization.”
“Tracking finance is a nightmare, since you basically need an exchange rate for every operation.”
“GNU cash website immediately tells that it is not a Saas and doesn't need to upsell the latest trendy addons”
“the GnuCash website's first impression does not give confidence in its ability to handle finances”
“I use GnuCash for my small business. I am not a programmer, but know enough to be dangerous.”
“got tired of battling it for years to do certain things”
“haven't found a good way of handling multiple currencies in Gnucash”
“typing credit card charges in by hand is tedious”
“still gets some very obvious matches wrong for me”
“I reached a point where I started writing scripts on top to support my multi-currency setup.”
“My main gripe with GnuCash is that it's impossible to do "mass actions" from the UI.”
“I love/hate GnuCash. I've been using it for years, and it helps a lot.”
“there were migration issues with GNU Cash”
“It's not without its flaws, but it's great if you agree with the above views”
“it can show me the true net worth graph”
“It is a perfect replacement for MS Money and and has many excellent features.”
“The only tools that were able to provide that were GnuCash and PTAs like beancount.”
“They were all happy to work with Gnucash so long as I could provide the needed reports”
“I couldn't find a way to do it quickly through the UI”
“installed Linux (LMDE), Firefox, LibreOffice and GNU Cash on it.”
“Great for general purpose accounting though.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.