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hledger

hledger.org

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Spec score 8.6 #7 of 25 in General Ledger Software

What it is

hledger is free accounting software for tracking money, investments, cryptocurrencies, time, and other countable items in plain-text files. It provides multi-currency double-entry accounting and generates balance sheet, income statement, and cashflow reports, including reports across multiple periods. It offers command-line, terminal, and web interfaces; the web interface can also serve a JSON API.

hledger imports CSV and can output text, HTML, CSV, JSON, or SQL. It can interoperate with Ledger and Beancount formats. The software runs locally and offline, keeping plain-text data under the user's control. Bank feeds, automated reconciliation, and inventory tracking are supported; invoice creation is not. Official binaries are available for Linux x64, Mac x64 and arm64, and Windows x64, with no official Linux ARM binaries. The web app normally runs locally and is accessible only from the user's machine. hledger is Free Software under GNU GPLv3+ with no purchase price or monthly fees.

Spec sheet

What it does
hledger is cross-platform, plain-text, double-entry accounting software for tracking money, investments, cryptocurrencies, invoices, time and inventory.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Free plan
YesRead 20 Sep 2026 · hledger.org
Integrations
hledger can interoperate with Ledger files and commands and convert to or from Beancount format.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Support
Community support is provided through Matrix, IRC, chat, mail lists and bug trackers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Accounting
It provides multi-currency double-entry accounting using plain-text files.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
API documentation
The web API has a basic OpenAPI specification and Haskell Haddock type documentation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Automated reconciliation
YesRead 20 Sep 2026 · hledger.org
Bank feeds
YesRead 20 Sep 2026 · hledger.org
Bank-data workflow
Bank data is generally imported through downloaded CSV files and rules rather than direct bank connections.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Data model
Financial data is stored in human-readable text journals that users can edit, version-control and audit.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Documentation depth
Documentation includes beginner material, a quick start, complete manuals, tutorials, cookbook pages, offline help and developer specifications.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Double-entry accounting
Transactions must balance, and hledger checks syntax, balancing and balance assertions when reading files.Read 15 Oct 2026 · manpages.debian.org
Financial reports
Built-in reporting includes balance sheets, income statements, cashflow, budgets, registers and multi-period summaries.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Import formats
hledger reads journal, timeclock, timedot, CSV, SSV, TSV and rules files, detecting formats from extensions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · manpages.debian.org
Imports and exports
It supports CSV import and output to text, HTML, CSV, JSON, or SQL, and can interoperate with Ledger and Beancount formats.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Install platforms
Official binaries are supplied for Linux x64, macOS x64 and arm64, and Windows x64; packages and source builds cover additional systems.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Interfaces
The project provides command-line, terminal UI and browser-based interfaces, with hledger-web supporting journal browsing and data entry.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Inventory and lots
The 2.0 preview line adds lot tracking and capital-gains calculation, with related cost-basis features.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Inventory tracking
YesRead 20 Sep 2026 · hledger.org
Invoice creation
NoRead 20 Sep 2026 · hledger.org
Licence
hledger is free software released under GNU GPL version 3 or later.Read 15 Oct 2026 · manpages.debian.org
License and price
hledger is Free Software licensed under GNU GPLv3+ with no purchase price or monthly fees.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Limit: compatibility
The Debian manual notes that not all Ledger journal syntax or features are supported by hledger.Read 15 Oct 2026 · manpages.debian.org
Limit: formatting sensitivity
A plaintext-accounting guide warns that indentation, spacing, currency symbols and decimal separators must be entered correctly or hledger can reject or misinterpret data.Read 15 Oct 2026 · plaintextaccounting.org
Limit: learning curve
An independent reviewer said hledger starts as a blank text file and requires substantial upfront work to decide how transactions should be recorded.Read 15 Oct 2026 · shlewislee.me
Limit: manual work
The same reviewer found manually entering transactions tedious, especially after being away for several days.Read 15 Oct 2026 · shlewislee.me
Limit: mobile and banking
The project says phone use is difficult and hledger cannot download directly from banks; bank workflows generally require manual or automated CSV routines.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Limit: nontechnical onboarding
The project says hledger is not yet easy for completely nontechnical users to install and use, and its interfaces are not mature polished GUIs.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Maintenance
The project says it has been supported and continuously improved since its first release in 2007.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Maker and origin
hledger was created by Simon Michael and contributors, with the first release in 2007.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Mobile platforms
web onlyRead 20 Sep 2026 · hledger.org
Multi-currency
The accounting engine supports multiple currencies and commodities with configurable account names and number formats.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Notable news: 1.99.5
The 1.99.5 preview released on 2026-10-01 added faster performance, UI translations, lot-tracking changes, CSV improvements and web dark mode.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Notable news: AI policy
Release notes state that hledger 2 previews are exploring carefully reviewed AI-assisted development while hledger 1 remains focused on stability and essential fixes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Output formats
Reports can be emitted as text, HTML, CSV, JSON or SQL.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Performance claim
The project reports processing about 25,000 transactions per second on a MacBook Air M1.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Praise: customization
The independent year-long review valued the ability to build a bookkeeping system tailored to personal goals instead of following a fixed application model.Read 15 Oct 2026 · shlewislee.me
Praise: scripting and privacy
An independent user reported that hledger was surprisingly painless, private compared with hosted tools, scriptable and well suited to CSV plus Git workflows.Read 15 Oct 2026 · tylercipriani.com
Praise: transparency
An independent IRZ test described hledger journals as readable, diffable and exportable, with Git preserving change history.Read 15 Oct 2026 · irz.fr
Praise: usability after setup
A year-long independent user report said hledger became quick to use after the author spent the first two to three months designing a personal system.Read 15 Oct 2026 · shlewislee.me
Privacy and security
hledger runs locally and offline, and its plain-text data stays under the user's control.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Reports
It generates balance sheet, income statement, and cashflow reports, including multi-period reports.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
SDK and extensibility
A Haskell API is available through hledger libraries, and the project lists Hackage packages including hledger-lib, hledger, hledger-ui and hledger-web.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Security update
Release 1.52.3 fixed cross-site scripting and journal-file injection issues in hledger-web and advised users to upgrade.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Self-hosting
hledger-web normally listens on localhost and can be placed behind a firewall or authenticating reverse proxy for controlled access.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Supported platforms
Official release binaries are provided for Linux x64, Mac x64 and arm64, and Windows x64; the install page says there are no official Linux ARM binaries.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
System requirements
Building from source requires GHC plus Stack or Cabal and may need about 4 GB of RAM and at least 4 GB of disk space.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Time tracking
hledger supports timeclock and timedot formats and can generate time reports.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Web API
hledger-web exposes JSON routes for versions, accounts, transactions, prices, commodities and account transactions, plus a PUT endpoint for adding transactions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
Who it is for
hledger says it aims to serve both technical and non-technical users, from personal use to business or institutional accounting.Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org

Plans and prices

Free software Free No purchase price or monthly fees Core hledger software · local files · CLI, terminal and web interfaces Read 15 Oct 2026 · hledger.org
hledger Free Free Software · no purchase price or monthly fees Read 8 Oct 2026 · hledger.org

Every hledger plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Multi-currency double-entry accounting
  • Produces balance sheet, income, and cashflow reports
  • Runs locally and offline
  • Imports CSV and exports to several formats
  • Supports bank feeds and automated reconciliation

Limits

  • Does not create invoices
  • No official Linux ARM binaries
  • Web app normally serves only the local machine
  • Mobile platforms are listed as web only

Who it suits

hledger suits people who want plain-text, locally stored accounting records, from personal use to business or institutional accounting. Its interfaces and data formats can accommodate both command-line workflows and web access from the user's machine.

Verdict

hledger pairs plain-text accounting with reports, import and export options, and local offline operation. Check platform availability and the lack of invoice creation against your workflow.

Where Specifiction places it

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