Beancount vs Ledger

Beancount is a double-entry bookkeeping language for recording transactions in text files and producing reports. The `bean-check` command checks ledger files, while `bean-query` extracts tables of data from them. Documentation covers importing files downloaded from financial institutions and automating parts of that process. The `bean-price` tool can retrieve prices for commodities held in accounts, but ledger processing does not fetch prices automatically; reports can therefore run offline and remain deterministic. Beancount supports multiple currencies and documents portfolio export to external tracking websites. Version 3 is identified as the current stable, maintained branch, while version 2 is frozen and obsolete. The v3 guide notes that some tools were removed and that `bean-report` and `bean-web` are deprecated. Installation instructions cover uv, pipx, pip and source, including Windows instructions for v3. Contributed editor support includes Emacs, Sublime Text, Vim and two Visual Studio Code extensions. Beancount is open source under GNU GPLv2 only and has a free plan priced at free; it has no free trial.

Ledger is a double-entry accounting system used from the UNIX command line. Users record transactions in Ledger’s text format and maintain the files themselves; Ledger does not create or modify them. Entries must balance, and an unbalanced entry produces an error instead of a report. Commands can generate monthly and average reports, check balances, reconcile accounts, and track stock capital gains. Ledger supports multiple currencies in an account and can convert between them. Its data files accept UTF-8, dates use ISO format, and decimal values can follow US or European formats. The software is released under the BSD license and is listed as free. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows; downloads also include packages or binaries for BSD. The documentation links to the Ledger 3 manual, man page, C++ API documentation, and ledger-mode manual. The project directs users to an IRC channel and mailing list for discussion, and to GitHub for bug reports.