Frappe Books vs GNUKhata
Frappe Books
frappe.io
GNUKhata
gnukhata.orgSide by side
| Figure | Frappe Books | GNUKhata |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Financial Management | 8.9 (#3) | 8.8 (#5) |
| Spec score · General Ledger Software | 8.8 (#3) | 8.7 (#6) |
| Spec score · Bookkeeping Software | 8.7 (#22) | 8.7 (#21) |
| API | Frappe supplies REST and RPC HTTP APIs, including CRUD endpoints for documents and whitelisted Python method calls. | gkcore is GNUKhata's REST API server and exposes Swagger documentation locally at /docs/. |
| Financial reports | Included reports are General Ledger, Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Trial Balance. | Reports include profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, ledger, trial balance, product and stock registers. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Installation | The documented Bench setup creates a Frappe bench, fetches the frappe-books app, creates a site and installs frappe_books. | The v8.0 beta officially supports Docker installations; older Linux and Windows v7 installers are no longer maintained. |
| Inventory | Inventory tools cover stock movements, delivery notes, purchase receipts, batches, serial numbers and FIFO valuation. | Inventory can be tracked across multiple godowns with HSN-coded products. |
| License | The current frappe-books repository identifies its license as AGPL-3.0-only. | The gkcore repository identifies the software as licensed under GNU AGPL-3.0. |
| Sales and purchases | It supports quotes, invoices, payments, bills, supplier payments, and returns. | It supports sales and purchase invoices, point-of-sale entry, delivery notes, debit and credit notes, payments, and receipts. |
| What it does | Frappe Books is accounting software for small businesses and freelancers. | GNUKhata provides accounting and inventory management for small and medium-sized businesses, traders, startups and NGOs. |
Plans
In their own words
Frappe Books
Frappe Books is accounting software for small businesses, available free under the AGPL-3.0 license. It supports quotes, invoices, payments, bills, supplier payments and returns, alongside double-entry bookkeeping, journal entries and financial reports. Inventory tools track stock across locations, including batches, expiry dates and serial numbers, and the software supports point-of-sale transactions. Businesses in India can produce GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 reports for GST returns. Books User, Books Manager and System Manager roles control access to records, reports and settings. Company data stays in the database of the customer’s Frappe site, and the software runs on the customer’s own server. It is listed for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, self-hosted use, web and Windows. On phones, it runs in a browser and can be added to the home screen, but an internet connection is required. The old desktop app is no longer supported. Frappe states that its quality and information security systems have ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2022 certifications and SOC 2 Type II attestation.
GNUKhata
GNUKhata is free, open-source financial accounting and inventory software for SMEs, traders, startups, and NGOs, with a focus on Indian GST requirements. It handles sales and purchase invoices, point-of-sale entries, delivery notes, debit and credit notes, payments, and receipts. Accounting tools include a customizable chart of accounts, journal and other vouchers, and year-end book closing and rollover. Inventory records cover products and services, tax details, HSN search, and stock across multiple godowns. Reports include Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, and stock summaries. GNUKhata can prepare GSTR-1 reports as JSON for upload to the GST portal, and it has multiple user roles, including Admin, Manager, Operator, Internal Auditor, and Godown In charge. Version 8.0 is distributed as Docker images; Windows installation is possible, but the project says it is not well tested. The project reports fixed SQL injection issues, while also noting that the code has not had a security audit and recommending use in a private environment. It does not currently support online e-way billing or e-invoicing, or GST-2A/GSTR-2B reconciliation. The listed plan is GNUKhata at free.