GnuCash vs Sage Accounting
GnuCash
gnucash.orgSage Accounting
sage.comSide by side
| Figure | GnuCash | Sage Accounting |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | £2/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Bookkeeping Software | 9.0 (#12) | 9.5 (#1) |
| Spec score · Gym Accounting Software | 8.8 (#7) | 8.8 (#9) |
| Spec score · Salon Accounting Software | 8.8 (#12) | 8.9 (#11) |
| API | A C API in the libgnucash engine abstracts XML and SQL backends for GUI and plugin programmers. | Sage publishes a free RESTful Accounting API for Accounting and Start with CRUD operations over business data. |
| Founded | 1997 | 1981 |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Rating on Apple App Store | 2.7 out of 5 from 13 ratings | 4.5 out of 5 from 1,600 ratings |
| Rating on Capterra | 4.5 out of 5 from 53 reviews | 4.1 out of 5 from 652 reviews |
| Rating on G2 | 4.2 out of 5 from 23 reviews | 4.2 out of 5 from 76 reviews |
| Rating on Google Play | 4.4 out of 5 from 683 reviews | 2.1 out of 5 from 335 reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 3.7 out of 5 from 1 review | 4.0 out of 5 from 20,187 reviews |
| Rating on TrustRadius | No overall rating; 1 review | 31 verified reviews were counted for the professional-services category in the previous 18 months; no aggregate score was displayed. |
| System requirements | The 5.17 build requirements include GTK+ 3.22.30, Guile 2.0.9, Boost 1.67, WebKitGTK 2.4, GoogleTest 1.8.0, CMake 3.14.5 and SWIG 3.0.12. | The web service supports current Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge browsers and recommends keeping browsers current. |
| What it does | GnuCash is free accounting software for personal and small-business finances, including bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses. | Sage Accounting is a cloud accounting service for small businesses that combines invoicing, tax, cash-flow management and optional payroll. |
Plans
Sage Accounting
- Sole Trader FreeFree
- Start£2 a month
- Standard£4.30 a month
- Plus£5.90 a month
In their own words
GnuCash
GnuCash is free personal and small-business accounting software for tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. Its double-entry accounting requires every transaction’s debits and credits to balance. Small-business tools cover customers, vendors, jobs, invoicing, bill payment, tax and billing terms, and budgeting. Users can create customizable balance sheets, profit and loss, and portfolio valuation reports, as well as charts. GnuCash imports QIF and OFX files with transaction matching; German users can use HBCI to download statements and initiate transfers and direct debits. Data is stored in XML by default. Support for SQLite3, MySQL, and PostgreSQL databases is experimental, and some reported corner cases can cause data loss. The GNU GPL-licensed software has installation options for Linux and installers for macOS and Windows. The main application is unavailable for iOS and iPadOS, while the separate Android app appears abandoned according to the project FAQ. The project is maintained, documented, and translated by volunteers.
Sage Accounting
Sage Accounting has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.