GNUKhata vs LedgerSMB

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.

LedgerSMB is free, open-source ERP and accounting software for small and mid-size businesses. It combines double-entry general ledger functions with quotations, sales and purchase orders, invoices, receivables, payables, and cash management. The application also supports inventory, light manufacturing, and fixed-asset depreciation and disposal. Transactions can use multiple currencies, while budgets can be tracked by project or department with variance reports. LedgerSMB produces PDF, HTML, CSV, and Office documents, can email documents from inside the application, and includes 45 languages. A web services API enables programmatic interaction; connecting an online store is not available out of the box and requires custom integration. The web application is intended for installation on the user’s own infrastructure, with Linux installers and production Docker images available. Official release tarballs are GPG signed. Free volunteer support is available through a users mailing list and Matrix, with paid professional support also offered. The project began in 2006 as a fork of SQL-Ledger.