In simple English
This tool lets you keep track of all your money using simple text files. You write down what you earn and spend in a list. Then you run commands in your terminal to see reports, budgets, and balance sheets. Your data stays on your computer in a format you can read with any text editor. It costs nothing to use and has no monthly fees.
What it is
hledger is a plain text accounting tool that runs in your terminal, web browser, or text editor. It reads double-entry financial records from a text file and generates balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow reports.
What it is good for
Solo builders and freelancers who want complete control over their financial data without relying on proprietary cloud software. It removes the risk of subscription price hikes and keeps your records private.
- Your financial data lives in simple text files that you completely own and control.
- Runs fast on modest hardware and generates reports in milliseconds.
- Provides multiple interfaces including a command-line tool, a terminal user interface, and a web view.
- Requires learning double-entry bookkeeping rules and command-line usage.
- No graphical installer, so you must install it through your operating system package manager or Haskell toolchain.
- Plain text files require manual entry or custom scripts to import bank statements automatically.
Proprietary accounting software like QuickBooks or spreadsheets that lack double-entry checks.
A text editor like Neovim or VS Code for editing your journal files.
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curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simonmichael/hledger/master/bin/get-hledger | sh