Softwr

Personal Finance · head to head

Acorns vs Firefly III

Acorns logo

Acorns

Personal Finance

Invest your spare change

From
$4/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Firefly III logo

Firefly III

Personal Finance

Free, open source, self-hosted personal finance manager with double-entry style accounting

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Firefly III has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Acorns a flat monthly subscription regardless of balance, so $3 a month on Bronze is a heavy percentage on a small account; Firefly III there is no official managed hosting, so a non-technical user has no easy on-ramp the way Actual Budget offers with its paid hosted sync.
  • They diverge on capability: Acorns covers Round-up investing, Firefly III covers Double-entry style ledger.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Acorns and Firefly III actually diverge.

Attributes where Acorns and Firefly III differ
AttributeAcornsFirefly III
Starting price$4/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, IOS, AndroidWeb, Linux, Docker
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Personal Finance).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Acorns

  • Round-up investing
  • Automated investing
  • Portfolio management
  • Recurring investments
  • Bank accounts
  • Credit cards
  • Debit cards
  • Web support

Only in Firefly III

  • Double-entry style ledger
  • Multi-currency accounts
  • Bill and subscription tracking
  • Rule engine
  • Reports and charts
  • API access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Acorns

  • Automated investing of spare change from everyday purchasesnot Firefly III
  • Retirement saving through Acorns Later IRA accountsnot Firefly III
  • Checking and high-yield savings alongside investingnot Firefly III
  • Custodial investing and debit cards for children through Acorns Earlynot Firefly III
  • Earning cashback that is invested rather than bankednot Firefly III

Firefly III

  • A self-hoster already running a home server or NAS who wants their financial ledger on the same infrastructurenot Acorns
  • Someone who wants double-entry style accuracy rather than simple envelope budgetingnot Acorns
  • A privacy-focused user who refuses to put financial data on any third-party server, hosted or otherwisenot Acorns
  • A developer who wants API access to build custom bank import scripts for accounts with no standard connectornot Acorns

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Acorns

  • A flat monthly subscription regardless of balance, so $3 a month on Bronze is a heavy percentage on a small account
  • The emergency savings account and the 1 percent IRA match need Silver at $6 a month
  • Custom portfolios, Acorns Early for children and Money Manager are Gold tier only at $12 a month
  • There is no free tier

Firefly III

  • There is no official managed hosting, so a non-technical user has no easy on-ramp the way Actual Budget offers with its paid hosted sync.
  • The double-entry-influenced model is less intuitive for newcomers than simple envelope budgeting, and the learning curve is real.
  • Automatic bank sync depends on the community-run importer and third-party connectors, and coverage and reliability vary a lot by bank and country.
  • Mobile access is via a web interface rather than a polished native app, which is a step behind Actual Budget or Lunch Money on phones.
  • Because there is no company behind it, security patching and feature development depend entirely on volunteer maintainer time.

Pricing, plan by plan

Acorns

$4/month
  • Bronze$4/month
    • Investment account with diversified portfolio
    • Round-Ups spare change investing
    • Acorns Later retirement account
  • Silver$8/month
    • All Bronze features
    • 1% IRA match on first-year contributions
    • Acorns Checking with no overdraft fees
  • Gold$12/month
    • All Silver features
    • 3% IRA match on first-year contributions
    • Investment accounts for kids with 1% match

Firefly III

Free
  • Firefly IIIFree
    • Full functionality, self-hosted
    • No usage limits
    • Community support, donations accepted

Which should you pick?

Choose Acorns if

  • You need round-up investing.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android.
  • You also want automated investing.
Acorns review

Choose Firefly III if

  • You need double-entry style ledger.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker.
  • You also want multi-currency accounts.
Firefly III review

Questions people ask

Is Acorns or Firefly III better?
Neither clearly leads. Acorns starts at $4/month and Firefly III at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Acorns or Firefly III?
Firefly III has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $4/month for Acorns and Free for Firefly III.
Does Acorns or Firefly III run on more platforms?
Acorns runs on Web, IOS, Android. Firefly III runs on Web, Linux, Docker.
Can I use Firefly III for free?
Yes. Firefly III has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Acorns starts at $4/month.
What is Acorns best used for?
Acorns is most often used for automated investing of spare change from everyday purchases, retirement saving through acorns later ira accounts, checking and high-yield savings alongside investing, custodial investing and debit cards for children through acorns early. Of those, automated investing of spare change from everyday purchases and retirement saving through acorns later ira accounts are not what Firefly III is typically brought in for.
What can Acorns do that Firefly III cannot?
Acorns covers Round-up investing, Automated investing, Portfolio management, Recurring investments. Firefly III covers Double-entry style ledger, Multi-currency accounts, Bill and subscription tracking, Rule engine.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Acorns: What's the difference between Acorns Bronze, Silver, and Gold plans?

Bronze at $4/month provides basic investment accounts and Round-Ups investing. Silver adds 1% IRA matching, no-fee checking, and emergency savings at $8/month. Gold includes 3% IRA matching, kids' accounts with 1% match, and tax filing for $12/month. Each tier includes all features from lower tiers.

Source
Firefly III: Can I pay someone to host Firefly III for me?

Not through the core project; some third-party providers sell Firefly III hosting independently, but there is no official managed service.

Acorns: Does Acorns charge hidden fees or commissions?

No, Acorns charges no hidden fees or commissions. Monthly subscription fees start at $4 and are the only recurring charges; all other services included in each tier have no additional costs.

Source
Firefly III: Does it support multiple currencies?

Yes, natively, including accounts and transactions in different currencies.

Acorns: What IRA match percentage does Acorns provide?

Silver tier provides 1% IRA match on first-year Later contributions. Gold tier increases this to 3% IRA match on first-year contributions. Both tiers limit matching to first-year contributions only.

Source
Firefly III: Is it really free with no paid tier?

Yes, the software is free and open source under the AGPL; the project accepts donations but sells nothing.

Acorns: What's the APY on Acorns Emergency Savings?

The Emergency Savings account offers 3.35% APY as of March 16, 2026, which is described as more than 8.5 times the national average savings rate. This feature is available on Silver and Gold tiers only.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Acorns

More on Firefly III

Keep looking

Other head to heads