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Personal Finance · head to head

Firefly III vs Kong Gateway

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
Kong Gateway logo

Kong Gateway

APIs

Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Kong Gateway the free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.
  • They diverge on capability: Firefly III covers Double-entry style ledger, Kong Gateway covers API request routing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Firefly III and Kong Gateway actually diverge.

Attributes where Firefly III and Kong Gateway differ
AttributeFirefly IIIKong Gateway
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Dockerweb, linux, api
CategoryPersonal FinanceAPIs
FoundedUnknown2017

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Firefly III

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

Only in Kong Gateway

  • API request routing
  • Plugin ecosystem
  • Developer portals
  • AI Gateway
  • Analytics and observability
  • SSO and audit logs

What people use each for

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

Firefly III

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

Kong Gateway

  • Routing and securing traffic across microservicesnot Firefly III
  • Publishing internal or external developer portalsnot Firefly III
  • Managing rate limits and authentication at the API edgenot Firefly III
  • Gateway-level routing to multiple LLM providersnot Firefly III

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Kong Gateway

  • The free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.
  • Plus tier caps API requests at 1M/month before incurring per-million overage charges.
  • Enterprise pricing is custom and not published, making budgeting harder without sales contact.
  • Configuration and plugin management can require significant operational expertise to run at scale.

Pricing, plan by plan

Firefly III

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

Kong Gateway

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • 30-day enterprise functionality trial
    • Unlimited gateways
    • 30-day analytics retention
  • Plus$undefined/month
    • Up to 5 serverless, 2 hybrid, 2 dedicated cloud gateways
    • 1M API requests/month included
    • Up to 2 developer portals
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited hybrid and dedicated cloud gateways
    • Unlimited developer portals
    • SSO and audit logs

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Kong Gateway if

  • You need api request routing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, linux, api.
  • You also want plugin ecosystem.
Kong Gateway review

Questions people ask

Is Firefly III or Kong Gateway better?
Neither clearly leads. Firefly III starts at Free and Kong Gateway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Firefly III or Kong Gateway?
Firefly III starts at Free and Kong Gateway at Free.
Does Firefly III or Kong Gateway run on more platforms?
Firefly III runs on Web, Linux, Docker. Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api.
Can I use Firefly III for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Firefly III best used for?
Firefly III is most often used for a self-hoster already running a home server or nas who wants their financial ledger on the same infrastructure, someone who wants double-entry style accuracy rather than simple envelope budgeting, a privacy-focused user who refuses to put financial data on any third-party server, hosted or otherwise, a developer who wants api access to build custom bank import scripts for accounts with no standard connector. Of those, a self-hoster already running a home server or nas who wants their financial ledger on the same infrastructure and someone who wants double-entry style accuracy rather than simple envelope budgeting are not what Kong Gateway is typically brought in for.
What can Firefly III do that Kong Gateway cannot?
Firefly III covers Double-entry style ledger, Multi-currency accounts, Bill and subscription tracking, Rule engine. Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Kong Gateway: Is Kong Gateway free?

Kong's core gateway is open source and free to self-host. Kong Konnect, the managed cloud platform, offers a 30-day free trial before moving to paid Plus or custom Enterprise pricing.

Source
Firefly III: Does it support multiple currencies?

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

Kong Gateway: How is usage metered on the Plus plan?

The Plus plan includes 1M API requests per month, with additional usage billed at $200 per extra 1 million requests up to a 10M/month cap, plus per-gateway and per-LLM-model charges.

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.

Kong Gateway: What support is included?

Plus includes email support with a 2-business-day SLA, while Enterprise adds dedicated success managers and professional services.

Source
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