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APIs · head to head

Formance vs NocoDB

Formance logo

Formance

APIs

Open source double-entry ledger and payment orchestration for money-moving software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
NocoDB logo

NocoDB

Spreadsheets

Open-source no-code database platform with REST and GraphQL APIs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Formance formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.; NocoDB the free cloud tier is capped at 3 editor seats, 1,000 records and 1 GB of storage
  • They diverge on capability: Formance covers Double-entry ledger, NocoDB covers REST API.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Formance and NocoDB actually diverge.

Attributes where Formance and NocoDB differ
AttributeFormanceNocoDB
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, APICloud, Self-hosted, Docker
CategoryAPIsSpreadsheets
FoundedUnknown2020

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 Formance

  • Double-entry ledger
  • Numscript transaction DSL
  • Multi-currency
  • Payments connectivity
  • Reconciliation
  • Self-hosted deployment
  • Cloud offering
  • API and SDKs

Only in NocoDB

  • REST API
  • GraphQL API
  • No-code database
  • Multiple SQL databases
  • Webhooks
  • Automation
  • Cloud support
  • Self-hosted support

What people use each for

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

Formance

  • A marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditablenot NocoDB
  • A fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an auditnot NocoDB
  • A payments team that wants one normalised model across several PSPs so reconciliation is not written separately for eachnot NocoDB
  • A company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappearsnot NocoDB

NocoDB

  • Self-hosting an open source alternative to a spreadsheet databasenot Formance
  • Putting a spreadsheet interface over an existing Postgres or MySQL databasenot Formance
  • Building internal tools on structured data with an APInot Formance
  • Team bases with per-field and per-table permissions on the paid tiersnot Formance

Where each one falls short

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

Formance

  • Formance holds no money and provides no regulatory cover, so it must be paired with a payments provider or bank, and buyers occasionally mistake a ledger for a treasury system and discover the gap late.
  • Numscript is a domain-specific language your team must learn, and while it makes complex splits expressible it also means transaction logic sits outside the languages your engineers already debug well.
  • Self-hosting a ledger that must never lose or duplicate a transaction is a serious operational commitment covering backups, upgrades and Postgres tuning, which is real cost the zero licence fee hides.
  • Enterprise pricing is not published, so the difference between the free path and the supported path cannot be evaluated without a sales conversation.
  • The company is much smaller than the incumbent alternatives, and while the MIT licence protects the code it does not protect the roadmap, so features on the hosted side may arrive slowly or change direction.

NocoDB

  • The free cloud tier is capped at 3 editor seats, 1,000 records and 1 GB of storage
  • Records are the metering unit on cloud, so Plus covers 50K and Business 300K rather than scaling by seat alone
  • Row-level security, audit log retention and team hierarchy require the Scale tier
  • SCIM provisioning and air-gapped deployment are Enterprise only
  • The self-hosted Community edition is unlimited on records and seats but does without workflows, scripts and dashboards, which start at the paid self-hosted tiers

Pricing, plan by plan

Formance

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT licensed core ledger
    • Numscript transaction DSL
    • Multi-currency tracking
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Managed or private deployment
    • Payments connectivity and reconciliation
    • Support with response commitments

NocoDB

Free
  • Free (Cloud)Free
    • 3 editor seats
    • 10 commenter seats
    • 1 GB storage
  • Plus$12/month
    • Unlimited seats
    • 50,000 records
    • 20 GB storage
  • Business$24/month
    • Unlimited seats
    • 300,000 records
    • 100 GB storage
  • Scale$45/month
    • Minimum 3 seats required
    • 1,000,000 records
    • 150 GB storage

Which should you pick?

Choose Formance if

  • You need double-entry ledger.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API.
  • You also want numscript transaction dsl.
Formance review

Choose NocoDB if

  • You need rest api.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
  • You also want graphql api.
NocoDB review

Questions people ask

Is Formance or NocoDB better?
Neither clearly leads. Formance starts at Free and NocoDB at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Formance or NocoDB?
Formance starts at Free and NocoDB at Free.
Does Formance or NocoDB run on more platforms?
Formance runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Web, API. NocoDB runs on Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
Can I use Formance for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Formance best used for?
Formance is most often used for a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable, a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit, a payments team that wants one normalised model across several psps so reconciliation is not written separately for each, a company that wants its ledger under a licence it can keep running even if the vendor disappears. Of those, a marketplace splitting a single customer payment between seller, platform fee and tax that needs the split to be atomic and auditable and a fintech whose homegrown balances table produced numbers finance could not reconcile and now needs proper double-entry before an audit are not what NocoDB is typically brought in for.
What can Formance do that NocoDB cannot?
Formance covers Double-entry ledger, Numscript transaction DSL, Multi-currency, Payments connectivity. NocoDB covers REST API, GraphQL API, No-code database, Multiple SQL databases.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Formance: Is Formance really open source?

Yes. The core ledger is MIT licensed with full source access and no deployment restrictions.

NocoDB: Is NocoDB free?

Yes, NocoDB offers a free cloud plan with 3 editor seats, 1,000 records, 1 GB storage, and 1,000 API calls per month. A free self-hosted Community edition with unlimited records and seats is also available.

Source
Formance: Does Formance move money?

No. It records and orchestrates movements; the actual payments happen at a PSP or bank you connect.

NocoDB: How much does NocoDB Plus cost?

NocoDB Plus costs $12 per seat per month (billed annually) or $15 per seat per month (monthly). For unlimited seats, it costs $108/month annually or $180/month monthly. Plus includes 50,000 records, 20 GB storage, and 100,000 API calls per month.

Source
Formance: What does the enterprise version cost?

Not published. It is an annual subscription quoted per customer.

NocoDB: What is the difference between NocoDB Plus and Business plans?

Plus ($12/seat annual) includes 50,000 records and 100,000 API calls per month. Business ($24/seat annual) includes 300,000 records, 1,000,000 API calls per month, external database connections, SAML SSO, and table/field permissions.

Source
Formance: Do I have to use Numscript?

Yes for anything beyond the simplest transfers. It is how multi-party transactions are expressed atomically.

NocoDB: Can I self-host NocoDB for free?

Yes, NocoDB's Community edition is free for self-hosting. It includes unlimited records, storage, and seats, with all core features including webhooks and 6 view types.

Source
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