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Personal Finance · head to head

Money Manager vs Vena Solutions

Money Manager logo

Money Manager

Personal Finance

Personal and household finance tracker

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Vena Solutions logo

Vena Solutions

Accounting

FP&A planning that keeps Excel as the front end and puts a database and workflow behind it

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Money Manager has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Money Manager databases created by version 1.4.x are not readable by current releases and produce the error MMEX database version 13 doesn't work with this MMEX version, requiring a manual conversion procedure; Vena Solutions vena publishes no pricing and contracts are modular, so two organisations of similar size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark without going through procurement.
  • They diverge on capability: Money Manager covers Expense tracking, Vena Solutions covers Excel add-in interface.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Money Manager and Vena Solutions actually diverge.

Attributes where Money Manager and Vena Solutions differ
AttributeMoney ManagerVena Solutions
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelopen-sourcequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, Mac, Linux, IOS, AndroidWeb, Windows, Excel add-in
CategoryPersonal FinanceAccounting
Founded2005Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Money Manager

  • Expense tracking
  • Budget tracking
  • Reporting
  • Multi-currency support
  • Import/Export
  • CSV
  • Windows support
  • Mac support

Only in Vena Solutions

  • Excel add-in interface
  • Central multidimensional database
  • Workflow and approvals
  • Audit trail
  • Rolling forecasts
  • Close management
  • Power BI integration
  • ERP connectors

What people use each for

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

Money Manager

  • Free desktop personal finance tracking on Windows, macOS and Linuxnot Vena Solutions
  • Running a portable personal accounts file from removable media on Windowsnot Vena Solutions
  • Categorising spending and reporting on personal accounts without a subscriptionnot Vena Solutions

Vena Solutions

  • A finance team that wants governance and audit over budgeting but refuses to give up Excel formulasnot Money Manager
  • Replacing a shared drive full of departmental budget workbooks with routed templates and tracked submissionnot Money Manager
  • Consolidating actuals from more than one ERP into a single reporting set without a data warehouse projectnot Money Manager
  • Running monthly rolling forecasts where the model is complex enough to need real spreadsheet logicnot Money Manager

Where each one falls short

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

Money Manager

  • Databases created by version 1.4.x are not readable by current releases and produce the error MMEX database version 13 doesn't work with this MMEX version, requiring a manual conversion procedure
  • Linux is supported only through Flatpak builds for aarch64 and x86_64
  • The download page states no system requirements, deferring them to a separate compatibility page
  • There is no vendor support contract; the project is distributed as open source with no paid tier

Vena Solutions

  • Vena publishes no pricing and contracts are modular, so two organisations of similar size can pay very different amounts and neither can benchmark without going through procurement.
  • Implementation services for data integration and template configuration typically make up a large part of first-year cost, often exceeding the licence, and that figure only appears in the proposal.
  • Excel dependency is structural: organisations on Google Workspace, or staff working only in a browser or on Chromebooks, cannot use the primary interface as intended.
  • Because it accepts existing spreadsheets, it can preserve years of undocumented logic and circular workarounds rather than forcing the clean-up that a rebuild on a purpose-built modelling tool would require.
  • Model performance degrades with very large dimensional models, so organisations that grow into genuinely large planning problems eventually hit the limits of the spreadsheet-first design and face a second migration.

Pricing, plan by plan

Money Manager

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Expense tracking
    • Budget management
    • Reports

Vena Solutions

On request
  • Vena Professional$undefined/year
    • Core planning platform and Excel add-in
    • Workflow, audit trail and version control
    • Standard support
  • Vena Complete$undefined/year
    • Everything in Professional
    • Power BI integration
    • Premium support and a customer success manager

Which should you pick?

Choose Money Manager if

  • You need expense tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Mac, Linux, IOS, Android.
  • You also want budget tracking.
Money Manager review

Choose Vena Solutions if

  • You need excel add-in interface.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Excel add-in.
  • You also want central multidimensional database.
Vena Solutions review

Questions people ask

Is Money Manager or Vena Solutions better?
Neither clearly leads. Money Manager starts at Free and Vena Solutions at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Money Manager or Vena Solutions?
Money Manager has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Money Manager and On request for Vena Solutions.
Does Money Manager or Vena Solutions run on more platforms?
Money Manager runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, IOS, Android. Vena Solutions runs on Web, Windows, Excel add-in.
Can I use Money Manager for free?
Yes. Money Manager has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Vena Solutions starts at On request.
What is Money Manager best used for?
Money Manager is most often used for free desktop personal finance tracking on windows, macos and linux, running a portable personal accounts file from removable media on windows, categorising spending and reporting on personal accounts without a subscription. Of those, free desktop personal finance tracking on windows, macos and linux and running a portable personal accounts file from removable media on windows are not what Vena Solutions is typically brought in for.
What can Money Manager do that Vena Solutions cannot?
Money Manager covers Expense tracking, Budget tracking, Reporting, Multi-currency support. Vena Solutions covers Excel add-in interface, Central multidimensional database, Workflow and approvals, Audit trail.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Money Manager: How much does MoneyManager Ex cost?

MoneyManager Ex is completely free and open source software with no charges, subscriptions, or hidden fees of any kind.

Source
Vena Solutions: Do we have to give up Excel?

No, that is the point of the product. Excel is the interface, backed by a central database and workflow.

Vena Solutions: Is pricing published?

No. Vena quotes per organisation based on users, modules and services.

Vena Solutions: How much is implementation?

It is quoted separately and commonly forms a large share of first-year cost. Get it itemised before comparing against Anaplan or Adaptive.

Vena Solutions: Does it work without Microsoft Office?

Not properly. The Excel add-in is the main working surface.

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