Actual - Self Hosted, Privacy Friendly Financial Planning System

[Sydney]

Update: As of 2023-12-23, I have created a Cloudron app package for Actual. It is now ready for use, see the following:

• https://forum.cloudron.io/post/79786
• https://github.com/ShenZhouHong/actual-server-app

Actual is a self hosted, open source financial planning and budgeting system. It's designed to be fast, local-first, and privacy friendly, and has a lot of powerful features for budgeting and financial planning.

The Actual application was originally a closed-source software offering by James Long, but it has been recently released as an open source application under the MIT license.

The actual website and landing page is available at:

https://actualbudget.com/

And their source code is available at:

https://github.com/actualbudget/actual-server

https://github.com/actualbudget/actual

Actual already comes with a Docker image:

https://github.com/actualbudget/actual-server#running-via-docker

They have an online demo that you can use to try out the features here:

https://app.actualbudget.com/

I recommend Cloudron to package Actual, because it is a modern, high-quality financial planning app that adds value to a category that Cloudron does not have many applications in. Actual is fast, and unusually powerful, and has a great feature-set and UX/UI experience.

[jdaviescoates]

@Sydney nice!

Although given it's a local app I guess it's actually the actual-server we'd need packaging for Cloudron:

https://github.com/actualbudget/actual-server

[Sydney]

@jdaviescoates Thank you!

I'll edit the main post to include the correct link. I am quite excited for Actual, as it is quite polished and well-made- and I hope to see it on Cloudron soon!

[infogulch]

Neat app. I wonder how it compares to firefly iii

[Sydney]

It will be really great if this app could be packaged before the start of June. I'll be beginning a new job then, and it would be a good time to upgrade my budgeting workflow

[micmc]

@Sydney Cool find.

While Firefly is actually a great software, I think Actual would be a great addition as well. I too love the modern flat design, efficient and fast.

[jagadeesh-s2104]

Actual ++

[privsec]

Wow. What a software!

I currently use quicken, but would switch to this in an instant if it was available.

[stefano]

Seems nice, it's quite similar to YNAB, isn't it? Well, definitely more than Firefly III.

[LoudLemur]

@Sydney Great suggestion and nicely formatted. I think it always must encourage people here if you mention that there is already a Docker image available, which there is:

https://github.com/actualbudget/actual-server#running-via-docker

I hope we get this going.

[Sydney]

@LoudLemur Thank you very much! I'll update the post to include the docker image link.

I'm glad to see so much interest for Actual. I am really looking forwards to seeing it on Cloudron as well!

[random_eric]

I tried the demo and it looks great.
Is there a way that I can test it on my server?

[random_eric]

I've packaged the app, but I'm not sure what to do next.
The repo can be found here:
https://github.com/thejinx0r/actual-server-cloudron

It's been working great for me.

edit:
I continue to maintain it at https://git.eyen.ca/cloudron/actual-server

[subven]

@random_eric get a review by @girish or @nebulon At first glance it looks good but I think /app/data should be owned by www-data who also runs the apps process. Maybe adjust the start script and Dockerfile for better continuity,

btw the Cloudron user is called yellowtent internally ^^

[random_eric]

@subven
Thanks for the feedback!
For the user, I was following the nodejs tutorial. I'm not sure whihch one to use at the moment.

Anyways, I'll wait for feedback from @girish or @nebulon

[girish]

@random_eric Ah nice, I will give this a try later today! Actual doesn't need any database configuration and such?

[subven]

@girish they use better-sqlite3 but store everything in /data ^^ The app is not designed to use an external database connection as far as I can see.

[Sydney]

@girish Hi there! Congratulations on the recent 7.3.x release. Is there any information on adding Actual to the Cloudron app store? I would very much like to use it

[Sydney]

App Package Created for Actualbudget

Hello everyone!

I've created a Cloudron App Package for Actualbudget. This package was created after following the instructions in the Cloudron app packaging tutorial, cheat sheet, as well as by following best-practices observed in other, existing Cloudron app packages. If you want to give Actualbudget a try on Cloudron, it's available now at the following git repository:

• https://github.com/ShenZhouHong/actual-server-app

I've tested the application to the fullest extent possible as an individual. Please feel free to share any feedback with me here!

@girish I believe my app package is ready for unstable status and inclusion into the Cloudron app market. Note that:

• The Dockerfile and start.sh files properly expose environment variables, configuration files, and encapsulates the upstream app data in /app/data in a non-naive manner.
• The app package contains a detailed and well-defined CloudronManifest.json file with all relevent fields, including medialinks, minBoxVersion, icon, and healthCheckPath.
• The app package contains a complete DESCRIPTION.md, POSTINSTALL.md, and CHANGELOG.

I believe the only thing that this application is lacking are the selenium tests. I hope to contribute these at a later date.

Edit: As of 2023-12-24, the repository also includes a complete set of application lifecycle tests, such as:

• Installing the app, and configuring it with test credentials and data
• Logging in and out of the app
• Restarting the app
• Backing up and restoring from backup
• Moving the app to a different location (i.e. subdomain)
• Updating the app*

*The only test that I was unable to implement is the app update test. From what I can tell, the app needs to be published on the Cloudron store for that. I assume you'll be able to implement that final test once the app is published

[jdaviescoates]

@Sydney thanks!