Free & open source · AGPLv3

Self-hosted accounting software

Own your books, not just rent them. LineLedger is free, open-source double-entry accounting you run on your own server and audit line by line. There is no hosted plan, no subscription, and no trial — just the software.

Get it on GitHub → How to install

Why run it yourself

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Free, with no asterisk

Not a trial, not a freemium tier, not free-for-now. LineLedger is released under the GNU AGPLv3 — clone it, run it, and there is nobody to pay. There is no hosted plan to upsell you to, because there is no hosted plan.

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Read every line

Audit exactly how every balance, tax figure, and report is calculated. Books are arithmetic, and arithmetic should be inspectable — by you, or by your accountant.

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Your data, your server

Run the books on infrastructure you control. Nothing leaves your environment unless you send it, and there is no third-party analytics in the application itself.

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Never locked in

Export any company to a portable ZIP and move it between your own machines. The audit chain stays verifiable across the move — and if this project ever stalls, you still have the code and the data.

Install LineLedger

Composer, npm, and a single migrate command. The README is the authoritative guide — including production setup behind a web server. 

git clone https://github.com/lineledger/lineledger.git
cd lineledger

composer install
npm ci && npm run build

cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate
php artisan migrate

What you need

  • A server you control (a small VPS is plenty for one company)
  • PHP 8.4 and Composer
  • MySQL 8
  • Node.js 20+ for the front-end build
Read the setup guide → Report an issue

Everything's included. Nothing is gated.

There is no paid edition holding features back. Every capability below ships in the same AGPLv3 repository you just cloned.

  • Unlimited invoices, bills, customers & vendors
  • Unlimited users — no per-seat anything
  • Sales tax with custom agencies & rates, drill-down reports
  • GST/HST/PST returns with drill-down
  • CRA tax filings: GIFI Sched 100/125, T2, T5013, T2125, T3010
  • Non-profit fund accounting (ASNPO) with restricted funds & donation receipts
  • Fixed assets with depreciation & CCA pools (T2125 Area A schedule)
  • Multi-currency with realized & unrealized FX
  • Estimates, sales orders, purchase orders
  • Customer portal + Stripe online payments
  • Recurring invoices & bills
  • Bank reconciliation + AI statement import
  • Inventory (FIFO or weighted-average)
  • Drill-through financial reports + budgets
  • Multi-company books with combined reports
  • Passkey sign-in, 2FA & per-member RBAC
  • REST API v1 + Business Q&A MCP server (14 tools)
  • Hash-chained audit log
  • AI daily insights & email-in receipt capture
  • Cash-flow forecast & management report packages
  • Backup → portable ZIP → restore
Coming from QuickBooks? →

Common questions

What does LineLedger cost?
Nothing. LineLedger is free software released under the GNU AGPLv3. Clone the repository, run it on a server you control, and there is no bill, no plan, no seat count, and nobody to pay. Every feature listed on this site is in that repository.
Is there a catch — a paid tier, a trial, an “enterprise” version?
No. There is one version of LineLedger and it is the free one. We do not sell a hosted plan, we do not gate features behind a licence key, and we do not have a sales team to route you to. If a feature is in the code, it is yours.
Do you handle payroll and sales-tax filing?
Payroll: not yet, in any country — and we’d rather be upfront than overpromise. Native Canadian payroll (CPP/EI and income tax, T4/T4A/ROE/RL-1, PD7A) and US payroll are both on the roadmap. Today LineLedger runs alongside the payroll processor you already use, and you post each pay run as a journal entry. Sales tax: LineLedger tracks it everywhere — GST/HST/PST returns with drill-down in Canada, and tax agencies and rates you define anywhere else — and it files the CRA information and corporate returns. Automated sales-tax filing and IRS e-file are on the roadmap. Vote them up on the requests board.
What does the AGPLv3 mean for my business?
Run LineLedger to keep your own books, for as long as you like, and the AGPLv3 asks nothing of you — it is not "viral" over your business data or your other software. The obligation only bites if you modify LineLedger and then offer that modified version to other people over a network: in that case you must offer them the source of your changes too. Keeping your books is not distribution.
What do I need to run it?
A server you control with PHP 8.4, MySQL 8, and a web server — a small VPS is plenty for one company. The README on GitHub has the setup steps: clone, install dependencies, run one migrate command, and you have books.
Can I bring my QuickBooks data over?
Yes. Import your QuickBooks chart of accounts and replay your full general-ledger history across multiple files — accounts mapped, contacts linked, and refund cheques tracked. Nothing about the migration is gated.
Can I fork it, or pay someone to modify it for me?
Yes to both — that is the point of the licence. If you fork it and ship your own version publicly, the AGPLv3 asks you to share your source, and our trademark policy asks you to use your own name and logo rather than ours.
What if the project goes away?
You already have the code and your data is already on your server. That is the whole argument. A company can be acquired, change its pricing, or shut down; a copy of an AGPLv3 repository on your own disk cannot.