Akaunting Has No Free Cloud Tier, Only an Open Source Escape
The free version exists, it just is not hosted. Akaunting sells the server, the backups and the accountant seat rather than the software.
Akaunting has no free cloud plan. Standard Cloud starts at $12 a month billed monthly, or $8 with annual billing, for one company and two users. Paid tiers run to $84 outright or $56 annually for larger teams. The application itself is open source and can be self-hosted at no licence cost.1
This is the second tool in this category whose real free tier is a download rather than a signup, after Invoice Ninja.
Anyone comfortable running a PHP application on a server gets full accounting for the price of hosting. Everyone else pays from $8 a month.
What you actually get
| Standard Cloud | Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $12/mo, or $8 yearly | Server cost only |
| Companies | 1 | As many as you run |
| Users | 1 plus 1 accountant | Unlimited |
| Invoicing and expenses | Yes | Yes |
| Bank feeds | Yes | Yes |
| Reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Managed backups | Yes | Your responsibility |
| Free trial | Yes | Not applicable |
Higher cloud tiers add companies, users and modules, priced at $36 monthly or $24 yearly, and $84 monthly or $56 yearly.
There is a free trial, not a free plan
Akaunting offers a trial of the cloud product, and the pricing page pushes a free start rather than a permanent tier.
That is worth stating plainly because the marketing language around open source accounting often blurs the two. The hosted product is paid; the code is not.
For a directory of free tiers, that distinction decides whether this entry belongs at all, which is why it is framed as the exception it is.
Self-hosting is a real option, not a theoretical one
Akaunting is a Laravel application with a straightforward installer, and the community edition is genuinely capable.
It handles invoices, bills, expenses, bank reconciliation, reports and multi-company accounting.
What you take on is the server, the database, updates and backups. A small virtual private server handles a single business comfortably.
What the cloud tiers buy
Managed hosting, backups, security updates and support, which is precisely the work self-hosting does not remove.
The entry tier is deliberately narrow: one company and one user plus an accountant seat.
Modules are sold on top, so a business needing payroll or inventory pays beyond the base subscription. For a straightforward service business raising invoices and tracking expenses, the base tier is sufficient.
Who this suits
Anyone who has run a web application before and wants full accounting without a subscription.
A small business that already has hosting and is comfortable with the responsibility that brings.
An accountant managing several small clients who wants one installation rather than several subscriptions.
How it compares
Wave is hosted and free, with unlimited invoicing funded by payment processing.
Zoho Books is free under $50,000 revenue with no server to run.
Invoice Ninja offers a hosted free tier for five clients, plus the same self-hosting route.
Xero and FreshBooks are hosted only, with no free or self-hosted path.
Akaunting is the only entry here where the answer to cost is a server rather than a subscription.
When it is worth it
When you can run a server and want accounting software with no recurring licence fee.
When you need multiple companies under one installation, which the cloud tiers charge for.
When data residency or control over the installation matters more than managed hosting.
When it is not
When nobody on the team wants to maintain a server, a database and backups.
When a free hosted tool does the job, since Wave and Zoho Books cost nothing and require no administration.
When support with a deadline attached is needed, which is what the cloud tiers exist to provide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Akaunting have a free plan?
No free cloud plan. There is a free trial of the hosted product.
How much does Akaunting cost?
Standard Cloud starts at $12 a month billed monthly, or $8 with annual billing.
Is Akaunting open source?
Yes. The application can be self-hosted without a licence fee.
How many users on the entry tier?
One user plus one accountant on Standard Cloud.
How many companies can I manage?
One on the entry tier, more on higher tiers or when self-hosted.
Which is cheaper, cloud or self-hosted?
Self-hosted costs a server and your time; cloud costs $8 to $56 a month and no maintenance.
Absence of a free cloud plan, the $12 and $8 entry pricing, the one-company and one-user limits and the trial offer verified against Akaunting's pricing page on 20 October 2026.
Sources
- Akaunting pricing: akaunting.com/pricing. Used for: No free cloud tier; open source self-host instead.
All sources are the vendor's own plan or documentation pages, checked on 20 October 2026. Plan terms change without notice, so confirm current limits before you rely on them.
