If you've ever hesitated before linking your brokerage account to a free finance app, you're not alone — most portfolio trackers make money by selling access to your spending and investment data, or by upselling you into their own financial products. Wealthfolio and Ghostfolio are both free, open-source portfolio trackers built on the opposite premise: your data stays under your control, either on your own machine or on a server you run yourself. They take different paths to get there — one is a local-first desktop app, the other a self-hostable web app — so the right pick depends on whether you want something that runs on your laptop with zero setup, or a dashboard you can reach from any device.
The short version
| Wealthfolio | Ghostfolio | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Desktop app (Windows/macOS/Linux) or Docker, self-hosted | Self-hosted web app (Docker/Node.js) or Ghostfolio's own hosted plan |
| Where your data lives | Local SQLite file on your device by default | Your own database once self-hosted |
| License | AGPL-3.0, open source | AGPL-3.0, open source |
| Price | Free core app; optional paid "Connect" tier for auto-sync | Free self-hosted; paid tiers if you use Ghostfolio's hosted version |
| Broker auto-sync | 30+ brokers, but only via the paid Connect add-on | Depends on self-hosted data import/API setup |
| Retirement planning | Built-in Monte Carlo simulations | Not a focus — more of a net-worth/portfolio dashboard |
| Asset coverage | Stocks, ETFs, and general investment tracking | Stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies in one view |
| Mobile | iOS app; no native Android, web/Docker only | Web-based, works on any device with a browser |
Wealthfolio — a local-first desktop app that never has to touch a server
Wealthfolio is a free, open-source personal finance and investment tracker that stores everything in a local SQLite database on your own device — no account, no cloud, nothing required to leave your machine unless you opt in. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, plus iOS and self-hosted Docker, and includes retirement planning with Monte Carlo simulations and both time-weighted and money-weighted return calculations. An optional paid "Wealthfolio Connect" subscription adds automatic sync across 30+ brokers and encrypted multi-device sync, but the core app works fully offline with manual data entry.
Who it's for: privacy-conscious individual investors who want their financial data to never leave their own device by default, and who value retirement-planning features like Monte Carlo simulations.
Pricing: Free and open source (AGPL-3.0). The optional Connect add-on covers broker auto-sync and cross-device sync for people who don't want to enter trades by hand.
Honest limits: no free automatic bank/broker sync — that's gated behind the paid Connect tier — no native Android app (web/Docker only), backups are entirely your own responsibility since there's no default cloud copy, and it requires relatively recent OS versions (macOS 12+, iOS 16+).
Ghostfolio — a self-hosted web dashboard for stocks, ETFs, and crypto in one place
Ghostfolio is open-source wealth management software for tracking stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies from a single web dashboard, deployable via Docker or Node.js on your own server. Because it's a web app rather than a native desktop program, it's reachable from any device with a browser once it's running, which makes it a natural fit if you want to check your portfolio from your phone without installing anything.
Who it's for: investors who hold a mix of traditional assets and crypto and want one unified, self-hosted dashboard reachable from any browser rather than a native app tied to one machine.
Pricing: Free to self-host. Ghostfolio also offers a hosted version for people who don't want to run their own server, at the cost of no longer keeping data entirely under your own roof.
Honest limits: the interface is less beginner-friendly than mainstream consumer apps like Mint, self-hosting means you're responsible for your own server, updates, and backups, and it lacks Wealthfolio's built-in retirement-planning simulations.
Pick Wealthfolio if…
…you want a native desktop app that works fully offline out of the box, with retirement-planning tools like Monte Carlo simulations, and you're fine entering trades manually unless you pay for the optional sync add-on.
Pick Ghostfolio if…
…you want a single self-hosted dashboard that mixes stocks, ETFs, and crypto, reachable from your phone or laptop through a browser, and you're comfortable running and maintaining your own server.
Both are free, open source, AGPL-3.0 licensed, and built around the same core idea: your net worth is your business, not a data broker's. If you want zero setup and a native app today, Wealthfolio's desktop build gets you tracking in minutes with no server to run. If you'd rather have one dashboard for everything — including crypto — reachable from any device, Ghostfolio's self-hosted web app is the more flexible long-term home.