hledger is a plain text accounting tool that provides command-line, terminal user interface, and web interfaces for tracking money, investments, and time in a double-entry accounting system.
The tool solves the problem of managing personal and business finances while maintaining full control over data and version history. It stores all transactions in a human-readable plain text format, eliminating vendor lock-in and enabling complete privacy. The approach uses a robust multi-currency accounting engine that can model any accounting situation, from simple expense tracking to complex investment and invoice management. It processes transactions quickly, analyzing thousands per second, and maintains accuracy to 255 decimal places.
hledger suits developers and finance-conscious users who value data ownership and want to version-control their financial records. It works well for anyone learning double-entry accounting or managing finances across multiple currencies and accounts. The tool is particularly strong for those who prefer command-line workflows or want to script accounting operations via CLI, HTTP, or API. Compared to other plain text accounting applications, hledger distinguishes itself through active maintenance with regular releases and a deliberate focus on practical everyday usability. It offers good CSV import and export capabilities, outputs to multiple formats including JSON and SQL, and maintains partial compatibility with both Ledger CLI and Beancount, allowing data interchange between systems.
The project maintains two active development branches with different trajectories. The 1.x branch continues to prioritize reliability and stability while the 2.x branch pursues broader improvements including enhanced lot tracking, capital gains calculation, code simplification, performance gains, and better interoperability. The codebase is written in clean Haskell and has been continuously refined since its inception, with the maintainers offering regression bounties to ensure quality. Documentation is comprehensive and built-in, covering multiple formats with beginner videos and tutorials included.
