Accounting software comparisons
Akaunting alternative: start with the licence and the ledger
Akaunting deserves a workflow evaluation; PHP Ledger deserves a narrower preview evaluation with its missing business features in view.
What changed in Akaunting's licence?
The checked licence permits limited production use and places conditions on larger use, branding and accounting services.
The Akaunting licence file, checked on 16 September 2026, names Business Source License 1.1. Its additional grant limits production use to two users, one company and one thousand invoices, and restricts specified rebranding and third-party accounting services. It identifies GPLv3 as the change licence after the stated four-year period. Those are terms of the checked source version, not a claim about every historical release or every commercial agreement.
Read the licence shipped with the release you intend to install. A blog calling a product open source may describe an older version or use the term more loosely than the Open Source Initiative's definition, checked on 16 September 2026. BSL source availability does not give the same present permissions as an OSI-approved licence. If you plan to host customer books as a service, make that use explicit when checking permissions.
Which PHP Ledger licence applies?
The current project-owned core is AGPL-3.0-or-later; earlier MIT previews retain their original grant.
See the current project licence and the release download and licence notes. AGPL obligations matter when distributing modifications or offering modified software for interaction over a network. They do not disappear because an installation is small. Dependencies and third-party assets also retain their own notices. A separate commercial licence is available; this comparison does not quote terms or imply that an agreement is included with a download. Ask a qualified adviser about an intended use that is unclear.
Does the base installation include the accounting you need?
Inspect the actual general ledger and reports in the selected edition instead of treating invoicing as proof of double entry.
Akaunting's official Double-Entry app page, checked on 16 September 2026, presents a paid app covering manual journals, the chart of accounts, general ledger, trial balance and balance sheet. Its app model may be useful when a business wants selected capabilities and support around them. It also means an evaluation must name the installed apps, their terms and their update arrangements. We do not reproduce a price because plans and billing periods can change.
PHP Ledger starts with a central double-entry posting service and source-linked reports. Receipts, expenses and general journals are part of its preview. The 0.4.0 starter adds customer invoices, supplier bills, partial payments, credits and ageing over the shared party and open-item foundations. It does not claim equivalent operational breadth, country support or maturity to another product; demonstrate each required workflow before considering a move.
| Question | Akaunting | PHP Ledger preview |
|---|---|---|
| Core licence | BSL with a stated future GPLv3 change | AGPL-3.0-or-later |
| Double-entry reports | Official paid app; evaluate the chosen bundle | Core journal and financial reports |
| Installation stack | Laravel/PHP with a JavaScript asset build in the source instructions | PHP 8.2+ and MySQL 8.4 |
| Complete customer and supplier workflows | Evaluate the documented edition and apps | Core starter documents, payments, credits and ageing |
| Country tax acceptance | Requires country-specific verification | Manual tax configuration; no country rules or e-invoicing client |
How should you compare hosting and data control?
Check the running package, database, backup access and external dependencies separately from the language name.
The Akaunting repository, checked on 16 September 2026, identifies Laravel and Vue and lists PHP 8.1 or higher, with Node for its source asset pipeline. That is not evidence that every cheap PHP plan can run the selected package. Confirm the exact database version, extensions, command access, scheduled jobs and document-root instructions. Instructions for one PHP application should never be copied into another without checking them.
For PHP Ledger, use the tested hosting requirements. Its database profile is MySQL 8.4; a panel advertising PHP 8.3 alongside MariaDB is not enough. The current self-hosted core has no licensing-server calls or licence keys. We have not performed a network-traffic audit of an installed Akaunting bundle, so we do not claim that it phones home or that it works completely offline. Test update checks, app activation, mail and backups in the exact configuration you plan to keep.
Who owns the recovery procedure?
The operator needs a working restore procedure even when the application licence and hosting contract are satisfactory.
A database export is useful only if someone can restore it with the matching application, configuration and permissions. During evaluation, create a synthetic business, record a receipt, make a backup, restore into an isolated location and compare the reports. Record who can retrieve the backup if the hosting account is suspended. Consider access to attachments and custom app data as well as invoice PDFs. Data control becomes practical when a different operator can reproduce the books without relying on the original developer's laptop.
Where PHP Ledger loses
Akaunting has a broader app catalogue and established commercial offerings; the PHP Ledger preview covers fewer business tasks.
A team already using Akaunting successfully may gain little by switching. Replacing a working customer billing process with a preview that lacks invoices would create manual work and operational risk. The official app catalogue documents capabilities beyond PHP Ledger's current scope, including inventory and projects. Availability is not a performance guarantee, but it is a concrete reason to evaluate Akaunting first when those tasks are required. PHP Ledger also has no stable-release assurance or jurisdiction-compliance certification.
The preview is more relevant to an operator who wants to inspect a small accounting core, exercise journal controls and understand source history before deciding whether to participate in development. It is not a shortcut around bookkeeping review, hosted administration or licence obligations. A clearer permission model cannot compensate for an absent workflow.
How can you run a fair migration rehearsal?
Choose a cutover date and reconcile balances before thinking about moving every historical document.
- List required tasks and identify the exact Akaunting edition and apps currently responsible for each.
- Export a trial balance, bank balances and customer and supplier schedules at the same date.
- Preserve original exports and read-only access to the old system.
- Use synthetic copies to test chart mapping, source references, corrections and restore behavior.
- Stop if a required workflow has no supported destination; do not replace unpaid invoices with unexplained journal totals.
Required workflow → chosen edition and licence → synthetic accounting test → recovery rehearsal → reviewed decision
- Edition
- The precise combination of application version, plan and installed apps being evaluated.
- Migration acceptance
- A documented reconciliation showing that opening balances and supporting records agree, with unresolved items listed.
Questions before choosing
Resolve operational gaps and licensing assumptions before committing time to a migration.
Is PHP Ledger a drop-in Akaunting replacement?
No general replacement claim is made. PHP Ledger has a bounded AR/AP starter, optional Inventory/Purchasing and manual tax configuration. Compare the tasks your team actually performs and retain the existing system where a required task has no supported replacement.
Does a paid app make Akaunting unsuitable?
No. Evaluate the total agreement and the benefit of the required apps. The relevant question is whether their capabilities, permissions, support and continuing cost fit the business.
Recommendation and next reading
Keep a working billing system until an alternative can reproduce both its balances and its daily workflow.
Use the open-source accounting selection guide for the wider shortlist. Compare the PHP hosting approach with FrontAccounting and the larger operational scope with ERPNext. If the preview's narrower scope is intentional for your evaluation, read the download notes and install synthetic data first. This page is an editorial comparison based on primary documentation checked on 16 September 2026, not an installed competitor benchmark or legal opinion.