{"slug": "ledger", "name": "Ledger", "category": "finance", "category_name": "Finance", "description": "", "recommenders": 2, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 2.348, "rising": 0.67, "first": "2026-01-02", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "I used https://ledger-cli.org/ and the accompanying Emacs mode for a long long time.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1, "compare": 1, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I used https://ledger-cli.org/ and the accompanying Emacs mode for a long long time.", "icon": false, "domain": "ledger-cli.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://ledger-cli.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Ledger", "ledger"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 804355040, "item_id": 50272190, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50272190", "by": "globular-toast", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use ledger so everything is plain text.", "excerpt": "Sure. I use ledger so everything is plain text. The idea is I classify each transaction in my bank statement to work out what the \"other side\" of the transaction is. It could be an expense account like \"Expenses:Groceries\" or another asset like \"Assets:Vanguard\" or something. I train an SVM on my previous year's ledger, then it interactively goes through the CSV bank statement showing the prediction for each transact", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Sebastian Raschka's from-scratch video course on building reasoning models"}, {"id": 775633856, "item_id": 48477116, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48477116", "by": "noufalibrahim", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used https://ledger-cli.org/ and the accompanying Emacs mode for a long long time.", "excerpt": "+1 to that. I used https://ledger-cli.org/ and the accompanying Emacs mode for a long long time. I used small slips of paper to record cash spends during the day and by bank statements for online ones. Then kept track. I kept a \"reconciliation\" account to catch misses and it was quite low after several years. I somehow fell out of the habit but I really need to get back to it.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["plain-text accounting", "plain-text personal accounting", "plain text accounting"], "compared": [{"slug": "actual-budget", "name": "Actual Budget", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [{"id": 751557472, "item_id": 46972342, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46972342", "by": "mekod", "date": "2026-02-11", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I built Ledger because I felt like a \"guest\" on every writing platform I used.", "excerpt": "Hello HN, I built Ledger because I felt like a \"guest\" on every writing platform I used. Notion is a hotel; comfortable, but they own the keys. Medium is a billboard; they own the traffic. I wanted a house where I held the deed. So, yes, it is another blogging platform. But here is the difference: It stores absolutely nothing. I have no database. (Actually, it exists if you want.) Bring Your Own Database (BYOD): It c", "context": "", "use_case": "long-form blogging with own database", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Ledger \u2013 Yes, another blogging platform (but you own the database)"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50245138", "title": "Sebastian Raschka's from-scratch video course on building reasoning models", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164573", "title": "Ask HN: Are you interested in a TUI-style financial analysis tool?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48476514", "title": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46972317", "title": "Show HN: Ledger \u2013 Yes, another blogging platform (but you own the database)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46463407", "title": "One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {}, "2026-08": {"compare": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804355040, "item_id": 50272190, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50272190", "by": "globular-toast", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use ledger so everything is plain text.", "excerpt": "Sure. I use ledger so everything is plain text. The idea is I classify each transaction in my bank statement to work out what the \"other side\" of the transaction is. It could be an expense account like \"Expenses:Groceries\" or another asset like \"Assets:Vanguard\" or something. I train an SVM on my previous year's ledger, then it interactively goes through the CSV bank statement showing the prediction for each transact", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text personal accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Sebastian Raschka's from-scratch video course on building reasoning models"}, {"id": 786633985, "item_id": 49164624, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49164624", "by": "ChilledTonic", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Will it do anything more then what Ledger does?", "excerpt": "Will it do anything more then what Ledger does? https://github.com/lucabello/hledger-tui", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are you interested in a TUI-style financial analysis tool?"}, {"id": 775633856, "item_id": 48477116, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48477116", "by": "noufalibrahim", "date": "2026-06-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used https://ledger-cli.org/ and the accompanying Emacs mode for a long long time.", "excerpt": "+1 to that. I used https://ledger-cli.org/ and the accompanying Emacs mode for a long long time. I used small slips of paper to record cash spends during the day and by bank statements for online ones. Then kept track. I kept a \"reconciliation\" account to catch misses and it was quite low after several years. I somehow fell out of the habit but I really need to get back to it.", "context": "", "use_case": "plain text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "GnuCash is right. It's also why I built my own finance app"}, {"id": 743459857, "item_id": 46466241, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466241", "by": "spiffytech", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used Ledger for a while, then some other tools.", "excerpt": "I used Ledger for a while, then some other tools. Now I'm on Actual Budget, a nice FOSS envelope budget app that can import transactions from my bank. I find value in tracking everything, tracking it by hand, and tracking it with precision (our household budget has 68 categories). When I've tried easing up in the past (e.g., with Mint's lightweight approach) I was left with a budgetary black box where I felt like I n", "context": "", "use_case": "plain-text accounting", "switched_from": "", "story": "One Number I Trust: Plain-Text Accounting for a Multi-Currency Household"}]}