InvoiceShelf InvoiceShelf/InvoiceShelf

Self-hosted invoicing for freelancers and small businesses (Crater-based); invoices, estimates, payments, expenses, recurring invoices and reports.

Creator kit + Compare GitHub ↗ Install guide (official) ↗

InvoiceShelf at a glance

Checked 16 Oct 2026

InvoiceShelf (1.9k stars, 2.4.6 Sep 2026) grew out of the Crater codebase (Crater itself has had no commits since Aug 2024). It creates invoices and estimates as PDFs, records payments, tracks expenses and taxes, schedules recurring invoices, and gives customers a portal; multiple companies and scoped team roles are supported. AGPL-3.0. Runs as a Docker Compose stack with SQLite, MariaDB or PostgreSQL. The default 3.x branch is an alpha preview; use 2.x for production. No time tracking, bank feeds or online card payments are documented in the core.

Cite this pageRepoQuarry. “InvoiceShelf.” Checked 16 Oct 2026. https://repoquarry.dev/projects/invoiceshelf

How much of FreshBooks does it replace?

2 of 6 jobs. Invoices, estimates, payments recorded by hand and expenses; no time tracking or bank feeds.

Invoices Partial replacement

Online payment of invoices Not covered

Time tracking and billing for time Not covered

Expense and receipt tracking Partial replacement

Bank feeds and reconciliation Not covered

Bookkeeping Not covered

For online payment of invoices, time tracking and billing for time, bank feeds and reconciliation, bookkeeping, see other FreshBooks alternatives. You may also need to build an interface, an API server and hosting yourself.

How much of QuickBooks Online does it replace?

2 of 6 jobs. Invoicing and expenses only; not a double-entry ledger.

Invoices Partial replacement

Online payment of invoices Not covered

Expense and receipt tracking Partial replacement

Bank feeds and reconciliation Not covered

Bookkeeping Not covered

Time tracking and billing for time Not covered

For online payment of invoices, bank feeds and reconciliation, bookkeeping, time tracking and billing for time, see other QuickBooks Online alternatives. You may also need to build an interface, an API server and hosting yourself.

Facts, with sources

Every answer links to where we found it. We read the documentation; we did not install it.

Report a correction

QuestionAnswerSourceChecked

Runs on my machine? Self-hosted with Docker or a PHP web server InvoiceShelf is a self-hosted web application for creating invoices, tracking payments and expenses, and keeping customer accounts organised. github.com · InvoiceShelf#run-your-invoicing-from-one-place ↗ today

Code licence AGPL-3.0 (copyleft) InvoiceShelf is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 github.com · InvoiceShelf#license ↗ today

Model weights licence No separate model weights github.com · InvoiceShelf#readme ↗ today

Commercial use Yes under AGPL-3.0 copyleft terms InvoiceShelf is released under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 github.com · InvoiceShelf#license ↗ today

Paid services needed? None required; optional official modules mentioned Optional official modules can add specialised features without making the core application heavier. github.com · InvoiceShelf#run-your-invoicing-from-one-place ↗ today

Hardware Not documented Know the answer? —

Operating systems Any Docker host, or PHP 8.4 with MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQLite; host OS not listed InvoiceShelf 3.x requires PHP 8.4 and supports MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and SQLite. Docker includes the required application runtime. github.com · InvoiceShelf#install-invoiceshelf ↗ today

Setup effort Medium; clone the Docker repo, pick a Compose file and finish the setup wizard InvoiceShelf publishes production images at Docker Hub docs.invoiceshelf.com · docker.html ↗ today