How to set up Actual Budget

Privacy-first personal finance. This guide covers how to access it, log in for the first time, configure the basics, and where its data lives so you can back it up.

1. What is Actual Budget?

Self-hosted YNAB alternative. Track spending, set budgets, and manage finances with zero-knowledge end-to-end encryption. All data stays on your server.

2. Before you start

Create your first account after launching. Data is encrypted on your server.

3. How to access it

Once it's enabled, Actual Budget runs on your SparkBox at:

https://<your-NAS-IP>:5006

First visit will show a self-signed cert warning — accept it once. You can also install the Actual mobile/desktop apps and point them at this server to sync.

4. Tips

• Your browser will warn about a self-signed certificate on first load — click Advanced → Proceed. The cert is generated locally and never leaves your server. It's required because Actual Budget's web UI uses SharedArrayBuffer, which browsers only expose over HTTPS.

5. Where your data lives

Actual Budget's config and persistent data are stored on the SparkBox host under:

/opt/sparkbox/modules/budget/config/

Backups via the SparkBox dashboard's Backup tile include this directory by default, so a single restore brings Actual Budget back to its current state on a fresh install.

Next steps