Frappe Books

Overview

Frappe Books is accounting software for small businesses that brings sales, purchasing, inventory and double-entry bookkeeping into one product. It is a strong fit for businesses prepared to install it on their own Frappe site; its breadth and open-source price are appealing, but it is not a supported desktop application and phone use depends on an internet connection.

Key features

Books covers quotes, invoices, payments, bills, supplier payments and returns, giving small businesses tools for both sides of routine transactions. Its inventory functions track stock across locations, including batches, expiry dates and serial numbers, and support point-of-sale transactions. That is a useful combination for businesses selling physical goods, though the software’s self-hosted model asks them to run it on their own server rather than treating it as a ready-to-use hosted service.

Double-entry books, a country-specific chart of accounts, journal entries and financial reports provide a fuller accounting foundation than invoicing alone. For businesses in India, GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 reports support GST returns. Books User, Books Manager and System Manager roles let a business distinguish access to records, reports and settings, which matters when responsibilities are shared.

Company data stays in the Frappe site’s database. That keeps it on the customer’s own server, but also makes operating the Frappe site part of choosing the product. On phones, Books runs in a browser and can be added to the home screen, but it needs an internet connection. The old desktop app is no longer supported, so buyers seeking a supported standalone desktop edition should look elsewhere.

Pricing

Frappe Books has one Free plan at no cost, billed No subscription. It is free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, and is installed on the customer’s own Frappe site. There is no subscription to renew and no paid tier to weigh against it; the trade-off is that the business runs the software itself. There is no free trial because the plan is free.

Platforms

The product supports Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, Windows, web and self-hosted deployment. Phone access is through a browser and requires internet, while the old desktop app is no longer supported. Buyers should distinguish those current options from a supported offline desktop application.

Who it's for

Frappe Books makes the most sense for a small business that needs purchasing, sales, inventory and reporting, values keeping company data on its own server, and can manage a Frappe site. Goods-based businesses may particularly benefit from its location, batch, expiry-date and serial-number tracking. It is a weaker fit for buyers who want a supported legacy desktop app or phone access without an internet connection.

Frappe states that its quality and information security systems are certified to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001:2022 and have SOC 2 Type II attestation. Those credentials may matter to businesses evaluating their software provider, but they do not change the practical requirement to run Books on their own server.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Quotes, invoices, purchasing, payments, returns and detailed inventory tracking cover a broad small-business workflow in one free product.
• Pro: Double-entry accounting, country-specific charts of accounts and financial reports give it a solid bookkeeping scope; India GST reporting adds specific value for businesses filing those returns.
• Pro: Customer-server data storage and role-based permissions suit businesses that want to manage where data resides and who can access records, reports and settings.
• Con: Self-hosting on a Frappe site means it is not a turnkey hosted service; the business must be prepared to run that environment.
• Con: The old desktop app is unsupported, and phone-browser use requires internet, ruling it out for buyers who need either a supported desktop edition or offline phone access.

Alternatives

Choose Beancount if a free, open-source bookkeeping option across platforms including API and self-hosted use is a better match than Frappe Books’ sales and inventory scope. GnuCash is a free desktop option for personal and small-business accounting on Linux, macOS and Windows. hledger is another free software option with API, web and self-hosted platforms. Ledger is worth considering if BSD-licensed command-line accounting is what you want.

BUSY has a free Express plan for billing and accounting, with multiple companies, multiple financial years, invoices, receipts and inventory. GNUKhata is a free, open-source option whose current v8.0 supports Docker installation. FrontAccounting is free accounting software released under the GNU General Public License. LedgerSMB is free open-source software for self-hosted installation. For more options, browse General Ledger Software or Bookkeeping Software.

Verdict

Choose Frappe Books if your small business needs free accounting with purchasing, sales, inventory and reporting, and you can run it on your own Frappe site. Its useful range of operational and accounting tools comes without a subscription. Look elsewhere if you need a supported old desktop app or phone access without an internet connection.