hledger/doc/site/index.md

#  hledger

## lightweight, portable, dependable accounting tools

hledger is a computer program for easily tracking money, time, or other commodities,
on unix, mac and windows.
It was inspired by and maintains substantial compatibility with [Ledger](faq.html#hledger-and-ledger).
hledger is first a command-line tool, but there is also a [web interface](manual.html#web),
and a [Haskell library](http://hackage.haskell.org/package/hledger-lib) for
building your own programs and [scripts](more-docs.html#scripting-examples)
(hledger is written in Haskell).
hledger is free software, available under the GNU GPLv3+,
created by [Simon Michael](http://joyful.com) and [contributors](contributors.html).

Though limited in features, hledger is lightweight, usable and reliable.
For some, it is a simple, flexible, future-proof alternative to Quicken or GnuCash.
It aims to help both computer experts and regular folks
to gain clarity and control in their finances and time management,
but currently it is a bit more suited to techies.
I've been using (and improving) it since 2007 to:

- track spending and income
- see time reports by day/week/month/project
- get accurate numbers for client billing and tax filing
- track invoices

To get started, you could
**[download](download.html)**,
read the **[tutorial](step-by-step.html)**,
or **[join the IRC channel](http://hledger.org/irc)** and ask questions.

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|-------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| IRC                     | [#hledger](http://hledger.org/irc) (see also [#ledger](http://webchat.freenode.net?channels=ledger&randomnick=1)) |
| Mail list&nbsp;&nbsp;   | [hledger.org/list](http://hledger.org/list) |
| Twitter                 | [#ledgercli](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ledgercli&src=typd&f=realtime), <a href="https://twitter.com/ledgertips">@LedgerTips</a> |

<!-- | web UI demo             | [demo.hledger.org](http://demo.hledger.org) | -->
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