What was the idea behind $teward?
We wanted to create a self-hosted personal finance application that does not require the users to share banking information with a third-party. Additionally, we wanted a simple multi-user model to allow family members to share financial information (for example, to track compliance with budget objectives).
Can online statements be used with $teward?
Financial institutions are increasingly giving up on producing OFX records and instead produce electronic statements using CSV files. Steward is intended to allow users to download their statements and easily reconcile them with Steward. Additionally, Steward includes a utility to convert brokerage-specific CSV into the Steward CSV format, which can then be imported using a Fast Import function. You map once, and you can then reconcile statements in seconds.
Steward natively supports OFX, QFX, QIF.
What is a typical $teward deployment?
Steward runs on a LAMP stack. It is intended to run on your home network
Steward is not intended to run on a public-facing site (i.e., Internet).
You can use an old PC, a small virtualized Ubuntu instance, or a Single Board Computer (like a Raspberry PI) to host the Stewart application on your home network. The installation steps are documented on the readme included in the Steward archive.
What are the technical requirements for $teward?
Minimum version: PHP 8.0
| Package | Why |
|---|---|
php-mysql | Database access (PDO + pdo_mysql driver) |
php-mbstring | Multi-byte string functions used throughout |
php-curl | Parallel price fetching (recommended; falls back to sequential file_get_contents if missing) |
All other dependencies (json, hash, pcre, session, ctype, openssl, filter) are compiled into PHP 8.x by default and require no separate package.
allow_url_fopen must be On in php.ini (the default). It is used as the fallback HTTP client when php-curl is not installed.
mod_rewriteenabled (a2enmod rewrite)AllowOverride FileInfo(orAllowOverride All) set for the application directory so.htaccessrules take effect
MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+.
Does $teward include reports?
Yes, Steward comes with over 25 built-in reports. Most importantly, Steward also includes a GUI to build your own report. Advanced users can also take advantage of the documentation which includes the database schema reference.
Do you have a standalone version of $teward?
Not yet. We are considering creating a simpler version of Steward that could run on a single computer (without support for multiple users).
How much does it cost to use $teward?
Steward is free for personal, non-commercial use. The license.txt file explains the license limitations.
Can I get support? Can I make enhancement requests?
Steward is free for personal, non-commercial use, and time permitting, we will try our best to help you if you reach out to steward@7312.us.
Where can I download $teward?
You can download it at https://github.com/Sequoia-Firewall/steward
Do I need to open my home network to the Internet to use $teward? Do I need to open ports on my home router?
Nope.
Steward is not intended to run on a public-facing site (i.e., Internet).
Do not deploy it on your DMZ or web site.
Can $teward download online quotes (stocks and such)?
Yes. You can leverage Yahoo Finance (free), Massive, Alpha Vantage. Both Massive and Alpha Vantage provide free tier for their services. You can also choose not to use online services for downloading quotes (manual updates only).
Can $teward make coffee?
Nope.