Actual Budget MCP Server vs Hypawave MCP

A side-by-side look at the Actual Budget MCP Server and Hypawave MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.

Actual Budget MCP Server logoActual Budget MCP ServerFinance & Fintech · Local subprocess (stdio)MCP server exposing Actual Budget accounts, transactions, budgets and reporting to LLM assistants.63GoodAuth: not declaredHypawave MCP logoHypawave MCPFinance & Fintech · Local subprocess (stdio)Agent-to-agent Lightning commerce: buy, sell & discover files, data, APIs & compute. Non-custodial.53GoodAuth: not declared

Verdict: choose Actual Budget MCP Server for finance & fintech work as a local process; choose Hypawave MCP for finance & fintech as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.

Which MCP server should you choose?

Actual Budget MCP Server logoChoose Actual Budget MCP Server when

  • You need dedicated capabilities in the Finance & Fintech domain.
  • You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
  • You have the keys it needs: ACTUAL_DATA_DIR, ACTUAL_SERVER_URL, ACTUAL_PASSWORD, ACTUAL_BUDGET_SYNC_ID, ACTUAL_SYNC_TTL_MS, ACTUAL_BUDGET_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD, ACTUAL_SESSION_TOKEN.
  • You want tools like get-transactions, create-transaction, update-transaction.
Explore Actual Budget MCP Server

Hypawave MCP logoChoose Hypawave MCP when

  • You need dedicated capabilities in the Finance & Fintech domain.
  • You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
  • You have the keys it needs: NWC_URL, HYPAWAVE_MAX_SPEND_SATS.
  • You want tools like search_offers, get_offer, buy_offer.
Explore Hypawave MCP

Feature & specification comparison

Rows where the two servers differ are marked.

SpecActual Budget MCP Server logoActual Budget MCP ServerHypawave MCP logoHypawave MCP
CategoryFinance & FintechFinance & Fintech
Quality signal63/100 · Good53/100 · Good
Install commandConfirmedConfirmed
TransportLocal subprocess (stdio)Local subprocess (stdio)
AuthNot declaredNot declared
PricingFreeNot declared
Required env varsACTUAL_DATA_DIRACTUAL_SERVER_URLACTUAL_PASSWORDACTUAL_BUDGET_SYNC_IDACTUAL_SYNC_TTL_MSACTUAL_BUDGET_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORDACTUAL_SESSION_TOKENNWC_URLHYPAWAVE_MAX_SPEND_SATS
Verified ownerCommunity listingCommunity listing
GitHub stars2660
Directory activity 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes
Tools4028

Tools & capabilities

Actual Budget MCP Server tools 40

  • get-transactions
  • create-transaction
  • update-transaction
  • get-accounts
  • balance-history
  • spending-by-category
  • monthly-summary
  • budget-vs-actual
  • net-worth
  • category-trends
  • spending-by-payee
  • cash-flow
  • +28 more on the listing page

Hypawave MCP tools 28

  • search_offersSearch the public marketplace directory (text, category, tags, sort, pagination)
  • get_offerRead an offer's full terms before buying
  • buy_offerBuy an offer end-to-end: pay via NWC, confirm with preimage, poll to settled → `claim_token
  • confirm_paymentSubmit a preimage for a bolt11 you paid manually (no-NWC mode)
  • download_filesFetch keys, verify the seller's `ciphertext_sha256` commitment, decrypt locally, save to disk
  • pay_invoiceSettle a one-off invoice payload a seller handed you (Path 2/3a), incl. file retrieval
  • get_receiptDurable settlement receipt for a past purchase
  • check_paymentStatus/unlock check for payment intents or invoices
  • Sell
  • create_offerCreate a reusable offer — private by default, or `is_public: true` to list it in the marketplace
  • attach_fileEncrypt a local file client-side (AES-256-GCM), upload, register with content commitment
  • manage_offerOffer status / renew the activation window / buy more capacity / deactivate
  • +16 more on the listing page

Ready-to-paste client configs

Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.

Actual Budget MCP Server

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "actual-budget-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "actual-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "ACTUAL_DATA_DIR": "YOUR_ACTUAL_DATA_DIR_HERE",
        "ACTUAL_SERVER_URL": "YOUR_ACTUAL_SERVER_URL_HERE",
        "ACTUAL_PASSWORD": "YOUR_ACTUAL_PASSWORD_HERE",
        "ACTUAL_BUDGET_SYNC_ID": "YOUR_ACTUAL_BUDGET_SYNC_ID_HERE",
        "ACTUAL_SYNC_TTL_MS": "YOUR_ACTUAL_SYNC_TTL_MS_HERE",
        "ACTUAL_BUDGET_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD": "YOUR_ACTUAL_BUDGET_ENCRYPTION_PASSWORD_HERE",
        "ACTUAL_SESSION_TOKEN": "YOUR_ACTUAL_SESSION_TOKEN_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Hypawave MCP

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-299": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@hypawave/mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "NWC_URL": "YOUR_NWC_URL_HERE",
        "HYPAWAVE_MAX_SPEND_SATS": "YOUR_HYPAWAVE_MAX_SPEND_SATS_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

Frequently asked questions

Actual Budget MCP Server is categorized under Finance & Fintech and uses a local stdio subprocess. Hypawave MCP belongs to Finance & Fintech and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Actual Budget MCP Server for finance & fintech work and Hypawave MCP for finance & fintech.

Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.

Actual Budget MCP Server is listed as free. Hypawave MCP has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.

Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add actual-budget-mcp-server and mcp-299 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.

On AllMCPs, Actual Budget MCP Server has a quality signal of 63/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 266 GitHub stars. Hypawave MCP has 53/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.