Philosophy & story
Gäld exists because every tool I tried was either too expensive, too complex, locked to a vendor, or built for a market that isn't Switzerland. So I built the thing I actually wanted to use.
— Alexandre Bianchi, solo developer
This is a one-person project.
Every line of code, every design decision, every support reply — it's me. I'm Alexandre Bianchi, a Swiss developer. I build Gäld on my own time, alongside freelance work. There is no team, no VC funding, no marketing department. Just someone trying to make Swiss accounting less painful.
Accounting is already hard. Your software shouldn't make it harder. Gäld is opinionated: we made choices so you don't have to. The Swiss SME chart of accounts is pre-loaded. VAT rates are built in. The invoice workflow has one path, not twelve configuration screens.
Every feature we add is weighed against the complexity it introduces. We would rather do fewer things well than many things badly.
The core of Gäld is MIT-licensed. That means you can read every line, run it yourself, fork it, and modify it without asking permission. We believe financial software — software that touches the economic reality of your business — must be auditable.
We will never do a "bait and switch": the features that are free today will remain free. The open-source edition is not a crippled trial — it is a complete, production-ready tool.
Your financial records are yours. Gäld is self-hostable by design: run it on your own server and your data never leaves your infrastructure. Even when you use our hosted service, you can export everything at any time in standard formats.
We do not mine your data, sell insights, or lock you in with proprietary formats. If you want to leave, we make it easy.
Most accounting tools treat Switzerland as an afterthought: a VAT rate added in a settings screen, a QR bill plugin sold separately. Gäld is different. Swiss QR bills, MWST at 8.1 % / 2.6 % / 3.8 %, the KMU chart of accounts, and all four national languages are first-class citizens — not add-ons.
We are building for the freelancer in Lausanne, the GmbH in Zürich, and the Einzelfirma in Chur. Local compliance is not optional; it is the foundation.
Gäld is a tool for bookkeeping, not a replacement for professional advice. I will always be clear about the limits of the software. It's in early beta — there will be bugs, rough edges, and missing features. I'd rather tell you that upfront than hide it behind polished marketing.
The paid plans exist to fund continued development and server costs. They add convenience features for businesses that need them. They do not gate-keep functionality that belongs in a complete accounting tool.
I get asked about Blink regularly. The honest reason: their API is not publicly available. Bank integrations in Switzerland require bilateral agreements, compliance review, and often significant licensing costs — things a bootstrapped solo project can't absorb at this stage.
I'm not opposed to it. If the opportunity arises and the terms make sense, I'll build it. But I won't compromise the project's independence to get a partnership badge. CAMT import covers most use cases in the meantime.
Gäld is free to use, but the infrastructure isn't free to operate. Here's a transparent breakdown of the recurring costs that keep the hosted service alive:
VPS / application server
~CHF 20–40/mo
Compute, Docker, nginx, SSL
Database & object storage
~CHF 10–20/mo
PostgreSQL, Redis, S3-compatible storage for receipts
Email delivery
~CHF 5–15/mo
Transactional emails (invoices, account notifications)
Domain & monitoring
~CHF 10/mo
gaeld.ch (Infomaniak), uptime monitoring
Total: roughly CHF 45–85/month — entirely out of pocket, on top of unpaid development time. The paid subscription plans and donations are the only things that make this sustainable.
If Gäld saves you time or money, consider a one-time donation. It directly covers server bills and buys me a few extra hours a month to work on it rather than client projects. No subscription, no commitment — pay what feels right.
Support via StripeSecure, one-time payment via Stripe. No account required.
I'm one person. There are features I want to build and bugs I want to fix faster than I can alone. If you share the vision — open source, Swiss-first, user-respecting software — I'd genuinely love to hear from you.
Pull requests are welcome. If you want to take ownership of a module or feature area, let's talk. I don't require contributors to sign a CLA beyond the MIT licence.
If you can see a sustainable business here and want to back it — not control it — I'm open to a conversation. The project's independence and its open-source core are non-negotiable.
What I'm not looking for: pivots, proprietary forks, "just add this feature for enterprise clients", or anyone who thinks open source is a liability. Vision alignment comes first.
Get in touchFree to use, free to self-host, no credit card required.