What is octopus?

Octopus is an open source personal finance tool designed to help individuals and families deal with financial stress, particularly around debt, medical emergencies, rising costs, and scams. The project takes its name from the octopus, which has no rigid skeleton and can squeeze through tight spaces. The analogy is that the software adapts around a user's real financial constraints rather than giving generic advice that ignores their actual situation. It addresses five specific problems: high debt and EMI traps (EMI stands for Equated Monthly Instalment, a fixed loan repayment), falling savings, healthcare cost shocks, stagnant income against rising living costs, and exposure to financial scams or poor money literacy. The tool has five corresponding modules. The EMI Trap Detector maps all debts, credit card dues, and BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) obligations to spot hidden debt pressure before default. The Savings Recovery Engine builds realistic savings plans from actual spending patterns. The Medical Emergency Shield tracks insurance gaps and out of pocket healthcare exposure. The Cost of Living Simulator models financial flexibility under different spending scenarios. The Scam Guard checks messages, loan offers, or investment pitches for red flags and explains risks in plain language. The system is privacy first and self hostable, so users can run it on their own servers and keep financial data under their own control. It is not a bank or financial advisor, it is a decision support tool. The project is in early development. It deploys via Docker Compose with PostgreSQL and Redis and is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0.