OpenBoxes

OpenBoxes is an open-source supply chain management system for tracking supplies and medications at healthcare facilities and in disaster relief work. Built for resource-scarce settings, it has also been adapted for warehouse, distribution, and other supply chain use. Inventory records can include facility, bin location, lot or serial number, and expiration date. Procurement and fulfillment tools cover purchase orders, supplier management, requisitions, picking, packing, and shipment tracking. Built-in reports cover consumption, stockouts, expirations, transactions, stock analytics, and quantities on hand. Its mobile-optimized interface supports barcode scanning, inventory lookups, and receiving and shipping workflows. Organizations can host it in the cloud or on-premise: cloud use requires consistent internet access, while offline on-premise operation requires hardware and staff. OpenBoxes is free to use and modify under the Eclipse Public License, with no user-license fees. Community support is free; paid managed support is available through OpenBoxes Lift, including Shared OpenBoxes Lift at $75 a month and Dedicated OpenBoxes Lift at $899 a month.

OpenBoxes covers inventory, procurement, fulfillment, and reporting, with cloud and on-premise deployment options. Its software has no user-license fees, but hosting and managed support needs are worth weighing.

OpenBoxes suits healthcare facilities, disaster-relief efforts, and other organizations managing inventory across warehouses or distribution settings. It is also intended for teams working in resource-scarce environments.

OpenBoxes is a supply-chain system for organizations managing stock and distribution across multiple facilities. It is especially well suited to healthcare and relief operations, while warehouse teams can also use it for broader distribution work. Its free, unlimited-user self-hosted option is a strong draw, provided the organization can take responsibility for hosting and operations.

Overview

Developed at Partners In Health after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, OpenBoxes was designed to help track medical supplies across health facilities in resource-scarce settings. Its reach now includes warehouse management and other supply-chain contexts. The breadth of inventory, purchasing, fulfillment, and reporting makes it a better fit for coordinating ongoing operations than for teams seeking only a basic stock list.

Inventory can be tracked by facility and bin, with lot or serial numbers and expiration dates. That detail is valuable when staff need to locate stock or manage time-sensitive supplies across warehouses. The trade-off is deployment: cloud hosting depends on consistent internet access, while on-premise offline capability requires suitable hardware and staff.

Key features

Inventory and fulfillment

OpenBoxes combines purchase orders and supplier management with requisitions, picking, packing, and shipment tracking. Cycle counting, barcode scanning, and mobile receiving and shipping workflows support day-to-day warehouse work, including when staff are away from a desk. These tools give teams a connected set of stock and dispatch workflows, though they do not remove the need to manage the underlying deployment.

Reporting, integrations, and access

Reports cover consumption, stockouts, expiration, transactions, stock analytics, and quantity on hand. That range can help operators monitor availability and movement rather than relying on counts alone. Integration options include REST API, webhooks, ERP integration, and EDI support; named tools include n8n, OpenFn, Boomi, Crowdin, and DHIS2.

Audit trails, Superuser, Manager, and Read-only roles, location-based access restrictions, and LDAP authentication support oversight across facilities. These controls are relevant to organizations that need differentiated access and traceable activity, particularly when several teams share inventory workflows.

Pricing

OpenBoxes is free to use and modify under the Eclipse Public License, and its pricing page says there are no user-license fees. Hosting and support are separate considerations: community support is free, while managed support with service-level commitments is offered through OpenBoxes Lift.

• Community Self-Hosted: free. Includes unlimited users, self-managed hosting, storage on your server, and no minimum term. It suits organizations with the staff and infrastructure to operate the system; the lower cost means taking on hosting and upkeep yourself.
• Shared OpenBoxes Lift: $75 a month, billed from $75 per month. Includes up to 10 users, 10 GB storage, a 99.0% uptime SLA, 1k API calls/hour, and 30 days of backups. It suits smaller teams seeking managed hosting, with limits on users, storage, API calls, and backup retention.
• Dedicated OpenBoxes Lift: $899 a month, billed from $899 per month. Includes up to 50 users, 100 GB storage, a 99.5% uptime SLA, 25k API calls/hour, and 60 days of backups, with a 12-month minimum term. It is aimed at larger operations needing more capacity and a stronger uptime commitment, but requires a longer commitment.
• Enterprise OpenBoxes Lift: custom pricing. Includes custom users and storage, a 99.9% uptime SLA, 24/7 support including holidays, and 90+ days of backups. It fits organizations needing tailored capacity and round-the-clock support.

The pricing note also says paid plans start at $24/mo, while the listed Lift options start at $75 per month. Organizations should weigh the specific plan limits and terms against their hosting and support needs.

Platforms

OpenBoxes supports web, self-hosted, Android, iOS, and API use. Its mobile-optimized interface offers barcode scanning, inventory lookups, and receiving and shipping workflows. That makes mobile access useful for warehouse work, while cloud deployments still depend on consistent internet connectivity.

Who it's for

Healthcare facilities, disaster-relief organizations, and warehouse or distribution teams managing stock across locations are the clearest fit, especially when lot, serial, or expiry tracking matters. It is less suitable for organizations unable to support on-premise infrastructure or consistently reliable internet for cloud use. Teams should also distinguish free software licensing from the operational cost of hosting or managed support.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Unlimited users on the free self-hosted plan make it accessible to large teams without per-user license fees.
• Pros: Facility, bin, lot or serial, and expiration tracking suit multi-warehouse operations handling traceable or time-sensitive stock.
• Pros: Purchasing, fulfillment, mobile workflows, and operational reports cover more of the supply chain than inventory counting alone.
• Cons: Self-hosting requires the organization to provide infrastructure and manage the system.
• Cons: Cloud use requires consistent internet, and offline on-premise operation requires hardware and staff.
• Cons: Managed plans impose user, storage, API, and backup limits; the dedicated plan also has a 12-month minimum term.

Alternatives

For a wider set of warehouse-management choices, compare the Warehouse Management Software list; for fulfillment-focused tools, see Order Fulfillment Software.

• EPG LFS is a paid option with Android, iOS, Linux, self-hosted, web, and Windows platforms; its EPG ONE WMS (LFS) price depends on project requirements and requires a quote.
• Made4net WMS has no free plan and uses custom pricing based on features, warehouse size, and cloud or on-premise deployment.
• Ramco Enterprise Asset Management is a paid option whose price varies by installation type and industry-specific requirements.
• Ongoing WMS has no free plan but offers a free trial; its listed direct-to-carrier shipment charge is €0.03, paid once.
• Descartes Peoplevox has no free plan or free trial; its Shopify Essentials plan starts at $2,049 /month for pure-play Shopify brands handling up to 200 orders per day and includes 3 users.
• Mecalux Easy WES is a paid option for web and Android.
• Mintsoft has no free plan; its Brand plans cost £159 a month and include unlimited browser users, warehouse, order, inventory and shipping management, plus reporting and analytics.
• Packiyo WMS has no free plan; its 3PL plan costs $949 a month and includes 5 users and up to 5,000 shipments per month.

Verdict

Choose OpenBoxes if your healthcare, relief, warehouse, or distribution operation needs detailed multi-site inventory and connected purchasing and fulfillment workflows, and can support self-hosting or budget for managed Lift service. The free, unlimited-user license is its clearest advantage; look elsewhere if your organization cannot meet the hosting or connectivity demands or needs a different plan structure.