OpenBoxes

OpenBoxes is an open-source supply chain management system for tracking supplies and medications across healthcare facilities and disaster relief operations. It can follow stock across facilities, bins, lots or serial numbers, and expiration dates, with an audit history of stock movements. Procurement tools cover purchase orders, suppliers, invoices, requisitions, receiving, and shipments. Expiry alerts and first-expiry-first-out picking help teams manage products nearing their expiration dates. Reports cover consumption, stockouts, expiration, transactions, stock analytics, and quantities on hand. A mobile-optimized interface supports warehouse tasks such as barcode scanning, inventory lookups, picking, putaway, receiving, and shipping. OpenBoxes is available on Android, iOS, Linux, and the web, as well as through an API and self-hosted deployments. The Community Edition is free forever with community support. Paid options include self-hosting from $24/mo and OpenBoxes Lift plans from $75 per month; Lift offers managed hosting and support, with features and terms varying by plan.

OpenBoxes brings inventory tracking, procurement, expiry controls, and reporting into one supply chain system. The free self-hosted edition is an option for organizations prepared to run it themselves; managed Lift plans add hosting and support at plan-specific prices.

OpenBoxes suits healthcare and relief teams that need to coordinate inventory across facilities, and organizations working in other supply chain settings. The free Community Edition may fit teams able to manage their own hosting and rely on community support.

OpenBoxes is an open-source supply chain system built around inventory and procurement across facilities. It is best for healthcare, relief, and distribution teams that need detailed stock controls and can support either self-hosting or a managed service. Its operational depth is compelling, but the choice between deployment models—and the managed plans’ quotas and terms—deserves close attention.

Overview

Created at Partners In Health after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, OpenBoxes was designed to track medical supplies across health facilities and has since been adapted for other supply chain settings. Its emphasis on lots, expiry, movements, and receiving makes it a stronger fit for organizations managing physical supplies than for teams seeking a broad business suite.

Key features

Inventory can be tracked across multiple facilities and bins, with lots or serial numbers, expiration dates, and an audit history of stock movements. That level of traceability suits operations where knowing where stock went and when it expires matters. Expiry alerts and first-expiry-first-out picking can help reduce waste, though the system still depends on staff maintaining accurate inventory records.

Procurement covers purchase orders, suppliers, invoices, requisitions, receiving, and shipment workflows, connecting replenishment with warehouse activity. Built-in reports cover consumption, stockouts, expiration, transactions, stock analytics, and quantity on hand. REST API, webhooks, n8n, OpenFn, Boomi, Crowdin, and DHIS2 integrations offer connection options for teams with integration needs.

The mobile-optimized interface supports picking, putaway, barcode scanning, lookups, receiving, and shipping, making it relevant to warehouse work on mobile devices. Cloud deployment requires consistent internet connectivity; on-premise deployment avoids that particular dependence but requires hardware and people to operate it. That trade-off is central for resource-constrained organizations.

Pricing

Community Edition is free, billed Free Forever, with unlimited users, self-hosted on-premise or in the cloud, and community support. It is the least expensive route for organizations able to run and maintain the system themselves; infrastructure and operating work remain theirs.

Self-Hosted starts at $24 a month, paid to DigitalOcean, with actual cost depending on droplet options. It includes DigitalOcean self-hosting and dedicated support. The low starting figure is not a fixed all-in price, and the organization still owns deployment operations.

OpenBoxes Lift Shared is $75 per month, with a 30-day free trial, up to 10 users, 10GB storage, 1,000 API calls per hour, 99.0% uptime SLA, and 30-day backup retention. It is the managed option for a smaller team that can work within those caps. OpenBoxes Lift Dedicated is $300 per month, also with a 30-day free trial; it raises capacity to 50 users, 100GB storage, and 25,000 API calls per hour, with a 99.5% uptime SLA and 30-day backup retention. The higher tier suits larger operations needing more headroom, but costs four times as much monthly.

OpenBoxes Lift Enterprise is $1,800 per month for 100 users, 250GB storage, 50,000 API calls per hour, and a 99.9% availability target. For larger needs, the custom Enterprise offering has custom pricing, custom users and storage, a 99.9% uptime SLA, and 24/7 support including holidays. Lift also lists MFA, role-based access control, TLS 1.2+ in transit, AES-256 at rest, tenant data isolation, and security patches for managed Kubernetes. Production data is hosted on Google Cloud Platform in the us-east1 region in the United States.

Platforms

OpenBoxes supports Android, iOS, Linux, web, API, and self-hosted deployments. Community support is the self-managed edition’s support model; Lift adds managed support with availability and response times that vary by tier.

Who it's for

Healthcare facilities, disaster-relief operations, and other supply chain teams with multi-site stock and expiry-control needs are the natural audience. Choose Community Edition if you have the infrastructure capacity to operate open-source software; choose Lift if managed hosting and support are worth its per-plan limits and cost. It is a poor fit for teams without reliable cloud connectivity or the staff and hardware to run an on-premise system.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Multi-facility, bin, lot, serial, and expiry tracking give supply teams meaningful traceability.
• Pros: Procurement workflows, expiry controls, barcode-capable mobile tasks, and operational reports cover connected warehouse needs.
• Pros: The free edition allows unlimited users, while Lift provides managed hosting, support, backups, and API access.
• Cons: Free self-hosting shifts infrastructure and ongoing operations to the organization.
• Cons: Shared and Dedicated Lift plans cap users, storage, and API throughput; Dedicated also has a 30-day backup retention period.
• Cons: The cloud option depends on consistent internet connectivity, while on-premise use requires local hardware and operational staff.

Alternatives

Inventory Management Software is a broader category guide for comparing options. Consider Cin7 Omni if a paid product with web and mobile platforms and unlimited inventory locations is a better match. InvenTree is another free, MIT-licensed self-hosted option, but has no included support or maintenance obligation. Cin7 Core may suit buyers seeking a paid product with a free trial and defined sales-order and integration allowances. Blue Link ERP, MIE Trak Pro, Unleashed, Fishbowl Inventory, and Descartes Sellercloud are alternatives to compare for different inventory and ERP requirements.

Verdict

OpenBoxes is a strong choice for healthcare and supply chain organizations that need traceable stock, expiry controls, and procurement workflows in one system. Its open-source edition avoids a software charge, while Lift reduces the burden of hosting for teams willing to pay for a managed plan. Look elsewhere if your organization cannot support self-hosting and the Lift quotas, costs, or connectivity requirements do not fit.