Overview

frePPLe brings forecasting, inventory, production and replenishment planning into one product. That makes it a good fit when teams want demand expectations to feed stock and production decisions rather than treating each planning task separately.

Production plans account for finite material supply and resource capacity, and planners can adjust jobs in an interactive Gantt chart. Forecasts use statistical and AI techniques; teams can select among methods and review and edit forecasts together. Inventory planning calculates safety stocks and reorder quantities, creates replenishment orders, and supports item segmentation and tailored business rules. The breadth is useful for coordinated planning, though it also means buyers should check that frePPLe’s deployment and support model fits their operating needs.

Key features

Forecasting: Hierarchical forecasting and SKU-location granularity support demand planning at product-and-location level. Method selection and collaborative review give teams room to refine forecasts instead of accepting a single automatic output.
Production planning: Plans account for material and capacity constraints, while the interactive Gantt chart lets planners adjust jobs. This is relevant for manufacturers balancing available resources against production requirements.
Inventory and replenishment: Safety-stock and reorder calculations, replenishment orders, segmentation and tailored rules bring inventory decisions into the same planning environment. That combination suits teams with differentiated item policies.
Integration: REST API, CSV, Excel and direct database access give organizations several routes to connect existing systems. Community also includes two-way Odoo integration, a practical advantage for Odoo users considering the open-source edition.
Scenario planning: Scenario planning is supported, but Cloud is capped at six scenarios. That may be enough for bounded comparisons; teams needing more room should consider Cloud PLUS, where scenarios are limited by storage, or Enterprise, which has unlimited scenarios.

Pricing

frePPLe offers a free open-source Community edition, Cloud and Cloud PLUS subscriptions, and Enterprise software. Prices for the paid plans use custom pricing rather than a published amount. Subscription pricing is based on active item-location pairs, and the displayed calculator describes a size below 20,000 pairs, so organizations should assess their footprint before comparing costs.

Community: Free open-source edition with a browser-based, multilingual application, Ubuntu Linux binaries and Docker images. It is the natural starting point for technically self-sufficient teams; support is DIY through the user group.
Cloud: Hosted service with professional support and a maximum of six scenarios. It suits teams that want a managed option and can work within that scenario limit.
Cloud PLUS: Hosted on frePPLe cloud servers with doubled resource allocation; scenarios are limited by storage. It is aimed at teams that need more resources than Cloud while retaining hosted deployment.
Enterprise: Installed on customer hardware, with unlimited scenarios and professional support. It fits organizations that need customer-side control, including those whose policies or regulations may prevent cloud hosting.

A 15-day trial is offered. Academic users can contact the company about a free scheme. The combination of custom pricing and item-location-based subscription costs makes a quote the sensible basis for evaluating paid editions.

Platforms

frePPLe supports web, API, Linux and self-hosted use. Community is a browser-based web application and is offered with Ubuntu Linux binaries and Docker images; Enterprise is for on-premise installation, also with Ubuntu Linux binaries and Docker images. These choices favor organizations comfortable with Linux or container deployment, while Enterprise gives infrastructure control to teams that cannot use cloud hosting.

Who it's for

frePPLe is a strong candidate for manufacturers and planning teams that need forecasting, inventory, replenishment and production decisions connected, particularly when finite material and capacity constraints matter. It also suits organizations that want to choose between a self-managed open-source edition, hosted service and customer-hardware installation.

It is less suitable for buyers who require professional support but expect a free edition, or for Cloud users whose scenario needs exceed six. Those organizations should compare paid deployment options and confirm that the applicable scenario and resource model works for their planning process.

Pros and cons

Pro: Forecasting, inventory, replenishment and production planning share one scope, supporting decisions that need to carry through from demand to execution planning.
Pro: Finite material and capacity constraints plus Gantt-based job adjustment give production planners concrete levers for shaping plans.
Pro: Community, hosted plans and customer-installed Enterprise offer meaningful deployment choice, including an option for infrastructure-sensitive organizations.
Con: Community support is DIY through the user group, so teams needing professional assistance should budget for a paid option.
Con: Cloud allows at most six scenarios, which may restrict teams that compare many planning alternatives.
Con: Paid prices depend on active item-location pairs and are custom, making cost comparison less immediate than with fixed published rates.

Alternatives

For broader category comparisons, see Manufacturing Scheduling Software, Production Scheduling Software, Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software, Demand Planning Software, Capacity Planning Software and Scenario Planning Software.

NETVIBES is a paid alternative with a free plan and trial, and supports Android, iOS, self-hosted and web platforms; consider it if those platform options or its Enterprise Data Science plan are a better fit.
SkyPlanner APS is a paid, trial-offering option for Android, iOS, API and web, with a plan based on five workstations and separately priced additional workstations; consider it when workstation-based scheduling is the relevant buying frame.
Asprova APS is a paid, trial-offering self-hosted Windows option whose package price is open and whose implementation, training, consultation and integration may add costs; consider it if that package-and-distributor model suits your project.
GE Vernova Proficy Plant Applications is a paid option for hosted or on-premises mixes across process, discrete and mixed manufacturing; consider it when that manufacturing scope and deployment mix are priorities.
Phoenix APS offers a free beta evaluation installer for Windows and API, but its temporary evaluation license is not for production use; consider it only for evaluation rather than live operations.
SchedulePro is a paid web and Windows option with a Fixed License at 4500.00 USD per year, billed per copy per year, including unlimited technical support and free upgrades while maintained; consider it if those fixed-license terms align with your needs.
PlanetTogether APS is a paid self-hosted or web alternative with subscription or perpetual licensing; subscription fees are paid annually in advance and set on the applicable order form.
GANTTPLAN APS is a paid self-hosted or web option with a Starter plan that includes unlimited users and viewers, an ERP adapter and deadline-based optimization.

Verdict

Choose frePPLe if your organization needs one planning environment for forecasts, inventory, replenishment and constrained production, and values a choice of open-source, hosted or customer-installed deployment. Its strongest case is connected planning with real hosting flexibility; look elsewhere if Cloud’s scenario cap is too tight, professional support must come with a free plan, or custom item-location-based pricing is a poor fit.

	frePPLe	SIMCEL
Free plan	Yes
Free trial	Yes
Paid from	Free
Platforms	api, Linux, self-hosted, Web	api, Web
Free plan	Yes
Scenario planning	Yes
Hierarchical forecasting	Yes
Forecast granularity	sku_location
Modeling scope		multi-domain
Financial modeling		Yes
Operational modeling		Yes
Sensitivity analysis		Yes
Data connection level		api

frePPLe vs SIMCEL

frePPLe

SIMCEL