Overview

Developed at Partners In Health after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, OpenBoxes was intended to help track medical supplies across health facilities in resource-scarce settings. It has since been adapted for warehouse management, distribution and other supply-chain work. The breadth is useful for organizations that need more than a stock ledger, though the deployment choice is part of the decision: cloud use depends on consistent internet connectivity, while offline operation on-premise requires suitable hardware and staff.

Inventory can be tracked by facility and bin, with lot or serial numbers and expiration dates. Multi-warehouse support makes that structure relevant across locations, particularly where traceability and stock availability matter. The Eclipse Public License permits free use and modification, and there are no user-license fees; infrastructure and support still need to be addressed.

Key features

Inventory through fulfillment

OpenBoxes combines purchase orders and supplier management with requisitions, picking, packing and shipment tracking. That range can connect replenishment to dispatch in one system. Cycle counting, barcode scanning and mobile inventory lookups support routine stock control, while mobile receiving and shipping workflows can help staff working away from a desk.

Reports, integrations and access

Built-in reports cover consumption, stockouts, expirations, transactions, stock analytics and quantities on hand. The integration options include a REST API, webhooks, ERP integration and EDI, with named connections including n8n, OpenFn, Boomi, Crowdin and DHIS2. Audit trails, Superuser, Manager and Read-only roles, location-based restrictions and LDAP authentication provide controls for organizations that need to govern access across facilities.

Pricing

The Community Self-Hosted plan is free. It allows unlimited users, stores data on your server and has no minimum term, making it the clearest fit for organizations able to manage hosting themselves. The trade-off is that hosting and operation remain their responsibility; community support is free.

Shared OpenBoxes Lift costs 75.00 USD per month, billed from $75 per month. It covers up to 10 users, 10 GB of storage, a 99.0% uptime SLA, 1k API calls/hour and 30 days of backups. This is a managed option for smaller teams willing to work within those capacity limits.

Dedicated OpenBoxes Lift costs 899.00 USD per month, billed from $899 per month, with up to 50 users, 100 GB of storage, a 99.5% uptime SLA, 25k API calls/hour and 60 days of backups. Its 12-month minimum term makes it a larger commitment, but it raises the included capacity and service level. Enterprise OpenBoxes Lift has custom pricing, custom user and storage limits, a 99.9% uptime SLA, 24/7 support including holidays and 90+ days of backups. It is aimed at organizations needing tailored capacity and round-the-clock support. Managed support with guaranteed service levels is available through Lift plans.

The pricing model is freemium, with a general paid-from figure of $24/mo; the named Lift tiers are priced separately above. Compare the plan terms and included limits against your expected users, storage and API demand before choosing managed hosting.

Platforms

OpenBoxes supports web, Android and iOS, and can be self-hosted; an API is also available. Its mobile-optimized interface includes barcode scanning, inventory lookup, and receiving and shipping workflows. Teams choosing cloud deployment need consistent internet access. On-premise offline capability is possible, but depends on having the necessary hardware and staff.

Who it's for

OpenBoxes is a strong fit for healthcare and relief organizations that manage supplies or medications across facilities, and for warehouse and distribution teams with similar needs for traceability, purchasing and fulfillment. It is less suitable for organizations that cannot support self-hosting and do not want a managed plan, or whose operations require offline use without the resources to run on-premise infrastructure.

Pros and cons

Pros: Unlimited users on the free self-hosted plan avoid per-user license charges.
Pros: Facility, bin, lot or serial, and expiration tracking gives teams useful control over stock location and traceability.
Pros: Procurement, fulfillment, reporting and mobile workflows cover more of the supply chain than inventory counting alone.
Cons: Self-hosting shifts infrastructure and operational work to the organization; offline on-premise use also requires hardware and staff.
Cons: Managed plans impose user, storage and API limits, and Dedicated requires a 12-month minimum term.
Cons: Cloud deployment depends on consistent internet connectivity.

Alternatives

For a broader shortlist, compare Order Fulfillment Software and Warehouse Management Software.

fulfillmenttools is a paid option with a free trial and an enterprise platform priced by contact; consider it if you want an enterprise offering rather than OpenBoxes' free self-hosted plan.
SKULabs starts with a $299.00 USD per month Starter plan, including 1,000 orders, three users, two sales channels and two warehouses before listed add-on charges. It may suit teams that prefer a paid plan with defined order and channel allowances.
Cin7 Omni has an Omni plan with eight users, five e-commerce and app integrations, and unlimited inventory locations; its Standard plan is $349.00 USD per month. Consider it when those stated inventory-location and integration terms better match your needs.
Descartes Sellercloud has an annual subscription starting at $1349.00 USD per year, with pricing based on order volume and add-ons. It is a paid alternative for readers comparing annual, volume-based terms.
Sentry WMS is another free, open-source self-hosted option, but it does not yet have first-party ERP or commerce connectors.
ShipHero WMS costs $1995.00 USD per month for its Standard WMS for Brands plan, which includes returns, automation rules, rate shopping, lot and expiration tracking, warehouse routing, setup and training, and 24/7/365 support. It is a paid alternative for teams seeking those stated services and workflows.
Logiwa IO offers custom pricing based on fulfillment volume and complexity, with a demo requested for a quote; consider it if that pricing approach is a better fit.
Unicommerce Uniware has a Standard plan with one facility, 1 lakh SKUs and three user roles, excluding custom/API integration, omnichannel and ERP integration. It is an alternative when those stated scope and integration limits align with your operation.

Verdict

Choose OpenBoxes if your organization needs detailed, multi-site supply-chain workflows and values an open-source system with no user-license fees. The main reason to look elsewhere is operational capacity: self-hosting takes infrastructure and staff, while Lift plans add recurring costs, limits and, for Dedicated, a one-year minimum.

	OpenBoxes	SnapFulfil
Free plan	Yes
Paid from	$75/mo
Platforms	Android, api, iOS, self-hosted, Web	Web
Free plan	Yes
Paid from	24 /mo
Mobile app	Yes
Barcode scanning	Yes	Yes
Cycle counting	Yes	Yes
Shipping labels	Yes	Yes
Multiple warehouses	Yes	Yes
Multi-warehouse support	Yes
Picking methods		batch

OpenBoxes vs SnapFulfil

OpenBoxes

SnapFulfil