OpenBoxes

Overview

Created at Partners In Health after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, OpenBoxes was built to 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 combination of inventory, procurement, fulfillment and reporting makes it a broad operational system rather than a simple stock-counting tool.

Stock records can be organized by facility and bin, with lot or serial numbers and expiration dates. That level of detail is useful for organizations handling medicines or other goods whose location, traceability or shelf life matters. Multi-warehouse support extends the model across sites, though the organization still needs to choose and operate an appropriate deployment.

Key features

Inventory, procurement and fulfillment

Purchase orders and supplier management sit alongside requisitions, picking, packing and shipment tracking. Together, these workflows can connect replenishment to dispatch without relying on separate tools for each step. Cycle counting and barcode scanning support stock control, while the mobile-optimized interface provides inventory lookups and mobile receiving and shipping workflows.

Reporting, integrations and access

Reports cover consumption, stockouts, expirations, transactions, stock analytics and quantity on hand. This range helps teams monitor both movement and availability. Integrations include n8n, OpenFn, Boomi, Crowdin and DHIS2, with REST API, webhooks, ERP integration and EDI support for connecting the system to other operations.

Audit trails, Superuser, Manager and Read-only roles, location-based access restrictions and LDAP authentication provide controls for organizations that need differentiated access and a record of activity. These capabilities are particularly relevant when several facilities and teams share inventory processes.

Pricing

The Community Self-Hosted plan costs 0.00 USD per free, allows unlimited users and carries no minimum term. It avoids user-license fees and stores data on the organization's own server, but hosting is self-managed. Community support is free; teams needing managed support and service levels must consider OpenBoxes Lift.

Shared OpenBoxes Lift is billed From $75 per month and supports 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 service within those limits. Dedicated OpenBoxes Lift is billed From $899 per month, with up to 50 users, 100 GB storage, a 99.5% uptime SLA, 25k API calls/hour and 60 days of backups; its 12-month minimum term makes it a more substantial commitment.

Enterprise OpenBoxes Lift has custom pricing, custom users and storage, a 99.9% uptime SLA, 24/7 support including holidays and 90+ days of backups. It is aimed at organizations needing higher service levels and tailored capacity. The broader pricing note says paid plans start at $24/mo, but the published plan terms above distinguish the available Lift tiers and their commitments.

Platforms

OpenBoxes is web-based and supports Android, iOS, API access and self-hosted deployment. Cloud use requires consistent internet connectivity. On-premise offline capability is possible, but requires suitable hardware and staff, so it is not a low-effort route for teams without local IT capacity.

Who it's for

OpenBoxes is a strong fit for healthcare facilities, disaster relief operations and distributors that need traceable stock across locations, procurement and fulfillment workflows, and detailed inventory reporting. It is less suitable for organizations that want offline operation without maintaining infrastructure, or that need a managed service but cannot work within a Lift plan's user, storage, API or term limits.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Unlimited users and no user-license fees on the free self-hosted plan make it viable for large teams that can supply their own hosting.
• Pros: Facility, bin, lot or serial number, and expiration tracking suit inventory where traceability and shelf life matter.
• Pros: Procurement, fulfillment, barcode scanning, cycle counting and mobile receiving and shipping bring key supply workflows together.
• Cons: Free self-hosting shifts hosting and operational responsibility to the organization.
• Cons: Offline on-premise use depends on hardware and staff, while cloud use needs consistent connectivity.
• Cons: Managed Lift plans impose user and storage ceilings at Shared and Dedicated levels, and Dedicated requires a 12-month minimum.

Alternatives

For a different mix of warehouse and order-management options, compare Order Fulfillment Software and Warehouse Management Software. Choose ZhenHub when its free plan and stated order, tracking, warehouse, user, integration and label allowances better fit the operation. Cin7 Omni is an option for teams seeking e-commerce and app integrations with unlimited inventory locations; it has no free plan, and its Standard tier is $349.00 USD per month.

Descartes Sellercloud may suit buyers comparing a paid platform with an annual subscription based on order volume and add-ons. fulfillmenttools offers a paid enterprise platform with a free trial and demo-led sales approach. ShipHero WMS is an alternative for brands considering its $1995.00 USD per month Standard WMS plan.

SKULabs is worth comparing for teams whose order, user, channel and warehouse allowances align with its $299.00 USD per month Starter plan and add-on charges. EasyEcom EasyOMS is another paid option, with a Starter tier capped at three users, approximately 100,000 SKUs and one warehouse. Linnworks uses custom pricing based on order volume and required features.

Verdict

Choose OpenBoxes if your organization needs traceable, multi-site inventory alongside purchasing and fulfillment, and can either run its own infrastructure or justify managed support. The no-license-fee Community plan is its clearest advantage; the need for hosting capacity, connectivity or a paid Lift commitment is the main reason to look elsewhere.