Open Source Inventory Management Software
Inventory software lives or dies on one gap: the difference between what the system says is on the shelf and what is physically there. Reservations, in-transit stock, returns, damage, and plain shrinkage all conspire to break that number, so the tools worth choosing are the ones that model those states honestly instead of tracking a single quantity. Just as decisive is the item model - whether you need only SKUs and reorder points, or lots, serials, expiration dates, and bins - because changing it later reaches into every count, purchase, and historical transaction. The open source options here expose exactly how stock levels and multi-warehouse moves are calculated and run against a database you own, so a cycle count is never reconciled against a vendor's hidden math.
ERPNext
Open source ERP for accounting, inventory, orders, manufacturing, assets, projects, and daily operations
Grocy
Self-hosted groceries and household management for stock, shopping lists, meals, and chores
InvenTree
Open source inventory management with low-level stock control, part tracking, and a REST API
HomeBox
Home inventory system for tracking items, documents, warranties, and maintenance
metasfresh
Free and open source ERP for industry and trade, with sales orders, invoicing, and a REST API
Part-DB
Open source inventory management for electronic components, accessed in any browser on a web server
ModernWMS
Open source warehouse management system for small and medium businesses, built with .NET 7 and Vue 3
Axelor Open Suite
Full-web ERP suite with modular apps for CRM, finance, HR, projects, inventory, and production
ADempiere
Community-driven business suite covering ERP, CRM, manufacturing, supply chain, and POS
Our picks
Dedicated inventory and warehouse tools fit real operations more cleanly than the general-purpose ERPs on this list.
Detailed part and stock control: InvenTree InvenTree provides low-level stock control and part tracking for teams that manage parts, stock locations, and suppliers in detail rather than as a simple item list. A Django backend exposes a web admin and a REST API, a plugin system adds extensions, and a companion mobile app covers stock control on the floor.
Warehouse and supply-chain tracking: OpenBoxes OpenBoxes handles inventory, stock movement, warehouse management, and shipment tracking, and was built to run reliably in low-resource environments. Created to manage medical supply chains, it has grown into a general-purpose warehouse system used across industries, with a public demo to evaluate before deploying.
Warehouse management for smaller businesses: ModernWMS ModernWMS is a warehouse management system distilled from years of commercial ERP work and released for small and medium businesses that cannot afford a commercial WMS. It pairs a .NET backend with a Vue web frontend, supports MySQL, SQL Server, and PostgreSQL, and adds QR-code scanning and multi-language interfaces.
For electronic components: Part-DB Part-DB is inventory built for electronic components, tracking parts with categories, footprints, manufacturers, storage locations, and datasheets. It generates and scans barcodes, manages BOMs with KiCad import, and auto-fills part data from Octopart, Digikey, and LCSC. Permissions, two-factor auth, SAML sign-on, and a REST API round it out for maker spaces and small companies.
Making sure the system matches how stock really moves
The item model is the decision that is hardest to reverse, so settle it before comparing screens. A small stockroom may only need SKUs, quantities, reorder points, and suppliers, which is where household and light tools like Grocy and HomeBox sit. A warehouse or regulated operation needs lots, serial numbers, expiration dates, bin locations, and units of measure treated as real stock movements, not notes on an item - InvenTree offers low-level part and stock-location control, Part-DB models electronic components, and suites like ERPNext carry inventory inside a broader ERP. Changing the model after go-live is painful because it touches counts, purchasing, costing, and every past transaction.
Map the tool against the physical workflow next. Receiving, putaway, transfers, picking, packing, returns, adjustments, and cycle counts should be first-class transactions, and dedicated warehouse systems like OpenBoxes and OpenWMS are built around exactly those movements, with OpenWMS adding material flow control for automated equipment. Barcode support only counts if it works at the point of work - handheld scanners, mobile browsers, and label printers under poor Wi-Fi. If orders arrive from ecommerce, POS, or an ERP, check how reservations and backorders are handled, since the hard cases are partial receipts, split shipments, substitutions, and post-error corrections.
Finally, treat accuracy as a controls problem, not just a database. Look for role-based permissions, adjustment approval, and a transaction history that explains who changed what and why; Part-DB keeps an event log with revertable changes, and the ERP-grade suites add separation of duties. Costing choices such as FIFO, weighted average, or standard cost need to match accounting expectations even when the ledger lives elsewhere. Check the exit path early too: item masters, stock balances, transaction history, and locations should export in usable formats, and a backup is only real if a restore reproduces the counts.
Related categories
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between inventory management software and an ERP with an inventory module?+
Inventory software focuses on stock control: items, locations, receiving, transfers, counts, reservations, and fulfillment. An ERP adds finance, purchasing, sales, manufacturing, and HR around that. Some overlap - ERPNext, iDempiere, and Axelor Open Suite carry inventory inside a full suite, while InvenTree, OpenBoxes, and OpenWMS specialize in stock and warehouse control. The test is whether inventory transactions stay accurate under real warehouse work; if accounting or manufacturing planning is central, lean toward an ERP or a tight integration.
How important is barcode support, really?+
It matters most where it cuts manual entry - receiving, picking, transfers, and counts - but do not stop at whether a barcode field exists. Check scanner behavior, label printing, duplicate-barcode handling, and speed on the actual devices workers use. InvenTree ships a companion mobile app, Part-DB generates and scans barcodes by webcam, and ModernWMS supports QR scanning. A slow scan flow breeds workarounds, and workarounds are where accuracy usually breaks.
What should a multi-warehouse company look for?+
Look past a single location field. A real multi-warehouse setup needs in-transit transfers, separate reorder points, bin or zone tracking, location-specific availability, and permissions that stop one site from adjusting another by accident. If you promise stock to customers, confirm the system distinguishes on-hand, reserved, available, damaged, and inbound by location. Dedicated systems like OpenBoxes and OpenWMS model warehouse movements directly, and reporting should show where stock is, not just the company total.
Which costing method should the software support?+
Match it to how finance values stock and margin, since FIFO, weighted average, and standard cost can produce different numbers even when physical quantities agree. If the inventory system feeds accounting, confirm how landed costs, returns, and write-offs post; the ERP-grade suites such as ERPNext and iDempiere carry full costing, while lighter tools may track quantities more than value. Either way it needs enough cost detail to reconcile stock value at month-end without spreadsheet repairs.
Does inventory software handle kits, assemblies, or light manufacturing?+
These are different levels of control. Some systems treat kits as sales bundles that decrement component stock at shipment; others support bills of materials, work orders, scrap, and finished-goods receipt. InvenTree tracks parts and stock in detail, Part-DB manages BOMs for projects, and full ERPs like ERPNext add work orders and capacity planning. If you build products, test partial builds, component substitutions, and reversals rather than trusting a simple kit feature.
How do integrations with ecommerce, POS, and shipping usually work?+
Most integrations move orders, availability, purchase data, invoices, or shipment status through an API, scheduled import, webhook, or flat file. The risky part is timing: if ecommerce oversells before inventory reservations sync, the integration is not good enough. Systems built around a REST API, like InvenTree, Part-DB, and metasfresh, make this cleaner. Decide which system owns each record type, how conflicts resolve, and whether failed syncs raise visible errors staff can fix.
How should I evaluate permissions and audit trails?+
Permissions should reflect operational risk. Receiving staff may create receipts but not change costs, pickers may confirm shipments but not adjust stock, and managers may approve count variances or write-offs. The audit trail should show before-and-after values, user, timestamp, reason, and the related document; Part-DB keeps a revertable event log, and the ERP-grade suites add separation of duties. If a quantity changes without a traceable transaction, month-end reconciliation runs on trust instead of evidence.