Shelf Asset Management vs Spoolman
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted crm & business apps options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Shelf Asset Management
Open-source asset and equipment tracking
VS
Spoolman
Keep track of your inventory of 3D-printer filament spools
| Feature | Shelf Asset Management | Spoolman |
|---|---|---|
| Category | CRM & Business Apps | CRM & Business Apps |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,766 | ★ 2,686 |
| First released | 2023 | 2026 |
| Replaces | Asset Panda, Sortly | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Shelf Asset Management if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Choose Spoolman if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Shelf Asset Management or Spoolman better?
Neither is universally better. Shelf Asset Management has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Shelf Asset Management and Spoolman free and open-source?
Yes. Shelf Asset Management is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Spoolman under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Shelf Asset Management and Spoolman with Docker?
Shelf Asset Management: yes. Spoolman: yes.