metasfresh vs OpenBoxes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted crm & business apps options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | metasfresh | OpenBoxes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 68 · Good | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | CRM & Business Apps | CRM & Business Apps |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | Java | Groovy |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,431 | ★ 900 |
| First released | 2015 | 2011 |
| Replaces | SAP, NetSuite | SAP, NetSuite |
What are metasfresh and OpenBoxes?
metasfresh
metasfresh is an open-source ERP system for small and medium-sized businesses. It provides sales, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and accounting functions.
- Full ERP feature set
- Responsive web UI
- Frequent releases
- Sales and procurement workflows
OpenBoxes
OpenBoxes is an open-source inventory and supply chain management system. It was designed to manage stock, track inventory, and support supply chains for healthcare facilities.
- Inventory and stock tracking
- Supply chain workflows
- Shipment management
- Reporting and analytics
metasfresh vs OpenBoxes: key differences
Metasfresh is written in Java, while OpenBoxes is built with Groovy. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for metasfresh versus MPL-2.0 for OpenBoxes. OpenBoxes is the lighter option, starting around 2,048 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for metasfresh. OpenBoxes is the more established project (first released 2011), while metasfresh arrived in 2015. Metasfresh has the considerably larger community, at 2,431 GitHub stars versus 900.
Why pick each one
Choose metasfresh if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Choose OpenBoxes if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Groovy
Frequently asked questions
Is metasfresh or OpenBoxes better?
Neither is universally better. metasfresh has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are metasfresh and OpenBoxes free and open-source?
Yes. metasfresh is licensed under GPL-2.0 and OpenBoxes under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run metasfresh and OpenBoxes with Docker?
metasfresh: yes. OpenBoxes: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, metasfresh or OpenBoxes?
OpenBoxes has the smaller minimum footprint at 2,048 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for metasfresh. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.