Guide / three requirements
Free, open source, Windows: the honest combination
Three requirements in one search — and each one reshapes the answer. Here is what can actually meet all three, what it costs to run, and the question that decides it.
The short answer
- Genuinely free + genuinely open source: self-hosted projects or a disciplined spreadsheet — the licence is truly $0.
- On Windows: a desktop build, a self-hosted web stack on a Windows machine, or open-source-in-spirit hosted services.
- The cost moves to running it: hosting, upgrades, backups, and the accounting seam.
- The deciding question: who holds the record — and can anyone else reach it?
- The wider system: inventory management end to end maps the whole record this page sits in.
- 01The short answer
- 02The three ways to meet all three requirements
- 03The question that decides
The three ways to meet all three requirements
The spreadsheet meets "free" honestly and runs on Windows trivially — it just is not open source, because you cannot modify it. For one person and modest volumes it remains the zero-cost answer, and the Excel-plus-scanner guide builds it properly. Self-hosted open source meets all three: a project installed on a Windows PC (or the Linux box in the corner) serving a browser — free licence, modifiable, Windows-capable. The running costs are yours: updates, backups, security, and the integration seams. Hosted services with open cores drop the self-hosting while keeping some openness — but reintroduce subscriptions, which fails the "free" test on inspection.
The honest pattern across all three: each rung shifts cost, none removes it. The open-source-on-Windows assessment details the hosting trade, and the free-for-PC guide covers the no-licence end.
The question that decides
Who holds the record, and can anyone else reach it? A self-hosted record on one Windows PC is free, open and private — and unreachable by the phone on the floor, the second site, or the bookkeeper. Every person or device that needs the truth needs either access (network, accounts, uptime — your job) or a copy (reconciliation — also your job). Hosted systems solve access by renting it, which is what the subscription buys.
BSimple is the hosted answer with the seams included: browser on any Windows PC or Android phone, one live record, camera scanning, the accounting handoff to Xero or MYOB designed in — from $180/month (AUD), free to trial. It is not open source and not free; if those two are hard requirements, the self-hosted route is the honest path and no trial changes that. For the store-inventory flavour of the same choice, the open-source store guide weighs it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there truly free, open source inventory software for Windows?
Yes — self-hosted open-source projects run on Windows, free of licence cost. The honest framing is total cost: hosting, maintenance, backups and integration time are the recurring price of the $0 licence, plus the knowledge of whoever configures it.
What does self-hosting on Windows involve day to day?
Applying updates, testing backups, watching security, and maintaining whatever bridge exists to your accounting system. Budget a few hours a month and an on-call person for failures — the record now matters to the whole business, so its upkeep is a business responsibility.
Why does BSimple not fit this search?
On two of the three words: it is hosted (not self-hosted) and paid (from $180/month AUD), closed-source. It fits the underlying need — one live record, scanning, the accounting handoff, no servers to run — and states the mismatch plainly rather than stretching to catch the click.
When is the spreadsheet still the right answer?
While one person maintains it, volumes are low, and nothing allocates against the record — no orders promising stock, no second site needing the truth. At that size, free beats cheap, and the discipline to reconcile weekly is the only cost.
BSimple