Dolibarr
by Dolibarr Foundation (community project)
A modular open-source business suite you switch on one module at a time, with bills of materials, manufacturing orders, lot management and double-entry accounting, and a virtual-stock calculation that accounts for open manufacturing orders.
Why it is classified this way
We call this a Light manufacturing product. Has bills of materials or recipes, consumes stock when you build, and tracks production, but time-phased planning is not verified.
It is not labeled Full MRP because we have not verified that it nets that demand against stock on hand and orders already incoming; explodes requirements through at least one level of the bill of materials; uses lead times or required dates; and produces dated buy, make, transfer, release, or reschedule recommendations. That is a statement about the evidence we found, not a claim that the product is weak, see the capability table and the sources below.
The six Full MRP tests, and how Dolibarr does on each (2 of 6)
- YesIt represents a bill of materials, recipe, or formula.Evidence: dolibarr.org › Presentation production(opens in a new tab); raw.githubusercontent.com › Mrp.lang(opens in a new tab)
- YesIt accepts dated demand, sales orders, a forecast, or a master production schedule.Evidence: doxygen.dolibarr.org › Commande 8class 8php source(opens in a new tab)
- PartialIt nets that demand against stock on hand and orders already incoming.Not established. Only partly shown: the evidence covers some of this but not all of it, so the test is not established.
- UnknownIt explodes requirements through at least one level of the bill of materials.Not established. No evidence found yet.
- UnknownIt uses lead times or required dates.Not established. No evidence found yet.
- UnknownIt produces dated buy, make, transfer, release, or reschedule recommendations.Not established. No evidence found yet.
These rules are applied identically to every product and enforced at build time, a record cannot be published as Full MRP unless all six pass with a source attached. Read the methodology.
Best for
- Small businesses that want to start with invoicing and stock and switch manufacturing on later
- Shops that want accounting and production under one free license
- Owners who find full ERPs overwhelming and want to enable one module at a time
Not a fit when
- Shops needing verified time-phased planning. The manufacturing module stops at BOMs and manufacturing orders
- Anyone unwilling to host it or pay a partner to
- Complex routed production with capacity constraints
Pricing facts
What it costs to do manufacturing in this product.
Free to self-host
The software is free under GPL-3.0 with no feature gating. Hosted SaaS is sold by third parties, from 14 EUR a month (see notes).
Free to self-host
$0/month
No published price
This vendor does not publish pricing, so you cannot compare it against anything here without contacting them. We will not estimate a figure.
What moves the real bill
- No published price. You have to contact the vendor, which usually means a sales call.
Plans
| Plan | Price | Add-ons and setup |
|---|---|---|
| Self-hostedDolibarr (GPL-3.0) | Free | — |
| You install, host, back up and upgrade it yourself. | ||
Pricing detail
Self-hosting costs nothing in license fees. The vendor lists both on-premise and SaaS deployment, and Docker is available. Hosted prices from partners on the project's cloud list, checked 2026-09-18 and excluding tax: DoliCloud says "Prices start from 14€ (around $ 14) / month / user" on Basic, and Premium is "30 € / month + 15 € / month / user"; both include all official modules and a 30-day free trial. Ma Gestion Cloud (Aplose) starts at 14 EUR a month with unlimited users, and its Premium plan on a dedicated server is 160 EUR a month plus a 300 EUR setup fee. We show no monthly figure because the software itself is free and these are third-party hosting prices in euros.
Checked on September 19, 2026. Source: dolicloud.com(opens in a new tab). Prices change. Check before you buy.
Manufacturing capability
20 of 25 fields resolved. "Unknown" means we have not found first-party evidence. It is not a No.
Planning
Working out what to buy or make, and when.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Accepts dated demandYou can tell it what is due and when, sales orders with dates, a forecast, or a production schedule. | Yes | Customer orders carry a planned delivery date. In the 24.0 source the order field is defined as "'date_livraison' => array('type' => 'date', 'label' => 'DateDeliveryPlanned'". Replenishment does not use this date, so planning is not dated.Source: doxygen.dolibarr.org › Commande 8class 8php source(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Nets against stock on handIt subtracts what you already have before telling you to buy more. | Partial | Dolibarr can "calculate, in real time, the virtual stock taking into account all the open Manufacturing Orders". A real forward-looking stock position, though not a full requirements calculation.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation production(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Counts incoming ordersIt knows about purchase orders and production orders already placed, so it does not tell you to order twice. | Yes | In the 24.0 source, the replenishment query takes stock, subtracts customer orders not yet shipped, and adds supplier orders not yet received and manufacturing order output still to be produced. The code combines "$sqlCommandesFourn" (supplier orders) minus "$sqlReceptionFourn" (receptions) and "$sqlProductionToProduce" (output to produce). This applies when replenishment uses virtual stock, which is the default. Source code, not user documentation.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: doxygen.dolibarr.org › Replenish 8php source(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Uses lead timesIt works backwards from when you need something to when you must order or start it, using supplier and production lead times. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation showing lead time fields that shift a suggested order or start date.Know the answer? |
| Produces dated buy/make suggestionsThe output is an actionable list with dates, order this much by this date, start this batch on this date. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation or a screenshot of replenishment or planning suggestions carrying dates.Know the answer? |
| Capacity planningChecks whether your people and machines can do the work in the time available. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of work-center or resource capacity being compared against load.Know the answer? |
Production
Recipes, bills of materials, and running the work.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of materialsA list of the parts and quantities needed to make one of something. | Yes | "Create your nomenclatures (BOMs) to define how to consume raw products or services to produce manufactured products."Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation production(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Multi-level BOMSub-assemblies inside assemblies, a part that is itself made from other parts, nested as deep as you need. | Yes | BOMs can contain other BOMs. In the 24.0 source, BOM lines point to child BOMs and the needs calculation walks down each level, with this comment: "// When using nested level (or not), the qty for needs must always use the same unit to be able to be cumulated." This is source code, not user documentation.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: doxygen.dolibarr.org › Bom 8class 8php source(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Recipes & formulasBatch-style production by weight, volume, or percentage, including scaling a batch up or down. | Partial | BOM line quantities scale with the quantity produced unless a line is frozen. The official interface text in the project's source code says: "QuantityConsumedInvariable=When this flag is set, the quantity consumed is always the value defined and is not relative to the quantity produced." The same file defines manufacturing efficiency loss factors. That covers scaling a batch, but there are no percentage or weight-based formulas. This is interface text, not user documentation.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: raw.githubusercontent.com › Mrp.lang(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Work / manufacturing ordersA record authorising and tracking the making of a specific quantity. | Yes | "Reuse the predefined BOMs to generate your Manufacturing Orders. Produce your Manufacturing Order in one or several steps." Stock moves automatically on production.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation production(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Routings & operationsThe ordered steps a product goes through, and which machine or station does each one. | Partial | A separate Workstation module lets you "set the workstation to use to execute the manufacturing process", so an operation can be tied to a place. The documentation stops there, no multi-step sequence, no work center capacity, no scheduling.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: wiki.dolibarr.org › Index(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Shop-floor trackingOperators report progress, time, and completions as the work happens. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of a shop-floor, operator, or terminal interface for reporting production.Know the answer? |
| Quality controlsChecks, tests, holds, and non-conformance records tied to production or receiving. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of quality inspections, checks, or non-conformance handling.Know the answer? |
Inventory & traceability
Knowing what you hold and being able to trace it.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Batch & lot traceabilityWhich incoming material lots went into which finished batch, and where those finished goods went. | Yes | "Products defined to be managed by Lots will require a lot number to be manufactured. Follow your production by Lots and retrieve details of stock movements for a particular lot."Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation production(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Expiry & shelf lifeBest-before dates on materials and finished goods, with warnings before they lapse. | Partial | The vendor states: "- Sell-by date = Shelf life expiration date = Use by (foods must be removed from store after this date) Eat-by date = Best Before date = Best if Used By = Best by (eat-by-date is often > sell-by-date)" The built-in lot and serial module stores sell-by and eat-by dates per lot. No warning before those dates is documented anywhere we looked, and the current source code has none, only a picking rule that takes the lots with the earliest dates first. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed September 18, 2026. Source: wiki.dolibarr.org › Module ProductBatch(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Serial numbersUnique identifiers on individual units, for warranty or field service. | Partial | The lot and serial number management feature is described together; we have not verified per-unit serial handling separately.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation production(opens in a new tab)Question this |
Commerce & accounting
Costs, purchasing, storefronts, and the books.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Product costing & COGSWhat it costs you to make one, and the cost of the goods you sold. | Yes | Stock is valued either at current product price times quantity, or on weighted average cost. "Prix moyen en poids (PMP), aussi appele Cout unitaire Moyen Pondere (CUMP)". FIFO appears as a withdrawal strategy rather than a valuation method.Source: wiki.dolibarr.org › Index(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| PurchasingRaising and tracking purchase orders to suppliers from inside the system. | Yes | A purchasing and supply module is listed among the available modules.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation purchase approvisionning(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Accounting connectionSends financial data to bookkeeping software, or includes its own general ledger. | Yes | Double-entry accounting is a first-party module, so Dolibarr can hold the books itself.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation double entry accounting(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Ecommerce connectionPulls orders and pushes stock levels to a storefront or marketplace. | Partial | Point of Sale and website/CMS modules are listed. We have not verified connectors to external storefronts.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation point of sale pos(opens in a new tab); dolibarr.org › Presentation cms website(opens in a new tab)Question this |
Openness & your data
Getting data in, out, and away if you leave.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| APIA documented programming interface so other software can read and write your data. | Yes | The API REST module turns on a REST API with a Swagger explorer: "When enabling this module, you enable usage of web services provided by Dolibarr server. You can then make REST call of different web services provided by Dolibarr." It only exposes modules you have switched on. In the project's source code the endpoints cover BOMs, manufacturing orders (including produce-and-consume), products, lots, stock movements, warehouses, supplier orders, receptions, shipments, customer orders and invoices. DoliCloud caps hosted use at 2,000 API calls a month on Basic and 20,000 on Premium.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: wiki.dolibarr.org › Index(opens in a new tab); raw.githubusercontent.com › Api mos.class(opens in a new tab); dolibarr.org › Presentation api(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| WebhooksThe system can notify other software the moment something changes. | Yes | A Webhook module posts JSON to URLs you choose when selected events happen. In the 24.0 source the module's trigger class describes itself as "Webhook triggers." The Webhook module must be enabled. Source code, not user documentation.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: doxygen.dolibarr.org › Interface 95 mod webhook webhook triggers 8class 8php source(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| MCP supportA Model Context Protocol server, letting an AI assistant read or act on this data. Useful, but it has nothing to do with whether the product plans materials. | Yes | In the 24.0 source there is an MCP server with an admin page described as "MCP Server & Assistant Configuration Page." The AI module must be enabled and only admins can configure it, and older versions or hosted providers may not have it.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: doxygen.dolibarr.org › Server mcp 8php(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| CSV exportYou can get your lists out as spreadsheet files. | Yes | Import and export are listed as first-party capabilities.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: dolibarr.org › Presentation imports exports(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Full data exportYou can take everything, including history and relationships, not just a few screens' worth of rows. | Yes | Self-hosted under GPL-3.0, so the database is yours outright.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: github.com › Dolibarr(opens in a new tab)Question this |
Deployment, licensing and your data
- Deployment
- Self-hosted, Cloud (hosted for you), On-premise (vendor-supported)
- Licensing
- Open sourceGPL-3.0
- Team sizes
- Just me, 2–5 people, 6–20 people, 21–50 people
- Manufacturing styles
- Countable assembled products, Batch & recipe products, Kits & bundles
About the licence
GPL-3.0 confirmed against the repository on 13 August 2026. The vendor site says only "Free Open Source Software", so we took the license from the source.
Licence: github.com(opens in a new tab)
Jobs this product qualifies for
Derived from the capability table above, not hand-assigned.
Editorial notes and cautions
Things we would want a friend to know before buying.
- Dolibarr is often listed as open-source MRP. Its own production page describes BOMs, manufacturing orders and virtual stock, not material requirements planning. Light manufacturing is the honest label.
- The modular design is the real selling point: you are not forced to configure an entire ERP before invoicing your first customer.
- Repository activity is healthy, with commits within a day of our check.
Alternatives to Dolibarr
An alternative is always an alternative for a reason. There is no universal replacement.
- ERPNextStronger true MRP
ERPNext's Production Plan documents a dated requirements calculation, with netting and BOM explosion feeding dated material requests, where Dolibarr's replenishment works from virtual stock without dates, at the cost of a much heavier initial setup.
Evidence and verification
Costing, workstation handling and the REST API are sourced from the project wiki, which is thin but first-party. Multi-level BOMs, replenishment supply, dated customer orders, webhooks and the MCP server are sourced from the 24.0 source code on doxygen.dolibarr.org, and recipe scaling and API coverage from the current source on GitHub. Both are first-party but not user documentation. Manufacturing in Dolibarr is assembled from separate modules (BOM, Manufacturing Orders, Workstation), and the wiki documents activation far better than behavior, so several planning questions remain genuinely unanswerable from published material. On 2026-10-09 the features.php page, cited for the module list, redirected to the home page; each field now cites the module presentation page for the module it names.
Sources we checked (17)
dolibarr.org
github.com
wiki.dolibarr.org
doxygen.dolibarr.org
raw.githubusercontent.com
dolicloud.com
ma-gestion-cloud.fr
What we still want to confirm
We publish our gaps rather than hiding them. If you can point us at a first-party page for any of these, we will update the record and credit the correction.
- Still open: whether Dolibarr warns before a lot's sell-by or eat-by date. No first-party page says either way, and the current source code has no such warning, but the project never states that it is absent, so expiry stays partial.
- Still open: which hosted Dolibarr providers run version 24 or later, which the MCP server and the 24.0 source evidence depend on. No provider publishes the version it gives customers, so this needs a trial sign-up; DoliCloud's last version announcement was for version 21 in April 2025.
Still unknown: uses lead times, produces dated buy/make suggestions, capacity planning, shop-floor tracking, quality controls.