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Open Source Small Business Resources

Available software for small business or personal use.

I. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) & All-in-One Solutions:
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  • Odoo

    • Description: Odoo is a comprehensive suite of business management tools that can cover nearly every aspect of your operations, from CRM and accounting to inventory, manufacturing, and HR. Its modular design means you can start with what you need and add more functionalities as your business grows. The free community version is robust, making it a flexible and cost-effective choice for integrated business management.

    • Website: https://www.odoo.com/

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  • ERPNext

    • Description: ERPNext is a free and open-source ERP system that simplifies diverse business functions like finance, HR, inventory, and sales into one cohesive system. It's known for its user-friendliness, extensive features for managing customers, campaigns, subscriptions, and projects, and its ability to integrate with popular third-party applications. Its free tier offers unlimited users, making it a strong contender for growing small businesses.

    • Website: https://frappe.io/erpnext

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  • Dolibarr

    • Description: Dolibarr is an easy-to-use open-source ERP and CRM software package designed for small to medium-sized businesses. It offers a clean interface and essential modules for accounting, invoicing, customer relationship management, human resources, and stock management. It's a great all-in-one solution for those seeking simplicity and core functionalities.

    • Website: https://www.dolibarr.org/

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  • Apache OFBiz

    • Description: Apache OFBiz is a robust, Java-based open-source enterprise automation software project. It provides a flexible suite of business applications including accounting, CRM, ERP, and e-commerce functionalities. While powerful and highly customizable, it's generally recommended for businesses with some technical expertise or access to developers due to its advanced nature.

    • Website: https://ofbiz.apache.org/

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  • iDempiere

    • Description: iDempiere is an open-source ERP, CRM, and Supply Chain Management (SCM) solution. It's designed to be adaptable and scalable, offering features like production management, accounting, and customer relationship management. Like OFBiz, it provides comprehensive features but may require technical knowledge for effective setup and customization.

    • Website: https://www.idempiere.org/

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  • Axelor

    • Description: Axelor is a low-code open-source platform offering a comprehensive business management suite that combines ERP, CRM, and Business Process Management (BPM). It helps streamline operations across finance, inventory, projects, and customer relationships, providing a unified platform to optimize processes and decision-making for small to midsize businesses.

    • Website: https://axelor.com/

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  • Bitrix24

    • Description: Bitrix24 offers a free online workspace that includes a robust CRM, task and project management, and various communication tools. Its free tier provides unlimited users and records for CRM, along with 5GB of online storage. It's an excellent choice for small teams looking for a centralized hub for client management, collaboration, and basic sales processes.

    • Website: https://www.bitrix24.com/

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II. Accounting & Financial Management:
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  • GnuCash

    • Description: GnuCash is a free, open-source personal and small-business financial accounting software. It's designed to be intuitive like a checkbook register but built on professional accounting principles, offering features for tracking bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses, ensuring balanced books and accurate reports.

    • Website: https://www.gnucash.org/

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  • Akaunting

    • Description: Akaunting provides free online accounting software specifically for small businesses and freelancers. It's designed for ease of use with a clean interface, allowing you to manage expenses, send unlimited invoices, connect bank accounts, track inventory, and generate reports. It supports double-entry accounting and offers various add-on features for extended functionality.

    • Website: https://akaunting.com/accounting-software

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  • ZipBooks

    • Description: ZipBooks offers a free "Starter" plan ideal for freelancers and small businesses needing basic invoicing and client management. You can send unlimited invoices, manage clients, and integrate with payment gateways like Square and PayPal, making it a good choice for straightforward billing needs.

    • Website: https://zipbooks.com/

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III. Customer Relationship Management (CRM):
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  • SuiteCRM

    • Description: SuiteCRM is a powerful open-source CRM alternative to proprietary solutions, offering extensive features for sales, marketing, and customer service. It provides a high degree of customization, allowing businesses to tailor it to their specific workflows for managing leads, opportunities, cases, and more, backed by a strong community.

    • Website: https://suitecrm.com/

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  • Vtiger CRM

    • Description: Vtiger CRM offers an open-source edition that's a ready-to-use CRM for fast-growing small and medium-sized businesses. It includes integrated solutions for sales automation, marketing campaigns, customer support, and project management, helping you centralize customer interactions and improve team productivity.

    • Website: https://www.vtiger.com/open-source-crm/

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  • EspoCRM

    • Description: EspoCRM is a lightweight, powerful, and versatile open-source CRM solution with a user-centric design. It allows businesses to tailor the system with custom entities and fields, offering core CRM elements like contacts, leads, opportunities, and cases. It also features workflow automation, integrations with email and telephony, and robust reporting.

    • Website: https://www.espocrm.com/

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  • OroCRM

    • Description: OroCRM is an open-source customer relationship management platform particularly well-suited for B2B companies and e-commerce businesses. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools for customer management, sales automation, marketing campaign tracking, and reporting, emphasizing data analytics and scalability.

    • Website: https://oroinc.com/orocrm/

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  • Twenty

    • Description: Twenty is a lightweight and simple open-source CRM designed for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It focuses on providing a streamlined interface for efficient data entry, sales tracking, and team collaboration, making it a good choice for businesses seeking a no-frills yet effective CRM.

    • Website: https://www.twenty.com/

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  • Monica

    • Description: Monica is an open-source personal relationship management (PRM) tool that can be effectively adapted by small businesses. It focuses on helping users organize and document interactions with contacts, track important dates, and manage client information, making it ideal for individual entrepreneurs or small teams who prioritize recording and nurturing client relationships.

    • Website: https://www.monicahq.com/

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IV. Project Management:
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  • OpenProject

    • Description: OpenProject is an open-source project management software that supports both agile and traditional waterfall methodologies. It offers a wide range of features including task management, time tracking, bug tracking, and collaborative planning. Its free Community edition provides unlimited users and projects, making it suitable for growing teams.

    • Website: https://www.openproject.org/

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  • Taiga

    • Description: Taiga is an open-source project management tool specifically built for agile teams, emphasizing usability and visual appeal. It provides intuitive features for managing backlogs, sprints, tasks, and issues, with a focus on clear communication and collaboration within development-oriented projects.

    • Website: https://www.taiga.io/

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  • Redmine

    • Description: Redmine is a flexible open-source project management web application. It supports multiple projects, offers Gantt charts, calendars, wikis, forums, and time tracking. Built on Ruby on Rails, it's highly customizable and has a strong community for support, making it versatile for various project types.

    • Website: https://www.redmine.org/

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  • GanttProject

    • Description: GanttProject is a free and easy-to-use desktop-based project management application that helps you create Gantt charts and PERT charts. It's excellent for visualizing project schedules, managing tasks, tracking progress, and allocating resources, making it a solid choice for straightforward project planning.

    • Website: https://ganttproject.biz/

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  • Leantime

    • Description: Leantime is an open-source project management system designed for small to medium-sized teams who need a straightforward approach to project planning and tracking. It combines project management with basic idea management and strategy tools, focusing on getting things done efficiently without unnecessary complexity.

    • Website: https://leantime.io/

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  • Orangescrum

    • Description: Orangescrum offers a robust open-source project management solution with features for task management, time tracking, resource allocation, and team collaboration. It helps businesses plan, organize, and track projects effectively, providing a centralized platform for improved productivity and transparency.

    • Website: https://www.orangescrum.com/

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V. E-commerce Platforms:
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  • WooCommerce

    • Description: WooCommerce is the most popular open-source e-commerce platform, built as a plugin for WordPress. It allows you to transform any WordPress website into a fully functional online store, offering extensive customization options through themes and extensions, making it highly flexible for various product types and business models.

    • Website: https://woocommerce.com/

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  • OpenCart

    • Description: OpenCart is a free and open-source e-commerce platform known for its user-friendly interface and ease of setup. It's suitable for small and medium-sized online shops, offering features like multi-store management, various payment gateways, detailed reports, and SEO-friendly functionalities to help you manage orders and products effectively.

    • Website: https://www.opencart.com/

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  • PrestaShop

    • Description: PrestaShop is a widely used open-source e-commerce solution that provides a powerful and flexible platform for creating online stores. It boasts a rich set of features for product management, order processing, marketing, and customer service, along with a large marketplace for modules and themes to extend its capabilities.

    • Website: https://www.prestashop.com/

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  • Magento Open Source

    • Description: Magento Open Source (formerly Magento Community Edition) is a powerful, feature-rich e-commerce platform designed for scalability and flexibility. While it offers extensive capabilities for managing products, customers, and sales, it generally requires more technical expertise for setup and maintenance, making it suitable for businesses with growth aspirations and technical resources.

    • Website: https://magento.com/open-source

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  • Drupal Commerce

    • Description: Drupal Commerce is an open-source e-commerce framework built on the robust Drupal Content Management System. It offers exceptional flexibility for creating unique shopping experiences, integrating seamlessly with content management features. It's a strong choice for businesses that need highly customized e-commerce functionality intertwined with rich content.

    • Website: https://www.drupal.org/industries/ecommerce

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  • NopCommerce

    • Description: NopCommerce is an open-source e-commerce platform built on ASP.NET Core, offering a secure and scalable solution for online stores. It provides comprehensive features for product management, multi-store and multi-vendor capabilities, marketing tools, and robust SEO features, appealing to businesses seeking a Microsoft technology stack.

    • Website: https://www.nopcommerce.com/en

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VI. Content Management Systems (CMS) & Website Building:
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  • WordPress

    • Description: WordPress is the world's most popular open-source Content Management System (CMS), initially designed for blogging but now powering millions of diverse websites. It's highly user-friendly, offers vast customization through themes and plugins, and is suitable for everything from simple blogs to complex business websites.

    • Website: https://wordpress.org/

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  • Drupal

    • Description: Drupal is a powerful and flexible open-source CMS known for its scalability, robust security, and advanced content management capabilities. It's a preferred choice for complex, content-rich websites, large organizations, and businesses requiring highly customized features and integrations, often appealing to those with technical resources.

    • Website: https://www.drupal.org/

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VII. Other Useful Business Software:
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  • GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

    • Description: GIMP is a free and open-source image editor offering a wide range of tools for photo retouching, image composition, and graphic design. It's a powerful alternative to commercial image editing software, suitable for small businesses needing to create or modify images for their website, marketing materials, or social media.

    • Website: https://www.gimp.org/

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  • LibreOffice

    • Description: LibreOffice is a free and open-source office suite that serves as a strong alternative to Microsoft Office. It includes essential applications like Writer (word processing), Calc (spreadsheets), Impress (presentations), and Draw (vector graphics), all compatible with common Microsoft file formats, making it a cost-effective solution for everyday office tasks.

    • Website: https://www.libreoffice.org/

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  • Mozilla Thunderbird

    • Description: Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and open-source desktop email client that helps you manage multiple email accounts, calendars, and contacts in one application. It's known for its robust features, strong privacy focus, and customization options, providing a secure and efficient way to handle business communications.

    • Website: https://www.thunderbird.net/

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