Managing IT assets can cost a lot. But having a software solution to oversee the process doesn’t have to!

Businesses these days invest in a variety of software and hardware assets that are essential to their everyday operations. Managing them efficiently is an expensive affair, but one that’s imperative to ensuring optimal return on investment.

It could be counterproductive for a small or midsize business to drain your budget procuring an asset that will solely be used to manage other assets. Therefore, we have curated this list of the top three free and open source IT asset management (ITAM) solutions.

This article looks at three highly rated free IT asset management software options. See the full list of free IT asset management software solutions here

These solutions are popular among users, have an average user rating of four or above at Capterra, and offer the core features essential for IT asset management. (You can read about our selection methodology here.)

Let’s take a look—software tools are listed alphabetically:

3 best free and open-source ITAM software

AssetTiger is a cloud-based software tool. It lets users keep tabs on their asset check-ins/check-outs and monitor and record all asset interactions. They can also perform internal audits and set reminders and alarms to avoid missing out on asset maintenance schedules. Users can manage asset licenses and set email alerts for renewals.

The free version of AssetTiger supports up to 250 assets. It is also available as a free service to the vendor’s physical asset tag customers.

Assets view in AssetTiger (Source)

Pros Cons Capterra reviewers appreciate the software’s graphical user interface that allows them to not just manage assets but also to track related documentation (pictures, contracts, accompanying literature, etc.). Reviewers would like improvements in the mobile app’s tracking functionalities. They like the ability to manage assets across multiple sites and delve into granular details such as the room, area, or floor where an asset sits. Some reviewers feel that there should be more training documentation to make learning easier for first-time users. More product information Cost to upgrade: Subscription plans start at $100 per year for managing up to 500 assets.

ManageEngine AssetExplorer is a web-based tool. It automatically scans a network to discover IT assets (hardware and software) and update the inventory. Users can then group and categorize all identified assets using customizable fields.

Additionally, the software’s configuration management database (CMDB) allows users to configure and monitor relationships between business-critical assets to manage changes in their network infrastructure. The software also offers features for contract and license management.

The free version supports all the available functionalities and never expires; however, it is restricted to 25 nodes.

Asset details in ManageEngine AssetExplorer (Source)

Pros Cons Capterra reviewers appreciate the software’s features to monitor server health and website URLs as well as its integration with third-party applications. Reviewers feel that configuring the network element is not as easy as configuring web and servers. They like the ability to track all IT assets from Windows servers, IIS servers, and externally-hosted web applications. They feel that the web interface and some functions could be made simpler. More product information Cost to upgrade: Subscription plans start at $955 per year.

Snipe-IT is an open source tool. It allows end-to-end tracking of assets, including their history (check-outs, check-ins, and maintenance), current status (deployed, pending, archived, stolen, broken, etc.), and allocation (assignee and physical location).

In addition to these functionalities, the software offers features for supporting asset audits, alerts for expiring warranties and licenses, digital signatures, license management, reports, integration with barcode scanners and QR code readers.

Snipe-IT offers a self-hosted plan, which is free, accommodates unlimited users and assets, and offers GitHub community support.

Assets list in Snipe-IT (Source)

Pros Cons Capterra reviewers like that the software is easy to set up, provides customization options, and has a simple interface. Reviewers note the lack of the option to manually specify the location for an asset that contradicts the default location of the asset owner or assigned user. They appreciate the software’s features for managing inventory, adding barcodes to label assets, and checking-in assets with a single click. They say that the reporting interface to Power Pivot is complex and should be made easier for non-technical people. More product information Cost to upgrade: Hosted package is priced at $39.99 per month or $399.99 per year.

Which free and open source ITAM software should you invest in?

Here are the steps you can follow to identify the software that suits your business needs the most:

Conduct a survey within your team to know what they need in an ITAM software tool.

Understand their challenges and accordingly choose the software that offers features closest to addressing those challenges.

Explore reviews on Capterra to gather more first-hand experience about your preferred selection.

Evaluate the free offerings of the products and take into account the cost of upgrade and any hidden charge before you finalize.

You can check out our entire IT asset management directory for more information on these and other products.



Methodology

Products considered for this article must be free. We classified a product as free if:

It offers a free, standalone version of the software.

It is not a trial version of the software where you must purchase a product version after a limited amount of time.

Selection criteria

The products that met the above criteria were then evaluated against our IT asset management software definition: IT asset management software helps businesses to track and manage the technical, financial, and physical aspects of IT assets—both hardware components as well as software licenses and contracts.

This check verified the basic IT asset management capabilities and appropriateness for the category. A product was classified as IT asset management software if it contained these core features—asset tracking, inventory management, and reporting.

Software that met this market definition also needed a minimum of 5 reviews published on the IT asset management software category page. During the same period, the product’s rating also had to be higher than four (out of five).

Disclaimer: Listed pros and cons are derived from features listed on the product website and product user reviews on Gartner Digital Markets domains (Capterra, GetApp, and Software Advice). They do not represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Capterra or its affiliates. Reviews data was used to determine the target business size of the product.

Looking for IT asset management software? Check out Capterra’s list of the best IT asset management software solutions.