LibreOffice Calc
this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
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Indeed. What you are looking for is a spreadsheet.
Don't overcomplicate things.
its just a spreadsheet, until you want to track what happens to it over time. maintenance, failures, ...
Time to pull out the second page
oh, the history of this laptop must be on the 37th worksheet, now I just need to scroll there and find it
You're just not Spreading hard enough, friend. Excel is like the OG low-code App Dev platform!
I think Apache has an enterprise resource planning software, but it's exactly as complex as you'd expect enterprise erp
Yeah, I've even seen people making presentation slides in Excel. Why ever use anything else? 😉
I once asked somebody for a spreadsheet (they were trying to import the data into my software and it was failing), and got back a .doc file containing a screenshot of Excel running the spreadsheet.
I was in awe of how somebody could misuse so many pieces of software at once.
+1
This is a problem a simple spreadsheet is perfectly adequate for.
Another shout for Homebox. I used to use a spreadsheet but over time found I simply didn't maintain it but I've found I always maintain Homebox.
Homebox allows parent/child relationship between items & exports to spreadsheet.
I dont utilise the QR code facility because my family members would not bother to use QR codes. Instead I've numbered all boxes in each location (attic, garage, basement etc), printed contents of each box & put the printout into physical folders left in each location so even the most Luddite in my family can easily locate stuff then, in theory, remember where they took it from & if the stars align & its my luck day, put the item back in the same box that they removed said item from. When that happens I always check my lottery numbers too!
They can't filter/search a physical printout but at least they can find stuff (I guess I should simply add a QR code to each printout for a best of both worlds solution).
Overall I've found Homebox a useful, simple & fun tool
Howdy, the Hay-Kot version of Homebox has been archived and will no longer be getting updates. However, a team has taken over the development (and I'm one of the devs) over at https://homebox.software/ and we've already fixed some bugs and made some improvements (including Postgres support), and we're working on the next big release now.
Thanks, I'm running the new version but linked to the old in error
I use homebox and it has been good for my home usecase. I have put qr codes on boxes to easily check contents from my phone
Also using Homebox. Quite intuitive UI, not too many features but also not too few. For instance you can upload the receipts, manuals, etc for euch equipment, etc
Thanks, that sounds really nice!
While I do agree on the general sentiment to not overcomplicate things, homebox seems rather easy to use and intuitive.
Being able to create qr code to put them on boxes and also have them directly accessible through the web interface is neat !
However, there's one thing that's quite cumbersome... There isn't a one button move everything to a new location. Someone already posted a feature request and got some traction :) so cross fingers this going be implemented in the near futur !!
Yes, I agree, batch moving stuff is important. I haven't had that problem yet, so let's hope they add it before I move or something 😅
This might be an unpopular opinion/solution but even for two small size sister companies we are doing inventory in a version controlled markdown file 🫣
Honestly, a spreadsheet would be fine for this? I'm not super familiar with what an inventory management system does tho, so maybe it does things beyond what a spreadsheet can do.
a version controlled markdown file
There's a lot of genius in this idea ...
Not at all, I like .md, and I'm familiar with Git. A spreadsheet is not something that I would throw into Git, but an .md...
I use markdown too, except I keep the markdown file in a self-hosted wiki (wiki.js)
It's versioned and accepts git as a backend
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That is the reason Markdown and Git are used for a lot shenanigans these days. Knowledge bases, awesome-lists, documentations. You name it.
If you got the right tools (sphinx, typora, mkdocs, …obsidian) you got a powerful toolchain.
Simplest possible solution, Occam's Inventory 😄
I use markdown extensively, but I'm honestly not fond of its tables function (which I assume you use for this purpose?). It works, but it's a bit static in my experience. Do you run up against the same, or is it actually an advantage in your use case?
We’re using headings for different types of inventory (hardware/office items/…) and then a block of subheading, bulletpoint combination (serialnumber, date of acquisition, whereabouts,…) for each item and associated item.
The toc is generated automatically and helps browsing through.
Even simpler, I love it! 👍
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I'm suggesting HomeBox.
https://demo.homebox.software/
Small, selfhosted and centered around home use.
Libreoffice has a database engine and frontend that's pretty applicable to Microsoft Access
A CSV file should work.
I've been looking for something like this myself. I've tried:
- NocoDB
- Baserow
- Homebox
- Snipe-IT
In the end I went with Grist. It may not be specifically designed for it, but it is very flexible.
Snipe-IT and Shelf.nu are two of the most popular ones.
Maybe also consider just kicking one out yourself with NocoBase or something like that though.
HA, the term I was looking for is even on their website: "Asset Management Software". My non-native speaker ass didn't come up with this.
Thank you, I will check those out.
Though it sounds interesting for tinkering, I'm probably not doing down the NoCode route. You make it, you maintain it forever, and I don't have that kind of time.
There's a couple of options.
I've used Grocy. It's not intended for that particular use case but it would work. More for Grocery management.
Might want to check out https://awesome-selfhosted.net/
I’ve used Grocy.
I use Grocy daily almost, but I think that is a bit more than what OP is looking for. I use it for my pantry inventory. I am somewhat of a prepper, tho I don't prep for EOTW scenarios. Mostly for localized incidents, weather related disasters, imminent social uprisings, etc. I figure, if we start dropping nukes, point me towards the bright light and let it rip. I have no interest in 'repopulating the earth'.
I took a hand-scanner, disassembled it, and re-assembled it into a more form fitting box and mounted it conveniently in the pantry. When I bring groceries into the house, I scan them into inventory. When I use an item, I scan it out. I also use the Grocy mobile app. So, at any time I can view my inventory and see that I either have enough of an item, or need to replenish the stock.
Oh yeah, I was planning to deploy Grocy anyway, but I never thought about using it for this. Thank you!
Snipe-it is a bit overkill but it's pretty good.
Grocy also has an inventory tracker. I'm not sure how different it is tho
A CSV in git
Get Ralph it's awesome. Use it in conjunction with Zabbix too if you're monitoring your infra as well.
Besides CSV, if you want to have lots of optional fields, a YAML file in a git repository is an option. Use yq or to query it.
Interesting option, I'm familiar with Git, YAML and yq. Thank you!
I'd just roll your own with either a spreadsheet or a relational database depending on how fancy you want to get.
In fact, I've done that for comic books.
NocoDB.
+1 for netbox
you want a gui. so cvs is weak. give nocodb a run. can do ANYTHING. cool product overviews, easy to create tables even with attachment like images.
@[email protected] we've recently deployed Netbox which seems to somewhat do what you want, although its more targetted towards datacenter and network engineers (and maybe not lightweight enough for you?)
If you really need nothing special then maybe a good ol' spreadsheet is a better solution for you.
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NocoDB is pretty fun if you want an AirTable-like.
Spiceworks? Been a while since ive used it
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