As of October 2026, the best production scheduling software with a free tier or open-source license is ERPNext, with a weighted total of 100. It leads because it is open source under GPL-3.0 with free self-hosting, and because its open-source core allocates work order operations to workstations by their hours. Odoo Manufacturing, ranked #2, is the better choice if you want a hosted free plan with unlimited users for one app. frePPLe ties Odoo on points and is the pick if you want a dedicated planning engine under the MIT license next to your ERP. SkyPlanner APS is not ranked here because it has no free-forever plan; it is the pick if you want a public price from 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation, a 30-day trial without a card for up to 20 workstations and Autopilot rescheduling, and it ranks first on our small manufacturers list. Prices and trials on this page were last verified on 13 October 2026.
Who this list is for
This list is for manufacturers that want to start scheduling without a subscription, either on a free hosted plan or by running open-source software themselves.
- Size: small plants and SMEs, or IT-capable teams in larger ones.
- Production type: any, as long as the free tier covers your volume.
- ERP: often the free tool is the ERP, as with ERPNext and Odoo.
- Budget: no license fee; self-hosting, setup and support still take time or money.
This list is not for: buyers who want a supported scheduler with a trial and a public price (see the small manufacturers list) and buyers who need the plan to update itself (see the AI rescheduling list for SMEs).
How we ranked free and open-source production scheduling software
We scored each vendor on three criteria from its own pricing page, license and documentation. A time-limited trial does not count as free here; it counts on our other lists.
- Free forever plan or open-source license carries 40 percent: a free plan without an end date or a published license.
- Finite capacity in the free version carries 30 percent: stated for the free edition itself, not only for the paid product.
- Community and documentation carry 30 percent: public docs, forums and repositories you can rely on without a support contract.
Free tools put the support burden on you, so documentation weighs as much as capacity planning. No single verified fact would move a vendor into the top three. Weighted scores add up to a total out of 100; the rules are on our methodology page.
Comparison table
Free plan or license, finite capacity in the free version and documentation for every ranked vendor, each fact as of October 2026.
| # | Product | Category | Entry price | Free trial | Finite capacity | Auto reschedule | ERP path | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open source | $5/mo | 14 days | Yes | Not stated | Native ERP | 100 | |
| 2 | Open source | €19.90/user/mo | Free tier | Yes | Dependent work orders reschedule when a planner moves one in the Gantt | Native ERP; external API on the Custom plan only | 76 | |
| 3 | Open source | Free | 15 days | Yes | not stated | Odoo, ERPNext; REST API, CSV/Excel, database access | 76 | |
| 4 | APS | Free | 30 days (Starter) | Yes | Automatic rescheduling with real-time reprioritization from shop-floor updates | Microsoft, SAP, Sage; API for SQL-based ERPs; Excel | 48 | |
| 5 | MRP-ERP | Free | 15 days | Not stated | partial (blog claim; drag-and-drop recalculates deadlines) | No ERP named; Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, QuickBooks Online, Xero, HubSpot, Shippo; open API | 42 | |
| 6 | MRP-ERP | $49/user/mo | 15+15 days, no card | Yes | partial (quantity change on unstarted order replans) | Native ERP; QuickBooks Online, Xero, Salesforce, HubSpot, Shopify, WooCommerce, Zapier, EDI; API and webhooks on paid plans | 18 | |
| 7 | APS | Quote | 30 days | Yes | Dynamic schedule adjustment in real time | ERP, MES (generic) | 8 | |
| 8 | MRP-ERP | $229/mo | None | Yes | Constraint-aware rescheduling; AI rebalances work centers, reroutes jobs and updates promise dates (home page) | QuickBooks, Xero | 6 |
Ranked first elsewhere
If a paid tool is on the table, these vendors rank first on our other lists as of October 2026:
- Small manufacturers: SkyPlanner APS, weighted total 100.
- Job shops: SkyPlanner APS, weighted total 100.
- AI rescheduling for SMEs: SkyPlanner APS, weighted total 100.
- AI rescheduling for enterprises: Kinaxis, weighted total 87.
- ERP add-on: SkyPlanner APS, weighted total 100.
- Process industry: ROB-EX Scheduler, weighted total 88.
- Enterprise multi-plant: Asprova, weighted total 84.
- MES: Odoo Manufacturing, weighted total 90.
Related: guides on what APS software costs and replacing Excel; industry lists for contract manufacturers, electronics, food and beverage, furniture and wood, job shops, machine shops, make-to-order, metal fabrication, packaging, pharma, plastics and process and batch.
Frequently asked questions
Is APS software the same as production scheduling software?
Not quite. APS (advanced planning and scheduling) software is production scheduling software that plans against finite capacity, so it never books more work on a machine, crew or material than exists. Some scheduling inside MRP or ERP systems leaves capacity checks to the planner on a Gantt chart.
Production scheduling software free pricing: what does free include?
As of October 2026, ERPNext self-hosting is free with no per-user fee. Odoo One App Free has unlimited users for one app. Katana Free is capped at 30 SKUs. The just plan it free plan is capped at 50 tasks.
Production scheduling software open source comparison: ERPNext, Odoo or frePPLe?
ERPNext and Odoo are open-source ERPs with scheduling inside. frePPLe is an open-source planning engine that sits next to an ERP such as Odoo. Pick by whether you need the ERP too.