Frequently Asked Questions
General
What is OpenBoxes?
OpenBoxes is an open-source supply chain management system designed for healthcare organizations. It handles inventory tracking, procurement, distribution, and reporting for medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and other commodities. It is used by hospitals, NGOs, and government health programs in over 20 countries.
What is OpenBoxes Lift?
OpenBoxes Lift is a fully managed cloud hosting platform for OpenBoxes. Instead of setting up and maintaining your own servers, database, and infrastructure, Lift handles everything: provisioning, backups, updates, security, and monitoring. You sign up, and your OpenBoxes instance is ready in minutes.
How is Lift different from self-hosting OpenBoxes?
With self-hosting, you are responsible for servers, databases, SSL certificates, backups, updates, and security patches. With Lift, all of that is managed for you. You get automatic backups, guaranteed uptime SLAs, managed security updates, and support --- without needing a dedicated IT team.
Who is OpenBoxes Lift for?
Lift is designed for healthcare organizations, NGOs, government health programs, and any organization that manages medical supply chains and wants a reliable, low-maintenance deployment of OpenBoxes.
Can I try OpenBoxes before signing up?
Yes. We maintain a public demo instance at demo.openboxes.cloud that resets hourly. You can explore the full OpenBoxes interface without creating an account.
Account & Billing
How do I sign up?
Visit openboxes.cloud and click Start Free Trial. You will choose a plan, create your account, pick a subdomain, and your instance will be provisioned automatically.
Can I upgrade or downgrade my plan?
Yes. You can upgrade from Shared to Dedicated at any time through the portal at app.openboxes.cloud. Downgrades from Dedicated to Shared require a data migration --- contact support to coordinate. Enterprise plans are custom and changes are handled through your account manager.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. There are no long-term contracts on Shared or Dedicated plans. You can cancel through the portal, and your subscription ends at the end of the current billing period. Data export is available before cancellation.
Do you offer discounts for NGOs or nonprofits?
Yes. We offer discounted pricing for qualifying non-governmental organizations and nonprofit health programs. Contact our sales team at sales@openboxes.cloud with your organization details.
What payment methods do you accept?
We accept major credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) and can arrange invoicing for annual plans. Enterprise customers can pay by wire transfer or purchase order.
Are there any hidden fees?
No. The published price includes hosting, backups, SSL, and standard support. Additional costs only apply if you purchase add-ons like extra storage, additional user seats beyond your tier limit, or premium support upgrades.
Technical
What browsers are supported?
OpenBoxes works best on modern browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge (latest two versions of each). Internet Explorer is not supported.
Can I access OpenBoxes on mobile devices?
OpenBoxes is a web application that works in mobile browsers, though it is optimized for desktop and tablet screens. Core functions like viewing inventory and approving shipments work on mobile, but data-heavy tasks like bulk imports are better on a larger screen.
How is my data backed up?
All instances receive daily automated backups with point-in-time recovery. Backups are encrypted and stored in a separate geographic region from your primary instance:
| Tier | Backup Frequency | Retention | Recovery Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared | Daily | 7 days | < 4 hours |
| Dedicated | Daily | 30 days | < 1 hour |
| Enterprise | Continuous | 90 days | < 15 minutes |
Can I export my data?
Yes. OpenBoxes provides data export in CSV and Excel formats for most entities (products, inventory, shipments, purchase orders). You can also use the REST API to extract data programmatically. If you cancel your subscription, you have 30 days to export your data before the instance is decommissioned.
Is my data isolated from other customers?
Yes. Every tenant on OpenBoxes Lift gets an isolated database schema. Your data is never co-mingled with another organization's data, regardless of tier.
Can I use my own domain name?
Not currently. All instances are hosted under the openboxes.cloud domain (e.g., yourorg.openboxes.cloud). Custom domain support is on the roadmap for Enterprise tier.
How are updates handled?
Lift manages OpenBoxes version updates. We test updates in a staging environment before rolling them out. Shared tier instances are updated automatically. Dedicated and Enterprise customers can schedule update windows.
Security & Compliance
Is my data encrypted?
Yes. Data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256). Database backups are also encrypted.
Where is my data hosted?
OpenBoxes Lift runs on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) in the us-east1 region. Enterprise customers can request specific regions for data residency requirements.
Do you support single sign-on (SSO)?
Yes. Dedicated tier supports OIDC-based SSO with providers like Okta and Azure AD. Enterprise tier adds SAML 2.0 support. See the SSO Providers guide for details.