Best free school management system
Top 5 Free School Management Software List
Five genuinely free school management systems, one hosted free plan and four open-source projects, with who each suits, what free really means for each, and options for preschools and coaching classes.
The Onflows team4 min read
There are plenty of "free" school management products that turn out to be 14-day trials. This list includes only options that are genuinely free to use: one hosted free plan and four open-source projects whose code is public.
A disclosure first: the first entry is our own product. We have tried to describe every entry fairly, including where another option suits a school better. Details change, so check each project's own site before deciding.
How we chose
Each option had to be:
- free to use for a real school, not a time-limited trial,
- a complete school system, not a single tool,
- in active use and with a public presence you can check.
1. Onflows Community (hosted, free plan)
What it is: a cloud school management system with a free plan. Disclosure: this is ours.
Free means: free with no time limit, for schools of up to 200 students, with unlimited free staff logins. No installation; it runs in any browser and installs to a phone's home screen.
Included free: the student roll and enrolment, admissions with a public application page, the notice board with read receipts, certificates, the document vault, bulk import from Excel or CSV, staff leave, the gradebook and progress cards, subjects and course content, multi-year archives, the audit trail, expenses and email messages to families.
Not included free: attendance, the timetable, fees, tests and exams, AI and the help desk, which are on the paid Pro plan (new schools get Pro free for six months).
Best for: small schools that want a hosted system with no server to run, built around their curriculum (CBSE, CISCE, state boards, Cambridge, IB and more). See pricing.
2. Gibbon (open source)
What it is: a free, open-source school platform, first developed at a school in Hong Kong and used by schools in many countries.
Free means: no licence fee; you host it yourself (it is a PHP and MySQL web application).
Best for: schools, often international schools, with someone technical who can host and maintain it, and who value a broad, modular platform.
3. openSIS Community Edition (open source)
What it is: an open-source student information system with a free community edition; the company behind it also sells hosted and extended editions.
Free means: the community edition is free to download and self-host.
Best for: schools comfortable self-hosting that mainly need a student information system: records, scheduling and grades.
4. RosarioSIS (open source)
What it is: a free, open-source student information system for schools, with a long history and an active maintainer. Some add-on modules are sold separately.
Free means: the core is free to download and self-host.
Best for: schools that want a lightweight, self-hosted SIS and have someone to run it.
5. OpenEduCat Community (open source)
What it is: an open-source education management system built on the Odoo business platform, with a paid enterprise edition.
Free means: the community edition is free to download and self-host.
Best for: institutions already familiar with Odoo, or colleges and larger schools that want ERP-style accounting alongside academics.
Hosted free plan or open source?
| Hosted free plan | Open source | |
|---|---|---|
| Installation | None | You install it |
| Updates and backups | Done by the vendor | Done by you |
| Limits | Plan caps (students, modules) | None, beyond your server |
| Customisation | Limited to settings | Full, if you can code |
| Support | From the vendor | Community forums, or paid |
If nobody in your school can run a server, a hosted free plan is usually the practical choice. If you have technical staff and want full control, open source is worth the effort.
Open source school management systems on GitHub
The open-source options above publish their source code on public repositories (GitHub or GitLab). Before choosing one, look at the repository: how recently it was updated, how many issues are open and answered, and whether releases are regular. A project last updated years ago is a risk for something that holds children's data. Our guide on setting up an open-source school ERP covers the rest.
Free options for preschools and coaching classes
- Free preschool management software: a preschool needs admissions, a roll, notices to families and progress reports. Onflows supports pre-primary stages, so a preschool within the free plan's student cap can use Community.
- Free coaching class management software: coaching centres run on batches, fees and tests rather than a school's academic year. A tool built for coaching institutes may suit them better than school software, including ours.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free school management system?
For a school without technical staff, a hosted free plan with no time limit. For a school with someone who can run a server, a maintained open-source project. The best one is the one your staff will actually use every day.
Is free online school management software good enough?
For a small school, often yes, provided the free plan includes the modules you use most and has no time limit. Read the limits carefully. See limitations of free school ERP systems.
Are open-source school ERPs really free?
The software is free; running it is not. Hosting, updates, backups and support become your costs.
Try the first entry on this list with your own data: create your school on Onflows.
Topics: Best free school management system, Free online school software, Open source school ERP, Free preschool software