"Open-source means free" is the most common misconception when evaluating GLPI against commercial inventory tools like Lansweeper, ManageEngine AssetExplorer, or ServiceNow. The licence is free; the deployment isn't. This article is the honest comparison — where commercial tools win, where GLPI matches them, where the "free" label becomes deceiving once you sum up the actual total cost of ownership.
The candidates
For mid-sized companies (50 – 5000 employees), the realistic shortlist usually includes:
- GLPI — open-source, self-hosted (or via a managed hosting partner). Combined ITSM + asset inventory in one platform.
- Lansweeper — commercial, focuses heavily on automated asset discovery, cloud + on-prem.
- ManageEngine AssetExplorer — commercial, part of the Zoho/ManageEngine family. Strong reporting, agent-based discovery.
- ServiceNow — enterprise-grade, full ITSM platform with asset module. Sized for 5000+ orgs.
- Snipe-IT — also open-source, narrower scope (asset-only, no ITSM).
Where commercial tools genuinely win
Honest list, no GLPI cheerleading:
- Out-of-the-box asset discovery — Lansweeper especially. Plug it in, scan the network, get a populated inventory in 24 hours. GLPI Agent does this too, but configuration takes more deliberate effort. For a fast-moving deployment, Lansweeper saves a week.
- Polished reporting templates — ManageEngine ships dozens of pre-built reports. GLPI's reporting is functional but plainer; non-technical managers often prefer the commercial polish.
- Vendor-side support SLA — when something breaks at 3am with ServiceNow you can call the vendor. With GLPI you call your hosting partner (or wait until morning if you're self-hosted with no on-call).
- Managed update cadence — commercial tools push updates on a schedule and handle compatibility. With GLPI you (or your partner) test updates in a staging environment.
- Sales-ready compliance certifications — SOC 2, ISO 27017 attestations from a single vendor. GLPI can pass these audits but the responsibility falls on whoever hosts your instance.
Where GLPI matches or wins
- No per-seat licensing — a 500-employee company pays the same as a 50-employee one. Lansweeper at €1.50/asset/month adds up to €9,000/year for 500 assets; ManageEngine similar. GLPI is €0 for the licence forever.
- Custom fields and types without vendor approval — need a "facility code" field on every monitor? In GLPI, 5 minutes. In ServiceNow, file a request with whoever owns your tenant, wait for the change board.
- Combined ITSM + inventory — Lansweeper does inventory only; you'd pair it with a separate helpdesk tool. GLPI is both, with native ticket-to-asset linkage.
- Plugin ecosystem — Formcreator, Cascade, FlyveMobile, dozens of community plugins. Commercial tools have marketplaces too, but most premium add-ons cost extra.
- Data ownership — your GLPI database is your MariaDB instance. Migrating away (or just running custom SQL queries against it) is straightforward. ServiceNow data export is possible but politically painful.
- No vendor lock-in — if your relationship with a hosting partner sours, you can move the whole instance to another provider in a weekend.
The hidden TCO of "free"
This is the part vendors of GLPI services don't always say out loud. The licence is free, but a real deployment costs:
Cost component | Commercial (Lansweeper) | GLPI (self-hosted)
─────────────────────────────|──────────────────────────|──────────────────────────
Licence (500 assets, year 1) | ~€9,000 | €0
Initial setup | included | 40 – 80 hours external
| | consulting (~€8,000)
Server hosting | included (SaaS) | €1,200 – €3,600/year
| | (VM + backups + SSL)
Internal admin time | 4 – 8 hrs/month | 8 – 16 hrs/month
| | (more configuration freedom)
Major upgrades | included | 1 – 2 days × 2/year =
| | €1,200 – €2,400/year
─────────────────────────────|──────────────────────────|──────────────────────────
Year 1 estimate | ~€10,000 | ~€11,200 – €14,000
Year 2+ recurring | ~€9,000 | ~€2,400 – €6,000Year 1, GLPI is roughly even with commercial. Year 2 onwards, GLPI breaks ahead — and the gap widens at higher asset counts (commercial tools' per-asset pricing is linear; GLPI's hosting cost is largely flat).
Decision factors
Pick a commercial tool if you have any of these:
- You need productive results in 2 weeks, not 2 months.
- Your IT team genuinely lacks the capacity to own the platform.
- Procurement strongly prefers a single vendor invoice with a support contract.
- Compliance requires single-vendor attestation.
Pick GLPI if:
- You expect to scale beyond 500 assets and per-seat licensing will hurt.
- You want one tool for both inventory and helpdesk.
- You value customisation and data ownership over polish.
- You have (or are willing to engage) a partner who knows the platform.
"Open-source" isn't an answer in itself. It's a trade-off — lower recurring cost, more control, more responsibility. For most mid-sized companies that trade-off works in GLPI's favour by year two; for some it never does. The honest comparison should be in the room before the decision, not three years later when somebody asks why we still pay €15,000/year for a tool that does what GLPI would do for €4,000.