About BareStack
A small software studio. We build custom web apps and internal tools, and we give away a free open-source CRM we use ourselves. Everything written here is about work we have actually done.
Who writes this
Anirudh Prashant runs BareStack. He writes the guides, reads the pricing pages, and builds the software. The site is not a content farm with a founder photo bolted on: there is one person doing the research and the engineering, which is why the guides are specific about what broke.
BareStack exists because the small business software market solved a problem nobody had, which is that a six-person company now needs eleven subscriptions to do work a spreadsheet used to do. The bet behind this site is that a lot of small teams would rather own the tool than rent it, and that the honest way to say so is to publish the numbers.
We build for clients in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and India, mostly trade businesses, agencies, and small product teams. The client work page describes what shipped by sector instead of listing logos nobody can verify.
What we have shipped
- BareStackOS
A free, open-source business operating system: CRM, projects, invoicing, time, and expenses. AGPL-3.0, self-hosted or hosted.
- Small Business Software Pricing Index
43 tools priced against the vendor’s own pricing page, dated, with the source URL on every row. CC-BY 4.0 so it can be quoted.
- Hooty
A free NCERT learning game for classes 1 to 10. No account, no ads, no trackers.
- Knurle storefront
A headless Shopify storefront, written up in full including what the headless split actually costs to run.
- Client sites and tools
Trade and service business websites, internal tools, and documentation vaults. Described by sector rather than by name.
The rules we hold ourselves to
Prices are read from the vendor, not from a review site
Every figure in the pricing index traces to that vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown next to it. When a price moves, the row is re-checked by hand. We do not convert currencies, because a made-up exchange rate is how a reference table starts lying.
No affiliate links, no paid placements
There are no affiliate tags on this site and no vendor has paid for a mention. Where a guide recommends a tool we also use or sell, the post says so in the body rather than in a footer nobody reads.
Disclose the tools we build
BareStack publishes BareStackOS, so any comparison including it is not neutral, and the posts say that. Where a competitor is genuinely better for your case, the post names the case.
Corrections are public and dated
If a number is wrong, email and it gets re-checked against the source. The corrected row carries the new verification date, so a reader can see the page moved rather than quietly swapping it.
How this site is funded
BareStack makes money two ways: custom software built for clients, and integrations and hosting around BareStackOS. The guides and the pricing index are free and carry no ads, no affiliate tags, and no sponsored posts.
The pricing index is licensed CC-BY 4.0 deliberately. Take the numbers, quote them, build on them. The only thing we ask is attribution.
Corrections and contact
Found a wrong price, a broken link, or a claim you think is wrong? Send it over. Corrections get checked against the source and dated.