In this episode of The Deep Dive, the focus is on LibreBooking, an open-source resource scheduling solution designed for organizations of all sizes. The discussion explores what LibreBooking is, how it works, and why it stands out compared to commercial alternatives.

LibreBooking is a flexible system for managing reservable resources such as meeting rooms, lab equipment, company vehicles, and even staff time slots. It goes far beyond a simple shared calendar. Key features include multi-resource booking (reserving multiple items in a single transaction), automated waitlists for high-demand resources, role-based access control, and quota/credit systems to ensure fair usage across teams.

A major advantage of LibreBooking is its GPL 3.0 open-source license, which guarantees freedom and control. Organizations are not locked into a vendor—if the project were ever discontinued, they would still have full access to the code and the right to modify and maintain it themselves. This eliminates the risk of price hikes or service shutdowns typical of proprietary software.

The platform is actively developed, with strong community engagement on GitHub. Originally forked from Booked Scheduler in 2020, LibreBooking has since evolved into an independent and modern solution. It offers a responsive Bootstrap 5 interface that works smoothly on phones, tablets, and desktops, and supports branding customization.

Integration is another strength. LibreBooking supports calendar synchronization with Outlook and Thunderbird via iCal (.ics) files. It also provides powerful reporting tools that transform booking data into actionable insights. For advanced use cases, it supports API access and enterprise integrations like OAuth2 and SAML for single sign-on.

For beginners, the episode highlights the public live demo, which requires no installation and resets every 20 minutes—making it a risk-free way to explore both admin and user perspectives. Deployment options include traditional manual installation or a simplified Docker-based setup, which is recommended for most new users.

The project maintains an active community via Discord and GitHub, welcoming both developers and non-coders to contribute through testing, bug reporting, and feedback. Security is also maintained through regular updates, such as the recent upgrade to reCAPTCHA v3.

Overall, the episode concludes that LibreBooking is a stable, scalable, and community-driven alternative to commercial scheduling tools. It offers enterprise-level features without vendor lock-in, giving organizations long-term control over their digital infrastructure.

The episode closes with a thank-you to the sponsor, SafeServer, for supporting the discussion on digital transformation and hosting solutions.

Let’s have a look at your digital challenges together. What tools are you currently using? Are your processes optimal? How is the state of backups and security updates?

Digital Souvereignty is easily achived with Open Source software (which usually cost way less, too). Our division Safeserver offers hosting, operation and maintenance for countless Free and Open Source tools.

Try it now!