Excel, Google Sheets and WhatsApp groups work until the first big shipment: no traceability, no QR codes, no manifest, and no way to add up stock across centers. Araguaney does exactly that, with the standard dozens of aid centers already use, and it's free.
Start freeA spreadsheet is fine for four boxes. But a real aid center takes in hundreds of items with different batches and expiry dates, has to prepare shipments that clear customs, and (if it coordinates with other centers) needs to know what's available nationally. That's where the spreadsheet breaks:
A cell doesn't know which box went to which pallet or shipment. When something goes missing, no one can track it.
Nothing stops you sealing an expired medicine or a controlled substance. A spreadsheet doesn't know WHO rules.
It generates no codes or labels: every box is marked by hand, with no unique identifier.
The packing list is built by hand, with errors, and rarely meets what a humanitarian shipment requires.
“intake_final_v3_REAL.xlsx”. Several people editing, copies that don't match, data overwritten.
Every sheet is an island. Seeing national stock or knowing what's needed where is impossible.
What each one does once intake stops being a handful of boxes.
| Capability | Spreadsheet / WhatsApp | Araguaney |
|---|---|---|
| Item-level intake (category, batch, expiry) | Manual, unstructured | Structured and validated |
| Expiry and WHO rule validation | No | Yes, automatic |
| Blocking of controlled medicines | No | Yes, at intake |
| QR + label per box | No | Generated on sealing |
| Customs manifest / packing list | By hand, error-prone | Exportable in one click |
| Traceability box → pallet → shipment | No | End to end |
| Real-time national dashboard | No | Yes |
| Coordination across centers | Every sheet is an island | One shared standard |
| No personal data (privacy) | Depends who fills it in | By design |
| Cost | “Free”, but costs in errors | Free, no box limit |
Let's be honest: if you're gathering a few boxes for a single small shipment, a spreadsheet is perfectly fine. You don't need a system for that, and setting one up would be over-engineering.
Araguaney makes sense when intake gets serious: when you receive inventory daily, when your shipments must clear customs with a formal manifest, or when you coordinate with other centers that need to speak the same language. That's where order stops being a luxury and becomes what gets aid delivered.
For a small, one-off intake, yes. But it doesn't validate expiry or controlled substances, generate QR codes or customs manifests, give box-to-shipment traceability, or add up stock across several centers. As soon as intake grows, those gaps stall shipments.
The one that standardizes item-level intake, guarantees the homogeneous box with a QR code, produces the exportable manifest, and aggregates stock nationally, without charging per box or asking for donors' personal data. Araguaney is built for exactly that, and it's free.
It's free for collection centers and humanitarian coordinations: item-level intake, boxes with QR, manifests and an aggregated dashboard, with no license fee and no box limit.
There's no bulk import: you start registering new inventory directly in Araguaney as it comes in. Because intake is item-level and guided, in practice it's faster than keeping the spreadsheet up to date.
Want to see everything it does for a collection center? Collection center software →