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ERP · head to head

ADempiere vs DEAR Systems

ADempiere logo

ADempiere

ERP

Community-run open source ERP forked from Compiere, with no vendor behind it

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
DEAR Systems logo

DEAR Systems

ERP

Cloud inventory management for growing businesses

From
$349/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ADempiere has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ADempiere there is no company behind it, so there is no support contract to buy, no SLA, no escalation path and no roadmap commitment; if your implementation partner leaves the market you own the problem entirely.; DEAR Systems dEAR Systems is sold as Cin7 Core and priced on the Cin7 pricing page
  • They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, DEAR Systems covers Inventory control.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADempiere and DEAR Systems actually diverge.

Attributes where ADempiere and DEAR Systems differ
AttributeADempiereDEAR Systems
Starting priceFree$349/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hostedCloud, Web, Mobile
FoundedUnknown2012

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (ERP).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in ADempiere

  • Application dictionary
  • Financial accounting
  • Order to cash and procure to pay
  • Inventory and warehouse
  • Point of sale
  • Workflow engine
  • Java and PostgreSQL stack
  • gRPC and REST services

Only in DEAR Systems

  • Inventory control
  • Purchase orders
  • Sales orders
  • Accounting integration
  • Xero
  • QuickBooks
  • Shopify
  • WooCommerce

Both cover

  • Manufacturing

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

ADempiere

  • A manufacturer in Latin America with an existing ADempiere consulting partner that needs localised tax and accounting behaviour a global vendor will not buildnot DEAR Systems
  • A company that wants to modify ERP screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than codenot DEAR Systems
  • An organisation with a hard requirement to keep financial data on its own servers under its own control with no cloud dependencynot DEAR Systems
  • A systems integrator building a vertical ERP product on a permissive base it can fork and ship without paying a licence feenot DEAR Systems

DEAR Systems

  • Inventory and order management for wholesale and e-commerce sellersnot ADempiere
  • Manufacturing with bills of materials and material requirements planningnot ADempiere
  • Syncing stock and orders with Xero or QuickBooks Onlinenot ADempiere
  • Multi warehouse stock control across unlimited locationsnot ADempiere

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

ADempiere

  • There is no company behind it, so there is no support contract to buy, no SLA, no escalation path and no roadmap commitment; if your implementation partner leaves the market you own the problem entirely.
  • The official website adempiere.net does not resolve, which strands most of the historic documentation and tutorials that search engines still point at and makes onboarding a new developer considerably harder.
  • The last conventional stable release, 3.9.4, is from January 2023, so despite ongoing GitHub activity a buyer evaluating on release cadence sees a project moving slowly.
  • iDempiere, a later fork of the same codebase, absorbed much of the developer community, so ADempiere competes for contributors with its own descendant and is the smaller of the two ecosystems.
  • The interface and the Java Swing heritage feel dated, and staff coming from a modern cloud ERP will need training and will complain; expect resistance from finance and warehouse users during rollout.

DEAR Systems

  • DEAR Systems is sold as Cin7 Core and priced on the Cin7 pricing page
  • The $349 per month Standard plan caps sales orders at 6,000 per year, includes 5 users and 2 e-commerce integrations
  • Material requirements planning requires the Pro plan at $599 per month
  • Advanced warehouse management requires the Advanced plan at $1,199 per month
  • Additional users, extra integrations, API access, forecasting and advanced automations all cost extra and are priced by the sales team
  • The Omni enterprise plan is custom priced with no published rate

Pricing, plan by plan

ADempiere

Free
  • Community editionFree
    • GPL v2 licensed, no licence fee
    • Full ERP, CRM, supply chain and POS modules
    • Self-hosted on your own infrastructure

DEAR Systems

$349/month
  • Standard$349/month
    • 5 users
    • 6000 annual sale orders
    • 2 e-commerce integrations
  • Pro$599/month
    • 10 users
    • 24000 annual sale orders
    • 4 e-commerce integrations
  • Advanced$1199/month
    • 15 users
    • 120000 annual sale orders
    • 6 e-commerce integrations
  • Omni$null/month
    • 8 users
    • Flexible annual sale orders
    • 5 e-commerce integrations

Which should you pick?

Choose ADempiere if

  • You need application dictionary.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want financial accounting.
ADempiere review

Choose DEAR Systems if

  • You need inventory control.
  • You work on Cloud, Web, Mobile.
  • You also want purchase orders.
DEAR Systems review

Questions people ask

Is ADempiere or DEAR Systems better?
Neither clearly leads. ADempiere starts at Free and DEAR Systems at $349/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADempiere or DEAR Systems?
ADempiere has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ADempiere and $349/month for DEAR Systems.
Does ADempiere or DEAR Systems run on more platforms?
ADempiere runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted. DEAR Systems runs on Cloud, Web, Mobile.
Can I use ADempiere for free?
Yes. ADempiere has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. DEAR Systems starts at $349/month.
What is ADempiere best used for?
ADempiere is most often used for a manufacturer in latin america with an existing adempiere consulting partner that needs localised tax and accounting behaviour a global vendor will not build, a company that wants to modify erp screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than code, an organisation with a hard requirement to keep financial data on its own servers under its own control with no cloud dependency, a systems integrator building a vertical erp product on a permissive base it can fork and ship without paying a licence fee. Of those, a manufacturer in latin america with an existing adempiere consulting partner that needs localised tax and accounting behaviour a global vendor will not build and a company that wants to modify erp screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than code are not what DEAR Systems is typically brought in for.
What can ADempiere do that DEAR Systems cannot?
ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Financial accounting, Order to cash and procure to pay, Inventory and warehouse. DEAR Systems covers Inventory control, Purchase orders, Sales orders, Accounting integration. Both handle Manufacturing.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ADempiere: Should I choose ADempiere or iDempiere?

Look at iDempiere first. It is a later fork of the same codebase with a more active community and a modular OSGi architecture. Choose ADempiere if a specific partner or localisation you need only exists there.

DEAR Systems: How much does Dear Systems (Cin7) cost?

Dear Systems pricing starts at $349/month for the Standard tier, $599/month for the Pro tier (most popular), $1199/month for Advanced, and custom pricing for the Omni enterprise solution.

Source
ADempiere: Is ADempiere free?

The software is GPL licensed with no licence fee. The cost is implementation, customisation and permanent in-house maintenance, which for a real deployment is substantial.

DEAR Systems: What features does each Dear Systems plan include?

Standard includes 5 users and 6000 annual orders. Pro (most popular) adds 10 users, 24000 orders, and MRP. Advanced provides 15 users, 120000 orders, and advanced warehouse management. Omni offers enterprise customization with flexible user and order limits.

Source
ADempiere: Is the project still alive?

Development continues on GitHub with commits into 2026, but the official website is down and the last stable release is from January 2023. Treat it as maintained rather than actively advancing.

DEAR Systems: How many users and integrations are included in Dear Systems plans?

Standard tier includes 5 users and 2 e-commerce integrations. Pro tier includes 10 users and 4 integrations. Advanced tier includes 15 users and 6 integrations. Additional users and integrations are available as paid add-ons.

Source
ADempiere: What is the application dictionary?

It is the metadata layer inherited from Compiere that stores the definition of every window, field and validation rule as data, so you can change the application without touching source code.

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