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ERP · head to head

ADempiere vs Fishbowl Inventory

ADempiere logo

ADempiere

ERP

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fishbowl Inventory logo

Fishbowl Inventory

Inventory

Manufacturing and warehouse inventory built around QuickBooks

From
On request
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.; Fishbowl Inventory pricing is not published and has historically involved a substantial upfront figure, which surprises buyers expecting SaaS monthly pricing
  • They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Fishbowl Inventory covers QuickBooks and Xero integration.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADempiere and Fishbowl Inventory actually diverge.

Attributes where ADempiere and Fishbowl Inventory differ
AttributeADempiereFishbowl Inventory
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hostedWindows, Web, iOS, Android
CategoryERPInventory

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

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
  • Manufacturing
  • Point of sale
  • Workflow engine
  • Java and PostgreSQL stack

Only in Fishbowl Inventory

  • QuickBooks and Xero integration
  • Manufacturing orders
  • Multi-location inventory
  • Barcode scanning
  • Purchasing and reorder
  • Order fulfilment

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 Fishbowl Inventory
  • A company that wants to modify ERP screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than codenot Fishbowl Inventory
  • An organisation with a hard requirement to keep financial data on its own servers under its own control with no cloud dependencynot Fishbowl Inventory
  • A systems integrator building a vertical ERP product on a permissive base it can fork and ship without paying a licence feenot Fishbowl Inventory

Fishbowl Inventory

  • Small manufacturers who have outgrown QuickBooks inventory but not the accountingnot ADempiere
  • Wholesalers needing barcode-driven warehouse operationsnot ADempiere
  • Companies wanting inventory control without replacing their finance systemnot ADempiere
  • Businesses preferring a perpetual licence to a per-seat subscriptionnot 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.

Fishbowl Inventory

  • Pricing is not published and has historically involved a substantial upfront figure, which surprises buyers expecting SaaS monthly pricing
  • The interface reflects its on-premise origins and looks dated beside cloud-native inventory tools
  • Implementation and data migration are heavier than the marketing implies, and undersized projects are the usual source of complaints
  • The QuickBooks dependency that makes it attractive also caps it: businesses that eventually need real ERP will migrate away
  • Reporting is functional but teams frequently export to a spreadsheet for anything analytical

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

Fishbowl Inventory

On request
  • Fishbowl Drive$undefined/month
    • Cloud-based
    • Inventory tracking
    • Order management
  • Fishbowl Advanced$undefined/month
    • Manufacturing
    • Multi-location
    • Advanced reporting

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 Fishbowl Inventory if

  • You need quickbooks and xero integration.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want manufacturing orders.
Fishbowl Inventory review

Questions people ask

Is ADempiere or Fishbowl Inventory better?
Neither clearly leads. ADempiere starts at Free and Fishbowl Inventory at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADempiere or Fishbowl Inventory?
ADempiere has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ADempiere and On request for Fishbowl Inventory.
Does ADempiere or Fishbowl Inventory run on more platforms?
ADempiere runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted. Fishbowl Inventory runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use ADempiere for free?
Yes. ADempiere has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fishbowl Inventory starts at On request.
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 Fishbowl Inventory is typically brought in for.
What can ADempiere do that Fishbowl Inventory cannot?
ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Financial accounting, Order to cash and procure to pay, Inventory and warehouse. Fishbowl Inventory covers QuickBooks and Xero integration, Manufacturing orders, Multi-location inventory, Barcode scanning.

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.

Fishbowl Inventory: What does Fishbowl cost?

Not published. It has historically been sold with a significant upfront component rather than a low monthly fee, so budget for a quote well above typical SaaS inventory pricing.

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.

Fishbowl Inventory: Do I still need QuickBooks?

Usually yes. Fishbowl handles inventory and manufacturing and posts the financial results into QuickBooks or Xero. It is not an accounting replacement.

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.

Fishbowl Inventory: Is it cloud or on-premise?

Both. Fishbowl Drive is the cloud product; Fishbowl Advanced can be hosted or run on your own server, which is why it still appeals to companies avoiding subscriptions.

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.

Fishbowl Inventory: Who is it wrong for?

Businesses that need genuine ERP, and businesses small enough that a cloud inventory app at a low monthly cost would do. It sits deliberately between those.

Fishbowl Inventory: How hard is implementation?

Harder than a signup. Bills of material and historical stock data need preparation, and companies that treat it as a weekend job are the ones who describe it as difficult afterwards.

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