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ERP · head to head

ADempiere vs Ignition

ADempiere logo

ADempiere

ERP

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ignition logo

Ignition

Manufacturing

Industrial automation platform for SCADA, HMI and MES

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.; Ignition requires real engineering to implement; it is a platform rather than a finished application
  • They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Ignition covers Unlimited-client licensing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADempiere and Ignition actually diverge.

Attributes where ADempiere and Ignition differ
AttributeADempiereIgnition
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer-server licensing with published module pricing; unlimited clients and tags
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hostedWindows, Linux, macOS, Web
CategoryERPManufacturing

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 Ignition

  • Unlimited-client licensing
  • SCADA and HMI
  • Historian
  • MES modules
  • Web-based clients
  • Wide PLC support

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

Ignition

  • Plants where per-tag licensing has made expansion a budget conversationnot ADempiere
  • Replacing installed operator terminals with browser-based clientsnot ADempiere
  • Connecting plant floor data to SQL and business systemsnot 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.

Ignition

  • Requires real engineering to implement; it is a platform rather than a finished application
  • Steep learning curve, and Inductive Automation runs its own training programme because of it
  • Self-hosted and self-supported by default, so plant IT carries the availability burden
  • Module-based pricing means the entry figure is rarely the final one

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

Ignition

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Ignition review.

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 Ignition if

  • You need unlimited-client licensing.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, macOS, Web.
  • You also want scada and hmi.
Ignition review

Questions people ask

Is ADempiere or Ignition better?
Neither clearly leads. ADempiere starts at Free and Ignition at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADempiere or Ignition?
ADempiere has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ADempiere and On request for Ignition.
Does ADempiere or Ignition run on more platforms?
ADempiere runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted. Ignition runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, Web.
Can I use ADempiere for free?
Yes. ADempiere has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Ignition 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 Ignition is typically brought in for.
What can ADempiere do that Ignition cannot?
ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Financial accounting, Order to cash and procure to pay, Inventory and warehouse. Ignition covers Unlimited-client licensing, SCADA and HMI, Historian, MES modules.

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.

Ignition: What does Ignition cost?

It publishes per-server module pricing with unlimited clients, tags and connections, so cost does not scale with how many people use it.

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.

Ignition: Why does unlimited-client licensing matter?

Traditional SCADA is licensed per tag or per screen, which turns adding an operator terminal into a purchase. Ignition removes that ceiling.

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.

Ignition: Is it a finished application?

No, it is a platform. Screens, tags and logic are built for the specific plant, which is real engineering work.

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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