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ERP · head to head

ADempiere vs Materialise Magics

ADempiere logo

ADempiere

ERP

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Materialise Magics logo

Materialise Magics

Manufacturing

Industrial build preparation and data repair for metal and polymer additive manufacturing

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.; Materialise Magics new seats and modules have been subscription only since 15 May 2024, so the perpetual purchase route is closed and existing perpetual holders are on a shrinking island.
  • They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Materialise Magics covers Mesh repair.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADempiere and Materialise Magics actually diverge.

Attributes where ADempiere and Materialise Magics differ
AttributeADempiereMaterialise Magics
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hostedWindows
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 Materialise Magics

  • Mesh repair
  • Part orientation and nesting
  • Support generation
  • Build Processors
  • Simulation module
  • Structures module
  • Reporting and traceability

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

Materialise Magics

  • A service bureau running several brands of metal printer that wants one preparation environment instead of five vendor slicersnot ADempiere
  • Repairing badly formed STL or scan-derived meshes that a machine slicer will not acceptnot ADempiere
  • Automating support generation on metal parts where manual support editing is the bottleneck in the processnot ADempiere
  • Simulating and compensating for build distortion before committing an expensive metal buildnot 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.

Materialise Magics

  • New seats and modules have been subscription only since 15 May 2024, so the perpetual purchase route is closed and existing perpetual holders are on a shrinking island.
  • Build Processors are licensed separately per machine family, so adding a new printer brand adds a licence line as well as capital cost, and a mixed fleet multiplies the software bill.
  • The modules that deliver the biggest labour saving, notably e-Stage automated support generation, are paid extras, so the base seat alone leaves you doing manual support work.
  • Materialise publishes no prices anywhere, and quotes vary by region and reseller, so two similar bureaus can pay materially different amounts for the same configuration.
  • It is Windows only and remains a desktop application, which sits awkwardly with the cloud direction of Materialise CO-AM and means preparation capacity is tied to specific workstations and licence seats.

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

Materialise Magics

On request
  • Magics Essentials$undefined/year
    • Mesh repair and editing
    • Part orientation and platform placement
    • Basic support generation
  • Magics with modules$undefined/year
    • Everything in Essentials
    • e-Stage automated supports, Simulation, Structures priced individually
    • Build Processors licensed per machine family

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 Materialise Magics if

  • You need mesh repair.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want part orientation and nesting.
Materialise Magics review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Materialise Magics: Can I still buy a perpetual Magics licence?

No. Since 15 May 2024 Materialise sells new seats and new modules on subscription only. Existing perpetual licences continue to work but new capacity is subscription.

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.

Materialise Magics: Do I need a separate Build Processor for each printer?

You need one per machine family, licensed separately from the Magics seat. Budget for it before you buy the printer.

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.

Materialise Magics: Is Magics the same as CO-AM?

No. Magics is desktop build preparation. CO-AM is the Materialise cloud platform for AM workflow and production management, which absorbed the former Link3D product.

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.

Materialise Magics: Does Magics slice?

It prepares and supports the build and hands off through a Build Processor, which produces the machine-ready file. The machine-specific processing lives in the Build Processor.

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