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ERP · head to head

ADempiere vs Rootstock

ADempiere logo

ADempiere

ERP

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rootstock logo

Rootstock

ERP

Manufacturing ERP built natively on the Salesforce platform

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.; Rootstock every Rootstock user also needs a paid Salesforce platform licence, so the true cost is two subscriptions stacked; third-party estimates put a fully loaded seat around 200 to 500 US dollars per user per month, which is far above the Rootstock line item alone.
  • They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Rootstock covers Native Salesforce architecture.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADempiere and Rootstock actually diverge.

Attributes where ADempiere and Rootstock differ
AttributeADempiereRootstock
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hostedWeb, Salesforce Platform, iOS, Android

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

Only in Rootstock

  • Native Salesforce architecture
  • Production and work orders
  • Materials and MRP
  • Inventory management
  • Order to cash
  • Project accounting
  • Financials
  • Quality and compliance

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

Rootstock

  • A discrete manufacturer already running Salesforce Sales Cloud that wants configured quotes to become works orders without an integration layer between two systemsnot ADempiere
  • An engineer-to-order equipment maker that needs project cost tracking and CRM opportunity data in one database for margin reportingnot ADempiere
  • A medical device supplier that needs lot and serial traceability under the same security and audit model as its customer recordsnot ADempiere
  • A manufacturer replacing an on-premise ERP whose IT team wants to stop maintaining servers and standardise administration on a platform it already supportsnot 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.

Rootstock

  • Every Rootstock user also needs a paid Salesforce platform licence, so the true cost is two subscriptions stacked; third-party estimates put a fully loaded seat around 200 to 500 US dollars per user per month, which is far above the Rootstock line item alone.
  • Rootstock publishes no pricing whatsoever, so budget-setting depends on reseller and analyst figures rather than vendor rates, and there is no public benchmark to test a quote against.
  • Building on Salesforce means inheriting Salesforce governor limits and API constraints, which surface as batch size and data volume ceilings in high-transaction manufacturing that a purpose-built ERP would not hit.
  • Your ERP is now hostage to another vendors commercial decisions: Salesforce list price rises, edition changes or licence policy shifts flow straight into your ERP running cost with no alternative supplier.
  • Implementation is a serious project, commonly quoted in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars and measured in months, and the partner pool that genuinely knows both manufacturing and Salesforce-native ERP is small, which lengthens timelines and raises day rates.

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

Rootstock

On request
  • Rootstock Cloud ERP$undefined/year
    • Manufacturing, inventory and supply chain modules
    • Runs as a managed package on the Salesforce Platform
    • Salesforce platform licences purchased separately for every user

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 Rootstock if

  • You need native salesforce architecture.
  • You work on Web, Salesforce Platform, iOS, Android.
  • You also want production and work orders.
Rootstock review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Rootstock: Do I need Salesforce to run Rootstock?

Yes, and it is not optional. Rootstock is a managed package on the Salesforce Platform and every user requires a Salesforce licence in addition to the Rootstock 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.

Rootstock: What does Rootstock actually cost?

Rootstock does not publish rates. Third-party estimates put the ERP subscription at roughly 150 to 300 US dollars per user per month before Salesforce licences, with implementation quoted separately.

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.

Rootstock: Is it suitable for process manufacturing?

It is built for discrete manufacturing. Recipe and batch-driven process manufacturers are a poor fit and should look elsewhere.

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.

Rootstock: Has Rootstock been acquired?

No. Rootstock remains independent and was itself the acquirer, buying Salesforce-native applications firm Ascent Solutions in March 2026.

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