ERP · head to head
ADempiere vs Saleor
ADempiere
ERP
Community-run open source ERP forked from Compiere, with no vendor behind it
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Saleor
E-Commerce
Open-source, headless e-commerce platform with a GraphQL API
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- 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.; Saleor saleor requires development resources to build a storefront, since it ships as an API-only backend without a front-end store out of the box.
- They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Saleor covers GraphQL API.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ADempiere and Saleor actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Saleor
- GraphQL API
- Admin dashboard
- Webhooks and apps
- Omnichannel order processing
- Configurator CLI
- OpenTelemetry tracing
- OpenID Connect 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 Saleor
- A company that wants to modify ERP screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than codenot Saleor
- An organisation with a hard requirement to keep financial data on its own servers under its own control with no cloud dependencynot Saleor
- A systems integrator building a vertical ERP product on a permissive base it can fork and ship without paying a licence feenot Saleor
Saleor
- Custom headless storefrontsnot ADempiere
- Composable commerce architecturesnot ADempiere
- Omnichannel retail and B2B commercenot ADempiere
- Developer-built e-commerce requiring deep API accessnot 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.
Saleor
- Saleor requires development resources to build a storefront, since it ships as an API-only backend without a front-end store out of the box.
- Self-hosting requires managing infrastructure, scaling, and updates, which adds operational overhead compared to fully managed platforms.
- Saleor Cloud's paid tiers start at $1,599/month, making the managed offering costly for small merchants compared to typical SaaS store builders.
- The GraphQL-first, code-driven approach has a steeper learning curve for non-technical users than drag-and-drop e-commerce builders.
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
Saleor
Free- Sandboxes (Cloud)Free
- Free forever tier for prototyping and development
- Select (Cloud)$1599/month
- Up to $200,000 GMV monthly
- 0.8% fee on orders exceeding GMV limit
- Dedicated Slack channel
- Volume (Cloud)$3999/month
- Up to $1,000,000 GMV monthly
- 0.4% fee on orders exceeding GMV limit
- Dedicated Slack channel
- Enterprise (Cloud)$undefined/mo
- Custom GMV limits
- Fees negotiable as low as 0.2%
- Project delivery lead
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.
Choose Saleor if
- You need graphql api.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want admin dashboard.
Questions people ask
- Is ADempiere or Saleor better?
- Neither clearly leads. ADempiere starts at Free and Saleor at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ADempiere or Saleor?
- ADempiere starts at Free and Saleor at Free.
- Does ADempiere or Saleor run on more platforms?
- ADempiere runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted. Saleor runs on web, api.
- Can I use ADempiere for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- 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 Saleor is typically brought in for.
- What can ADempiere do that Saleor cannot?
- ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Financial accounting, Order to cash and procure to pay, Inventory and warehouse. Saleor covers GraphQL API, Admin dashboard, Webhooks and apps, Omnichannel order processing.
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.
Saleor: Is Saleor free to use?
Yes. Saleor is open source under the BSD-3-Clause license and can be self-hosted for free. Saleor Cloud also offers a free Sandboxes tier for prototyping and development.
SourceADempiere: 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.
Saleor: How much does Saleor Cloud cost?
Saleor Cloud paid plans start at $1,599/month for the Select plan (up to $200,000 monthly GMV), with Volume at $3,999/month and custom Enterprise pricing for larger merchants.
SourceADempiere: 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.
Saleor: Does Saleor provide a storefront out of the box?
No. Saleor is an API-only, headless commerce backend built on GraphQL; storefronts must be built separately using the API and are not bundled with the platform.
SourceADempiere: 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.
Related pages
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