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ERP · head to head

ADempiere vs Tendenci

ADempiere logo

ADempiere

ERP

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Tendenci logo

Tendenci

Nonprofits

Open-source association management system for nonprofits

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Tendenci self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Tendenci covers Open-source licence.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADempiere and Tendenci actually diverge.

Attributes where ADempiere and Tendenci differ
AttributeADempiereTendenci
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeOpen source, with paid hosting available
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hostedWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud
CategoryERPNonprofits

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 Tendenci

  • Open-source licence
  • Membership management
  • Events and registration
  • Donations
  • Content-managed website
  • Email

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

Tendenci

  • Nonprofits whose boards require member and donor data to stay under their own controlnot ADempiere
  • Organisations with data residency obligations a hosted platform cannot satisfynot ADempiere
  • Groups with technical capacity wanting to avoid per-member subscription costs at scalenot ADempiere
  • Associations needing to customise workflows beyond what a proprietary platform allowsnot 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.

Tendenci

  • Self-hosting is a real operational commitment, and organisations without technical capacity should not treat the free licence as a free system
  • The community is small compared with mainstream open-source projects, so answers are harder to find and contributors are few
  • The interface is dated against the commercial association platforms and this is the most common user complaint
  • Fewer integrations than commercial competitors, and building them is a development task rather than a configuration one
  • Feature depth in events and continuing education is behind the specialist commercial systems

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

Tendenci

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • Full source code
    • No per-member licence
    • Community support
  • Managed hosting$undefined/month
    • Hosted and maintained
    • Updates applied
    • Support included

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 Tendenci if

  • You need open-source licence.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want membership management.
Tendenci review

Questions people ask

Is ADempiere or Tendenci better?
Neither clearly leads. ADempiere starts at Free and Tendenci at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADempiere or Tendenci?
ADempiere starts at Free and Tendenci at Free.
Does ADempiere or Tendenci run on more platforms?
ADempiere runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted. Tendenci runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Cloud.
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 Tendenci is typically brought in for.
What can ADempiere do that Tendenci cannot?
ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Financial accounting, Order to cash and procure to pay, Inventory and warehouse. Tendenci covers Open-source licence, Membership management, Events and registration, Donations.

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.

Tendenci: Is Tendenci really free?

The software is, under an open-source licence with no per-member fee. Running it is not: hosting, updates, backups and security are the organisation responsibility unless managed hosting is purchased.

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.

Tendenci: Who should choose it?

Organisations with a genuine requirement to control their own data, and the technical capacity to act on it. Choosing it purely to avoid subscription cost usually ends badly.

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.

Tendenci: Can I move my data out?

Yes, entirely. That is the point. Data lives in a PostgreSQL database you control, and there is no vendor holding it.

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.

Tendenci: How does it compare to Wild Apricot?

Wild Apricot is easier, better supported and better looking. Tendenci is the answer when data ownership is a requirement rather than a preference.

Tendenci: Is it actively maintained?

It is developed openly on GitHub with a small team and community. Check recent commit activity before committing, as with any small open-source project.

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