ERP · head to head
ADempiere vs TOTVS
ADempiere
ERP
Community-run open source ERP forked from Compiere, with no vendor behind it
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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.; TOTVS strongest in Brazil/Latin America; limited global brand recognition outside region
- They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, TOTVS covers Financial management.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ADempiere and TOTVS actually diverge.
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
- Point of sale
- Workflow engine
- Java and PostgreSQL stack
- gRPC and REST services
Only in TOTVS
- Financial management
- Supply chain
- CRM
- Compliance
- Brazilian tax systems
- REST APIs
- Third-party systems
- Cloud platforms
Both cover
- Manufacturing
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 TOTVS
- A company that wants to modify ERP screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than codenot TOTVS
- An organisation with a hard requirement to keep financial data on its own servers under its own control with no cloud dependencynot TOTVS
- A systems integrator building a vertical ERP product on a permissive base it can fork and ship without paying a licence feenot TOTVS
TOTVS
- Brazilian business managementnot ADempiere
- Tax compliancenot ADempiere
- Multi-module integrationnot ADempiere
- Regional supportnot 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.
TOTVS
- Strongest in Brazil/Latin America; limited global brand recognition outside region
- Complex implementation required for enterprise deployments
- Smaller feature set compared to global players like Oracle or SAP in some areas
- Language and localization primarily focused on Portuguese and Spanish
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
TOTVS
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the TOTVS 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.
Choose TOTVS if
- You need financial management.
- You work on Cloud (SaaS).
- You also want supply chain.
Questions people ask
- Is ADempiere or TOTVS better?
- Neither clearly leads. ADempiere starts at Free and TOTVS at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ADempiere or TOTVS?
- ADempiere has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ADempiere and On request for TOTVS.
- Does ADempiere or TOTVS run on more platforms?
- ADempiere runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted. TOTVS runs on Cloud (SaaS).
- Can I use ADempiere for free?
- Yes. ADempiere has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. TOTVS 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 TOTVS is typically brought in for.
- What can ADempiere do that TOTVS cannot?
- ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Financial accounting, Order to cash and procure to pay, Inventory and warehouse. TOTVS covers Financial management, Supply chain, CRM, Compliance. Both handle Manufacturing.
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.
TOTVS: What markets does TOTVS operate in?
TOTVS operates in 41 countries with dominant presence in Brazil (over 50% market share) and ranks among the top 3 ERP providers in Latin America.
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.
TOTVS: When was TOTVS founded?
TOTVS (originally Microsiga) was founded in 1983 by Laércio Cosentino and Ernesto Haberkorn. The company changed its name to TOTVS in 2005.
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.
TOTVS: Is TOTVS publicly traded?
Yes. TOTVS is publicly traded as a Brazilian company, providing financial transparency and corporate governance oversight.
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.
TOTVS: What ERP solutions does TOTVS offer?
TOTVS provides cloud-based ERP systems designed for small, medium, and large enterprises with integrated modules for finance, supply chain, manufacturing, sales, and human resources.
SourceTOTVS: Is TOTVS only for Brazilian companies?
No. TOTVS serves 41 countries globally, though it has strongest market penetration in Brazil and Latin America where it ranks as the largest emerging markets software firm.
SourceRelated pages
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