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Healthcare · head to head

Allscripts Professional EHR vs Bahmni

Allscripts Professional EHR logo

Allscripts Professional EHR

Healthcare

On-premise EHR solution for physician practices and hospitals

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

Open source hospital information system and EMR for low-resource hospitals, built on OpenMRS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bahmni has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Allscripts Professional EHR allscripts moved its products to the Veradigm brand in 2022, so the Allscripts name is retired; Bahmni the licence is free and the implementation is not; configuration, data migration, training and multi-year support from a partner routinely cost far more than a small commercial system would have, and hospitals that budget only for hardware stall.
  • They diverge on capability: Allscripts Professional EHR covers Electronic Health Records, Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Allscripts Professional EHR and Bahmni actually diverge.

Attributes where Allscripts Professional EHR and Bahmni differ
AttributeAllscripts Professional EHRBahmni
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, DesktopWeb, Linux, Android
Founded1986Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Healthcare).

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 Allscripts Professional EHR

  • Electronic Health Records
  • Clinical Documentation
  • Order Management
  • Laboratory Integration
  • Patient Management
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • HL7
  • FHIR

Only in Bahmni

  • OpenMRS clinical record
  • Configurable clinical forms
  • Laboratory integration
  • Billing and inventory
  • Inpatient management
  • Offline-capable clinical app
  • Reporting
  • Multi-language and localisation

Both cover

  • Imaging

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Allscripts Professional EHR

  • Patient Carenot Bahmni
  • Medical Recordsnot Bahmni
  • Practice Managementnot Bahmni
  • Telehealthnot Bahmni

Bahmni

  • A mission or charitable hospital in India or East Africa that cannot fund a commercial hospital information system licence but needs a real EMR rather than papernot Allscripts Professional EHR
  • A ministry of health standardising district hospitals on one system and required by donors to use a recognised Digital Public Goodnot Allscripts Professional EHR
  • An NGO health network wanting one clinical record across several facilities with reporting that can feed a national DHIS2 instancenot Allscripts Professional EHR
  • A hospital that needs the clinical record, laboratory, pharmacy and billing to share one patient identity rather than running four disconnected systemsnot Allscripts Professional EHR

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Allscripts Professional EHR

  • Allscripts moved its products to the Veradigm brand in 2022, so the Allscripts name is retired
  • Pricing is not published
  • The Veradigm site no longer names Professional EHR as a distinct product, which makes its current status hard to establish from the vendor

Bahmni

  • The licence is free and the implementation is not; configuration, data migration, training and multi-year support from a partner routinely cost far more than a small commercial system would have, and hospitals that budget only for hardware stall.
  • There is no single vendor with an obligation to you unless you contract one, so upgrade timing, security patching and defect resolution depend on whichever partner you hired and how long they stay engaged.
  • It integrates four substantial open source systems, which means an upgrade touches OpenMRS, OpenELIS, Odoo and the imaging stack together, and hospitals with heavy customisation often freeze on an old version rather than risk it.
  • Skilled Bahmni implementers are concentrated in a small number of firms in India and a few African countries, so a hospital outside those markets may find nobody local who can support it.
  • Funding for the coalition and its shared engineering comes from donors and member contributions rather than licence revenue, which makes the pace of core development dependent on grant cycles rather than on customer demand.

Pricing, plan by plan

Allscripts Professional EHR

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Allscripts Professional EHR review.

Bahmni

Free
  • BahmniFree
    • AGPL open source, no licence fee
    • All modules included
    • Community support via forum and documentation

Which should you pick?

Choose Allscripts Professional EHR if

  • You need electronic health records.
  • You work on Web, Desktop.
  • You also want clinical documentation.
Allscripts Professional EHR review

Choose Bahmni if

  • You need openmrs clinical record.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Android.
  • You also want configurable clinical forms.
Bahmni review

Questions people ask

Is Allscripts Professional EHR or Bahmni better?
Neither clearly leads. Allscripts Professional EHR starts at On request and Bahmni at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Allscripts Professional EHR or Bahmni?
Bahmni has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Allscripts Professional EHR and Free for Bahmni.
Does Allscripts Professional EHR or Bahmni run on more platforms?
Allscripts Professional EHR runs on Web, Desktop. Bahmni runs on Web, Linux, Android.
Can I use Bahmni for free?
Yes. Bahmni has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Allscripts Professional EHR starts at On request.
What is Allscripts Professional EHR best used for?
Allscripts Professional EHR is most often used for patient care, medical records, practice management, telehealth. Of those, patient care and medical records are not what Bahmni is typically brought in for.
What can Allscripts Professional EHR do that Bahmni cannot?
Allscripts Professional EHR covers Electronic Health Records, Clinical Documentation, Order Management, Laboratory Integration. Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Configurable clinical forms, Laboratory integration, Billing and inventory. Both handle Imaging.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Allscripts Professional EHR: What is the cost of Allscripts Professional EHR?

Allscripts Professional EHR uses quote-based pricing. Organizations must contact the vendor directly to receive customized pricing based on their specific requirements and implementation needs.

Source
Bahmni: Is Bahmni free?

The software is, under an open source licence. Implementation, hosting, configuration, training and support are charged by whichever partner you engage.

Bahmni: Who owns and governs Bahmni?

Thoughtworks transferred ownership in October 2017 to the Bahmni Coalition, under the fiscal sponsorship of the non-profit OpenMRS Inc. Thoughtworks remains on the governing committee.

Bahmni: What does an implementation actually cost?

It varies by hospital size and country, but expect the dominant costs to be partner services, training and multi-year support rather than software or hardware. Get a fixed-scope quote covering upgrades, not just go-live.

Bahmni: Is it a recognised Digital Public Good?

Yes, Bahmni is on the Digital Public Goods Alliance register, which is increasingly a condition of donor funding for health information systems.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

More than 500 implementations across roughly 50 countries, concentrated in South Asia and Africa.

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