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Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs Doctolib

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Doctolib logo

Doctolib

Healthcare

Patient booking and practice management for European healthcare professionals

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Bahmni has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Doctolib availability is limited to France, Germany and Italy, so a clinic group operating outside those markets cannot use it at all and a multinational provider cannot standardise on one booking system.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Doctolib covers Patient booking marketplace.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and Doctolib actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and Doctolib differ
AttributeBahmniDoctolib
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android

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 Bahmni

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

Only in Doctolib

  • Patient booking marketplace
  • Practice agenda
  • Teleconsultation
  • Automated reminders
  • Electronic patient record
  • Carte Vitale and reimbursement
  • e-Prescription
  • Doctolib Team

What people use each for

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

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 Doctolib
  • A ministry of health standardising district hospitals on one system and required by donors to use a recognised Digital Public Goodnot Doctolib
  • An NGO health network wanting one clinical record across several facilities with reporting that can feed a national DHIS2 instancenot Doctolib
  • A hospital that needs the clinical record, laboratory, pharmacy and billing to share one patient identity rather than running four disconnected systemsnot Doctolib

Doctolib

  • A French general practice that wants new patients to find and book it without a phone call, and needs Carte Vitale billing in the same toolnot Bahmni
  • A German physiotherapy clinic replacing a paper diary and cutting no-shows through automated SMS remindersnot Bahmni
  • A dental group with several sites that needs one shared agenda and per-site patient routingnot Bahmni
  • A specialist starting a new practice in Paris or Berlin who has no existing patient list and needs the directory as a source of referralsnot Bahmni

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Doctolib

  • Availability is limited to France, Germany and Italy, so a clinic group operating outside those markets cannot use it at all and a multinational provider cannot standardise on one booking system.
  • No pricing is published anywhere on the site; every plan routes to a sales form, so a practice cannot budget or compare against alternatives without giving up contact details and sitting through a call.
  • Contracts run on a twelve month commitment per practitioner, so a practice that hires a locum or loses a partner mid-term keeps paying for the seat.
  • The commercial value is the marketplace listing rather than the software, which means leaving Doctolib costs a practice its inbound patient discovery, not just a data export; that asymmetry weakens the practice in every renewal negotiation.
  • Clinical depth is thinner than a dedicated electronic health record, so practices with complex documentation, coding or research requirements often run Doctolib for scheduling alongside a second clinical system and reconcile the two by hand.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

Doctolib

On request
  • Doctolib Pro$undefined/month
    • Marketplace listing and patient booking
    • Practice agenda
    • SMS and email reminders

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Doctolib if

  • You need patient booking marketplace.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want practice agenda.
Doctolib review

Questions people ask

Is Bahmni or Doctolib better?
Neither clearly leads. Bahmni starts at Free and Doctolib at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bahmni or Doctolib?
Bahmni has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bahmni and On request for Doctolib.
Does Bahmni or Doctolib run on more platforms?
Bahmni runs on Web, Linux, Android. Doctolib runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Bahmni for free?
Yes. Bahmni has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Doctolib starts at On request.
What is Bahmni best used for?
Bahmni is most often used for 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 paper, a ministry of health standardising district hospitals on one system and required by donors to use a recognised digital public good, an ngo health network wanting one clinical record across several facilities with reporting that can feed a national dhis2 instance, a hospital that needs the clinical record, laboratory, pharmacy and billing to share one patient identity rather than running four disconnected systems. Of those, 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 paper and a ministry of health standardising district hospitals on one system and required by donors to use a recognised digital public good are not what Doctolib is typically brought in for.
What can Bahmni do that Doctolib cannot?
Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Configurable clinical forms, Laboratory integration, Billing and inventory. Doctolib covers Patient booking marketplace, Practice agenda, Teleconsultation, Automated reminders.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Doctolib: Can I use Doctolib in the UK or the US?

No. Doctolib operates in France, Germany and Italy only. There is no English-market offering.

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.

Doctolib: Does Doctolib publish its prices?

No. Every tier on the site routes to a contact form, and quotes are per practitioner per month with a twelve month commitment.

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.

Doctolib: Is Doctolib a full electronic health record?

Not really. It covers consultation notes, documents and prescribing, but practices with heavy clinical documentation needs usually keep a separate EHR.

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.

Doctolib: What happens to my patient bookings if I leave?

You keep your patient data on export, but you lose the public listing, which is where a large share of new bookings originate.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

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