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Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs Fujifilm Synapse

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fujifilm Synapse logo

Fujifilm Synapse

Healthcare

Enterprise imaging platform covering PACS, VNA, cardiology and 3D from Fujifilm Healthcare

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.; Fujifilm Synapse pACS, VNA, Cardiovascular and 3D are separately licensed and separately versioned, so an enterprise deployment means four upgrade cycles and four support relationships under one brand rather than one platform upgrade.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Fujifilm Synapse covers Synapse PACS.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and Fujifilm Synapse actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and Fujifilm Synapse differ
AttributeBahmniFujifilm Synapse
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, AndroidWeb, Windows, 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 Fujifilm Synapse

  • Synapse PACS
  • Synapse VNA
  • Synapse Cardiovascular
  • Synapse 3D
  • Synapse Mobility
  • Deconstructed PACS support
  • Cloud services

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

Fujifilm Synapse

  • A hospital replacing PACS that wants the archive decoupled from its scanner vendor so future modality purchases stay competitivenot Bahmni
  • A health system consolidating radiology, cardiology, ophthalmology and wound images into one vendor neutral archive with a single retention policynot Bahmni
  • An outpatient imaging chain that needs one worklist across multiple sites and radiologists reading remotelynot Bahmni
  • A site pursuing a deconstructed PACS strategy that wants to replace the viewer later without touching the archivenot 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.

Fujifilm Synapse

  • PACS, VNA, Cardiovascular and 3D are separately licensed and separately versioned, so an enterprise deployment means four upgrade cycles and four support relationships under one brand rather than one platform upgrade.
  • Synapse 3D is licensed by concurrent user and sized from average concurrency, which leaves radiologists queued for advanced visualisation at the morning reading peak and forces an unplanned licence purchase.
  • As an independent informatics vendor Fujifilm has less privileged access to proprietary modality data than Philips or Siemens have on their own scanners, so some vendor specific post processing is not available.
  • The vendor neutral archive absorbs non DICOM object types only after per specialty configuration work, and departments such as ophthalmology and dermatology usually need bespoke ingestion projects that were not in the original scope.
  • Migrating a decade of priors from a legacy archive is a large professional services line that Fujifilm quotes separately, and these migrations regularly run past the contracted go live date.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

Fujifilm Synapse

On request
  • Synapse$undefined/year
    • Each module licensed separately: PACS, VNA, Cardiovascular, 3D
    • Priced by annual study volume and concurrent diagnostic users
    • Synapse 3D licensed by concurrent user, separate from PACS

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 Fujifilm Synapse if

  • You need synapse pacs.
  • You work on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
  • You also want synapse vna.
Fujifilm Synapse review

Questions people ask

Is Bahmni or Fujifilm Synapse better?
Neither clearly leads. Bahmni starts at Free and Fujifilm Synapse at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bahmni or Fujifilm Synapse?
Bahmni has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bahmni and On request for Fujifilm Synapse.
Does Bahmni or Fujifilm Synapse run on more platforms?
Bahmni runs on Web, Linux, Android. Fujifilm Synapse runs on Web, Windows, iOS, Android.
Can I use Bahmni for free?
Yes. Bahmni has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fujifilm Synapse 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 Fujifilm Synapse is typically brought in for.
What can Bahmni do that Fujifilm Synapse cannot?
Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Configurable clinical forms, Laboratory integration, Billing and inventory. Fujifilm Synapse covers Synapse PACS, Synapse VNA, Synapse Cardiovascular, Synapse 3D.

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.

Fujifilm Synapse: Is Synapse one product or several?

Several. Synapse PACS, Synapse VNA, Synapse Cardiovascular and Synapse 3D are separately licensed products under one brand. Price and scope each one individually.

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.

Fujifilm Synapse: Do I have to buy Fujifilm scanners?

No. Fujifilm sells Synapse independently of imaging hardware, which is a large part of why it wins competitive PACS replacements at mixed fleet sites.

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.

Fujifilm Synapse: Does Synapse publish pricing?

No. Pricing is quoted by study volume, concurrent users, module mix and storage capacity.

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.

Fujifilm Synapse: Can Synapse VNA store non radiology images?

Yes, including visible light, ophthalmology and wound photography, but each specialty typically needs its own ingestion and metadata configuration project.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

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