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Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs Instinct Science

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Instinct Science logo

Instinct Science

Veterinary

Veterinary EMR built for emergency and specialty hospitals, plus Plumbs drug reference

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.; Instinct Science no pricing is published at all, so a practice cannot compare it against published competitors without a demo and a sales conversation.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Instinct Science covers Instinct Treatment Plan.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and Instinct Science actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and Instinct Science differ
AttributeBahmniInstinct Science
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryHealthcareVeterinary

Identical on both: 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 Bahmni

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

Only in Instinct Science

  • Instinct Treatment Plan
  • Charge capture from treatments
  • Instinct EMR
  • Primary care edition
  • Plumbs drug reference
  • ScribbleVet
  • Standards

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

Instinct Science

  • A twenty four hour emergency hospital where treatments are ordered on a sheet and currently reconciled to invoices by hand at dischargenot Bahmni
  • A specialty referral centre running multiple services on one hospitalised patient that needs a shared, current treatment plan across shiftsnot Bahmni
  • A hospital losing measurable revenue to missed charge capture on inpatient treatments and fluidsnot Bahmni
  • A practice that already relies on Plumbs for dosing and wants drug reference and interaction checking inside the record rather than in a separate tabnot 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.

Instinct Science

  • No pricing is published at all, so a practice cannot compare it against published competitors without a demo and a sales conversation.
  • The design centres on inpatient treatment sheets, so an appointment driven general practice pays for strength in a workflow it barely uses and should evaluate the primary care edition on its own merits rather than the hospital reputation.
  • Retail, inventory and reminder marketing workflows are thinner than in long established general practice systems, so a practice with a significant shop or food business may need workarounds.
  • Plumbs and ScribbleVet are separately licensed even though the same company owns them, so the tidy single vendor story still arrives as more than one line on the invoice.
  • It is a smaller vendor than the corporate owned incumbents, which is an advantage on responsiveness and a risk on acquisition, and veterinary software has consolidated heavily in recent years.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

Instinct Science

On request
  • Instinct EMR$undefined/year
    • Quoted through a demo and sales process, nothing published
    • Priced by practice size and modules taken
    • Plumbs and ScribbleVet are separately licensed products from the same company

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 Instinct Science if

  • You need instinct treatment plan.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want charge capture from treatments.
Instinct Science review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Instinct Science: Is Instinct only for emergency hospitals?

No, there is a primary care edition, but the product design and its main advantage come from inpatient treatment sheets and hospital workflows.

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.

Instinct Science: Is pricing published?

No. Everything runs through a demo and a quote.

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.

Instinct Science: Does it include Plumbs?

Instinct Science owns Plumbs, but it is licensed separately rather than bundled into the EMR by default.

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.

Instinct Science: What is the main reason practices switch to it?

Charge capture. Treatments recorded on the digital treatment sheet become charges automatically, which recovers revenue that paper sheets lose.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

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