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Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs Philips IntelliSpace PACS

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Philips IntelliSpace PACS logo

Philips IntelliSpace PACS

Healthcare

Enterprise radiology PACS and diagnostic image viewing from Philips

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.; Philips IntelliSpace PACS philips has consolidated its imaging marketing under Philips Enterprise Imaging and several IntelliSpace PACS regional pages now redirect to a generic medical imaging page, so a buyer signing a long PACS term should demand a written product lifecycle and version support statement before committing.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Philips IntelliSpace PACS covers Diagnostic reading client.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and Philips IntelliSpace PACS actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and Philips IntelliSpace PACS differ
AttributeBahmniPhilips IntelliSpace PACS
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, AndroidWeb, Windows

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 Philips IntelliSpace PACS

  • Diagnostic reading client
  • Zero footprint web viewer
  • Enterprise archive
  • Advanced visualisation
  • IntelliSpace Radiology on AWS
  • Worklist and workflow
  • AI results integration

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

Philips IntelliSpace PACS

  • A hospital replacing an end of life PACS that already runs a large Philips CT and MR estate and wants modality and reading integration in one support contractnot Bahmni
  • A radiology group consolidating several departmental archives into one enterprise archive with a single radiologist worklistnot Bahmni
  • A health system that wants to move diagnostic reading off local workstations into a cloud hosted environment via the AWS listingnot Bahmni
  • Sites that need server side advanced visualisation so radiologists can do 3D and vessel work without dedicated 3D workstationsnot 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.

Philips IntelliSpace PACS

  • Philips has consolidated its imaging marketing under Philips Enterprise Imaging and several IntelliSpace PACS regional pages now redirect to a generic medical imaging page, so a buyer signing a long PACS term should demand a written product lifecycle and version support statement before committing.
  • Advanced visualisation is licensed by concurrent user separately from the base PACS, so a department that sizes concurrency from average use finds radiologists blocked at the morning peak and buys more licences after go live.
  • The deepest integration is with Philips modalities, so sites running mixed GE and Siemens scanner fleets get less of the workflow benefit than the demonstration environment implies.
  • Third party AI findings arrive through a results interface rather than natively in the hanging protocol, so radiologists context switch to see algorithm output and adoption of purchased AI is lower than expected.
  • Data migration from a legacy PACS is a separate, large and often underquoted professional services line, and migrations of a decade of priors routinely run longer than the go live plan allows.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

Philips IntelliSpace PACS

On request
  • IntelliSpace PACS$undefined/year
    • Priced by annual study volume and concurrent diagnostic users
    • Advanced visualisation licensed separately by concurrent user
    • Storage and archive tiering priced by capacity

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 Philips IntelliSpace PACS if

  • You need diagnostic reading client.
  • You work on Web, Windows.
  • You also want zero footprint web viewer.
Philips IntelliSpace PACS review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Philips IntelliSpace PACS: Is IntelliSpace PACS being discontinued?

It is still sold and supported, but Philips has moved its marketing to Philips Enterprise Imaging and some regional IntelliSpace product pages now redirect. Ask Philips for the written lifecycle statement before signing a multi year term.

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.

Philips IntelliSpace PACS: Can I run it in the cloud?

Yes. Philips lists IntelliSpace Radiology on AWS Marketplace, and Philips also offers a managed hosted deployment. Both are quoted rather than self service.

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.

Philips IntelliSpace PACS: Does Philips publish pricing?

No. Pricing is by study volume, concurrent diagnostic users and storage, and is usually negotiated alongside modality capital.

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.

Philips IntelliSpace PACS: Will it read images from non Philips scanners?

Yes, it is a standard DICOM archive and viewer. The gap is in advanced visualisation and modality workflow integration, which is deeper on Philips equipment.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

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