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Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs Rad AI

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rad AI logo

Rad AI

Healthcare

Generative reporting and follow-up tracking for radiology, positioned outside the diagnostic device boundary

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.; Rad AI the products are not FDA cleared devices and are not intended to be, so any claim that Rad AI improves diagnostic accuracy is unsupported; what has been measured is reporting speed and follow-up completion, not detection.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Rad AI covers Impressions.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and Rad AI actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and Rad AI differ
AttributeBahmniRad AI
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, AndroidWindows, Web, Cloud

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
  • Multi-language and localisation

Only in Rad AI

  • Impressions
  • Continuity
  • Style learning
  • Omni Reconcile
  • PACS and dictation embedding
  • Patient outreach workflows
  • Audit reporting

Both cover

  • Reporting

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

Rad AI

  • A private radiology practice whose read volume has grown faster than it can recruit and that wants dictation time per study reduced without changing PACSnot Bahmni
  • A health system losing revenue and exposing itself to liability because recommended follow-up imaging on incidental findings is never bookednot Bahmni
  • A radiology department standardising impression quality across a mixed group of employed and locum radiologistsnot Bahmni
  • A group deploying an AI tool that must not trigger a device validation programme, because governance capacity is already consumed by a triage algorithm rolloutnot 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.

Rad AI

  • The products are not FDA cleared devices and are not intended to be, so any claim that Rad AI improves diagnostic accuracy is unsupported; what has been measured is reporting speed and follow-up completion, not detection.
  • Generated impressions require radiologist review and signature, so the time saving evaporates in any group whose radiologists rewrite the draft rather than edit it, and adoption varies sharply by individual.
  • It is bound to your dictation platform, so a group planning to move off PowerScribe should sequence that decision first or expect to redo the Rad AI integration.
  • Continuity depends on the quality of recommendation language in historical reports, and departments with inconsistent phrasing get poor recall until reporting practice is standardised.
  • Pricing is not published and is structured per radiologist or per study depending on the product mix, which makes it hard to compare against image-analysis AI vendors that price per scan.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

Rad AI

On request
  • Rad AI platform$undefined/year
    • Priced per radiologist or per study volume depending on product and contract
    • Impressions, Reporting and Continuity licensed separately
    • Annual subscription with implementation and integration scoped per site

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 Rad AI if

  • You need impressions.
  • You work on Windows, Web, Cloud.
  • You also want continuity.
Rad AI review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Rad AI: Is Rad AI FDA cleared?

No, and by design. The products draft text and manage follow-up workflow rather than interpreting images, so they fall outside the device pathway. Treat any diagnostic accuracy claim with scepticism.

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.

Rad AI: Does the radiologist still sign the report?

Yes. Output is a draft that the radiologist reviews and signs; nothing is released autonomously.

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.

Rad AI: Which product actually pays for itself?

Continuity has the clearest financial case, because recommended follow-up imaging that gets completed is billable work that currently does not happen.

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.

Rad AI: Will it work with our dictation system?

It is deepest with Nuance PowerScribe. Confirm your specific dictation and PACS combination before contracting, because integration depth is the main deployment variable.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

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