Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs Techcyte

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Techcyte logo

Techcyte

Healthcare

AI digital pathology across clinical, veterinary and environmental laboratory disciplines

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.; Techcyte regulatory status runs the opposite way to what most buyers assume: the products are CE marked and clinically deployed in Europe while several United States offerings including Fusion Parasitology are labelled research use only and not for diagnostic use, so an American laboratory must verify each module individually.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Techcyte covers Fusion Parasitology Suite.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and Techcyte actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and Techcyte differ
AttributeBahmniTechcyte
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, AndroidWeb

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 Techcyte

  • Fusion Parasitology Suite
  • Cervical cytology
  • Haematology
  • Urinalysis
  • Bacteriology and mycology
  • Vetcyte
  • Scanner agnostic ingestion
  • Remote review

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

Techcyte

  • A clinical laboratory that cannot recruit technologists for high volume manual parasitology screening and needs AI pre screening with human releasenot Bahmni
  • A veterinary reference laboratory processing large volumes of faecal and blood smears that wants Vetcyte to triage the normal casesnot Bahmni
  • A European laboratory that can deploy the CE marked products clinically, which is where Techcyte regulatory position is strongestnot Bahmni
  • An environmental testing laboratory needing consistent microscopy classification across analysts and sitesnot 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.

Techcyte

  • Regulatory status runs the opposite way to what most buyers assume: the products are CE marked and clinically deployed in Europe while several United States offerings including Fusion Parasitology are labelled research use only and not for diagnostic use, so an American laboratory must verify each module individually.
  • Slide scanning for parasitology, haematology and cytology needs multi plane imaging that a histology scanner may not produce, so a laboratory that already owns a scanner often has to buy new hardware, which becomes the biggest line in the project.
  • Each discipline is licensed separately, so a laboratory wanting parasitology, urinalysis and haematology assembles three modules and three validation studies rather than buying one platform.
  • AI pre screening does not remove the need for a qualified reviewer to release results, so the staffing saving is in review time per slide, not in headcount, and business cases that assume otherwise do not hold.
  • Techcyte covers a very wide set of disciplines, which means depth varies between them, and the maturity of a newer module is not the maturity of the parasitology or cytology products that made the company its name.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

Techcyte

On request
  • Techcyte$undefined/year
    • Priced per slide or per annual specimen volume by discipline
    • Each discipline module licensed separately
    • Slide scanning hardware bought separately, not included

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 Techcyte if

  • You need fusion parasitology suite.
  • You also want cervical cytology.
Techcyte review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Techcyte: Is Techcyte FDA cleared?

Not uniformly. Several United States offerings, including the Fusion Parasitology Suite, are labelled research use only and not for diagnostic use in the United States. Check the regulatory status of each specific module for your country before purchase.

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.

Techcyte: Can we use it clinically in Europe?

Techcyte solutions are CE marked and clinically deployed across Europe, which is where its regulatory position is strongest. Confirm the current certificate for the specific module.

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.

Techcyte: Does it eliminate the need for a technologist?

No. AI pre screens and prioritises, but a qualified reviewer still releases results. The saving is in review time per slide.

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.

Techcyte: Do we need a specific scanner?

Techcyte works with several scanner vendors, but disciplines such as parasitology and haematology need multi plane imaging that many histology scanners cannot produce, so confirm hardware compatibility early.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

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