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Nonprofits · head to head

CommCare vs OpenMRS

CommCare logo

CommCare

Nonprofits

Offline-first case management and mobile data collection for frontline health and development programmes

From
$100/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
OpenMRS logo

OpenMRS

Healthcare

Open source electronic medical record platform for low-resource settings, with no vendor and paid implementers instead

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only OpenMRS has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CommCare pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.; OpenMRS there is no vendor and no support contract from OpenMRS itself, so a procurement that requires a named supplier with a service level must instead contract an implementer, and the quality of that implementer determines the outcome more than the software does
  • They diverge on capability: CommCare covers Case management, OpenMRS covers Concept dictionary.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CommCare and OpenMRS actually diverge.

Attributes where CommCare and OpenMRS differ
AttributeCommCareOpenMRS
Starting price$100/monthFree
Pricing modelPer month by mobile user countOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsAndroid, WebLinux, Web, Windows
CategoryNonprofitsHealthcare

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 CommCare

  • Case management
  • Offline-first mobile app
  • App builder
  • Multi-language support
  • Two-way SMS
  • Report builder
  • API access
  • BI integration

Only in OpenMRS

  • Concept dictionary
  • Modular architecture
  • Modern front end
  • FHIR support
  • Offline tolerance
  • Patient matching and registration
  • Distributions

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CommCare

  • A community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot representnot OpenMRS
  • A ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasonsnot OpenMRS
  • An NGO running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reportingnot OpenMRS
  • A research team collecting longitudinal data on the same participants over years, where linking visits to a case rather than a submission is the whole requirementnot OpenMRS

OpenMRS

  • A ministry of health standardising HIV treatment records across hundreds of facilities where per-patient licensing would be unaffordablenot CommCare
  • A hospital network in a country where no commercial vendor supports the local language, clinical forms or reporting requirementsnot CommCare
  • An NGO running a tuberculosis programme that must report into DHIS2 and needs the clinical record beneath it to be modifiablenot CommCare
  • A health system that wants to own its clinical data model outright rather than depend on a vendor to extend itnot CommCare

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CommCare

  • Pricing is by included mobile user bands with a hard step between them, so a programme at 260 mobile users pays the Pro band plus per-user overage or jumps to Advanced, and neither option matches its actual size.
  • The subscription is the small number; application design, device procurement, worker training and supervision dominate the real cost, and grant budgets that fund only the licence stall at deployment.
  • Grant funding cycles and subscription renewals rarely align, so programmes routinely face a year-four cliff where the software is embedded in a workflow and the money that paid for it has ended.
  • It is Android-only on the device side, which is usually right for the target markets but blocks iOS-issued staff and makes the platform a poor fit for programmes in higher-income settings.
  • The open source option is real but effectively theoretical: self-hosting CommCare HQ requires substantial engineering, so the licence being free does not translate into an escape from the subscription.

OpenMRS

  • There is no vendor and no support contract from OpenMRS itself, so a procurement that requires a named supplier with a service level must instead contract an implementer, and the quality of that implementer determines the outcome more than the software does
  • It is a framework rather than a ready product, so a deployment requires clinical content, form design, concept dictionary work and integration before a single patient is registered, and that work is months of skilled effort
  • Funding comes largely from donor programmes, which makes the pace of core development dependent on grant cycles rather than on a commercial roadmap, and priorities can shift when a funder does
  • Distribution choice, core OpenMRS against Bahmni against Ozone, locks in a different set of components and a different implementer pool, and migrating between distributions later is close to a fresh implementation
  • The people cost never goes away: a national deployment needs permanent internal informatics capacity or a permanent support contract, and organisations that budget only the zero licence fee run out of money at the point the system becomes clinically critical

Pricing, plan by plan

CommCare

$100/month
  • Standard$100/month
    • 50 mobile users included
    • $2 per additional mobile user per month
    • Unlimited free web users
  • Pro$500/month
    • 250 mobile users included
    • Case sharing and child cases
    • Web report builder
  • Advanced$1000/month
    • 500 mobile users included
    • Power BI and Tableau integration
    • Web applications
  • Enterprise$4000/month
    • Custom mobile user count
    • Single sign-on
    • Named account management

OpenMRS

Free
  • OpenMRSFree
    • Openly licensed, no licence fee and no seat limits
    • Community support through forums and the OpenMRS Talk platform
    • No support contract available from OpenMRS itself

Which should you pick?

Choose CommCare if

  • You need case management.
  • You work on Android, Web.
  • You also want offline-first mobile app.
CommCare review

Choose OpenMRS if

  • You need concept dictionary.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Web, Windows.
  • You also want modular architecture.
OpenMRS review

Questions people ask

Is CommCare or OpenMRS better?
Neither clearly leads. CommCare starts at $100/month and OpenMRS at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CommCare or OpenMRS?
OpenMRS has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $100/month for CommCare and Free for OpenMRS.
Does CommCare or OpenMRS run on more platforms?
CommCare runs on Android, Web. OpenMRS runs on Linux, Web, Windows.
Can I use OpenMRS for free?
Yes. OpenMRS has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. CommCare starts at $100/month.
What is CommCare best used for?
CommCare is most often used for a community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot represent, a ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasons, an ngo running the same intervention in four countries that needs one application, several languages and consolidated reporting, a research team collecting longitudinal data on the same participants over years, where linking visits to a case rather than a submission is the whole requirement. Of those, a community health worker programme where each worker must see their own assigned households, what is overdue and what happened last visit, which a survey tool cannot represent and a ministry of health digitising a national frontline protocol and requiring in-region data hosting for legal reasons are not what OpenMRS is typically brought in for.
What can CommCare do that OpenMRS cannot?
CommCare covers Case management, Offline-first mobile app, App builder, Multi-language support. OpenMRS covers Concept dictionary, Modular architecture, Modern front end, FHIR support.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CommCare: How much does CommCare cost?

Standard is $100 a month for 50 mobile users, Pro $500 for 250, Advanced $1,000 for 500 and Enterprise from $4,000. Extra mobile users are $2 each per month; web users are unlimited and free.

OpenMRS: Who supports OpenMRS if it breaks?

Not OpenMRS itself. Support is bought from implementers such as Mekom Solutions, which offers long-term production service level agreements for OpenMRS, Bahmni and Ozone deployments, or from regional partners.

CommCare: Is CommCare open source?

Yes, CommCare HQ is open source, but self-hosting requires serious engineering capacity. Nearly all users take the hosted service.

OpenMRS: Is it really free?

The software has no licence fee. Hosting, configuration, clinical content, integration and support are the real cost, and they are ongoing.

CommCare: Where is our data stored?

You choose United States, European Union or India hosting, which is what makes it acceptable to ministries with data residency rules.

OpenMRS: What is the difference between OpenMRS, Bahmni and Ozone?

OpenMRS is the core platform. Bahmni and Ozone are distributions that package it with billing, laboratory and inventory components. Choosing a distribution constrains your implementer options.

CommCare: Who funds CommCare?

Dimagi is a for-profit B Corporation funded by customer subscriptions and services. Individual deployments are usually funded by donors such as USAID successors, the Gates Foundation or national health budgets.

OpenMRS: Does it support FHIR?

Yes. FHIR support is the standard route for integrating laboratory, pharmacy and national reporting systems.

CommCare: Does it do case management or just forms?

Case management. Workers hold a caseload of individuals or households and see history and due actions, which is the main reason to choose it over a form tool.

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