Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

DHIS2 vs Lunit

DHIS2 logo

DHIS2

Healthcare

Open source health information platform run from the University of Oslo and used by national ministries

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lunit logo

Lunit

Healthcare

FDA cleared and CE marked AI for mammography, tomosynthesis and chest radiography

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only DHIS2 has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: DHIS2 the licence is free and the implementation is not; national rollouts routinely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in configuration, hosting, training and support, and budgets built on the word free fail immediately.; Lunit the regulatory permission differs by product and by region, and INSIGHT Risk has been filed with the FDA but not cleared, so a buyer who reads a corporate press release rather than the specific clearance for their product and jurisdiction will plan a deployment they cannot legally run.
  • They diverge on capability: DHIS2 covers Aggregate data reporting, Lunit covers Lunit INSIGHT MMG.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DHIS2 and Lunit actually diverge.

Attributes where DHIS2 and Lunit differ
AttributeDHIS2Lunit
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Android, Self-hosted, CloudWeb

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 DHIS2

  • Aggregate data reporting
  • Tracker
  • Android capture app
  • Dashboards and analytics
  • Metadata packages
  • Data quality tools
  • GIS mapping
  • Interoperability

Only in Lunit

  • Lunit INSIGHT MMG
  • Lunit INSIGHT DBT
  • Lunit INSIGHT CXR
  • Volpara density assessment
  • Volpara RiskPathways
  • Volpara dose tracking
  • PACS and mammography workstation integration

What people use each for

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

DHIS2

  • A ministry of health replacing paper monthly reporting from thousands of facilities with a national routine systemnot Lunit
  • A donor-funded HIV or tuberculosis programme that must report standard indicators across several districtsnot Lunit
  • A disease surveillance unit needing weekly case reporting with outbreak alerting and mappingnot Lunit
  • An NGO running individual patient follow-up in a programme where facilities are frequently offlinenot Lunit

Lunit

  • A national breast screening programme evaluating AI as a second reader to reduce double reading workload where two human readers are currently mandatednot DHIS2
  • A breast centre that moved to tomosynthesis and now has reading times it cannot staff, wanting detection support on DBT specificallynot DHIS2
  • An American breast imaging centre needing automated volumetric density assessment to meet patient density notification requirements, which is what Volpara is bought fornot DHIS2
  • A tuberculosis or lung screening programme in a high volume, radiologist scarce setting using chest radiography triage to prioritise filmsnot DHIS2

Where each one falls short

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

DHIS2

  • The licence is free and the implementation is not; national rollouts routinely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in configuration, hosting, training and support, and budgets built on the word free fail immediately.
  • HISP UiO introduced a Shared Services Fee in 2025, so organisations that depend on DHIS2 are now being asked for an annual contribution that did not previously exist in their plans.
  • Development funding comes from a small set of donors including Norad, the Global Fund and the Gates Foundation, which concentrates the platform's long-term direction in the priorities of those funders.
  • Implementation capability is concentrated in regional HISP groups, so a country whose local HISP group is overstretched has few alternative suppliers with equivalent expertise.
  • Analytics performance depends heavily on how metadata was designed at the outset, and a poorly structured initial configuration produces slow dashboards and bad indicator definitions that are painful to correct years later.

Lunit

  • The regulatory permission differs by product and by region, and INSIGHT Risk has been filed with the FDA but not cleared, so a buyer who reads a corporate press release rather than the specific clearance for their product and jurisdiction will plan a deployment they cannot legally run.
  • Detection AI changes recall rates in screening, and the downstream cost of additional diagnostic workup lands on the programme rather than on the software budget, which is the cost most screening business cases omit.
  • Performance is sensitive to the mammography vendor and acquisition protocol, so published results from a Hologic estate do not transfer to a GE or Siemens estate without local validation the buyer must fund.
  • MMG, DBT and CXR are licensed separately and Volpara modules are separate again, so a breast centre wanting detection, density and risk pathways is assembling four line items rather than buying one product.
  • Using AI as a replacement for one of two human readers is a workforce and liability decision that regulators and professional bodies treat differently in each country, so the saving that justifies the purchase may not be permitted where you operate.

Pricing, plan by plan

DHIS2

Free
  • DHIS2 softwareFree
    • BSD licence
    • All modules including Tracker
    • No user or facility limits
  • Shared Services Fee$undefined/year
    • Voluntary annual contribution introduced by HISP UiO
    • Funds shared global infrastructure and platform sustainability
    • Amount agreed with the HISP Centre
  • Implementation and support$undefined/year
    • Delivered by regional HISP groups or private implementers
    • Configuration, metadata design, hosting, training and support
    • Quoted per programme, commonly the dominant cost

Lunit

On request
  • Lunit INSIGHT$undefined/year
    • Priced per study or per annual examination volume by product
    • MMG, DBT and CXR licensed separately
    • Volpara density and RiskPathways modules quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose DHIS2 if

  • You need aggregate data reporting.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Android, Self-hosted, Cloud.
  • You also want tracker.
DHIS2 review

Choose Lunit if

  • You need lunit insight mmg.
  • You also want lunit insight dbt.
Lunit review

Questions people ask

Is DHIS2 or Lunit better?
Neither clearly leads. DHIS2 starts at Free and Lunit at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DHIS2 or Lunit?
DHIS2 has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for DHIS2 and On request for Lunit.
Does DHIS2 or Lunit run on more platforms?
DHIS2 runs on Web, Android, Self-hosted, Cloud. Lunit runs on Web.
Can I use DHIS2 for free?
Yes. DHIS2 has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lunit starts at On request.
What is DHIS2 best used for?
DHIS2 is most often used for a ministry of health replacing paper monthly reporting from thousands of facilities with a national routine system, a donor-funded hiv or tuberculosis programme that must report standard indicators across several districts, a disease surveillance unit needing weekly case reporting with outbreak alerting and mapping, an ngo running individual patient follow-up in a programme where facilities are frequently offline. Of those, a ministry of health replacing paper monthly reporting from thousands of facilities with a national routine system and a donor-funded hiv or tuberculosis programme that must report standard indicators across several districts are not what Lunit is typically brought in for.
What can DHIS2 do that Lunit cannot?
DHIS2 covers Aggregate data reporting, Tracker, Android capture app, Dashboards and analytics. Lunit covers Lunit INSIGHT MMG, Lunit INSIGHT DBT, Lunit INSIGHT CXR, Volpara density assessment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DHIS2: Who owns and develops DHIS2?

The HISP Centre at the University of Oslo, funded by donors including Norad, the Global Fund, the Gates Foundation and Wellcome.

Lunit: Is Lunit FDA cleared?

Yes for specific products. INSIGHT MMG, INSIGHT DBT and INSIGHT CXR Triage hold FDA 510(k) clearances. INSIGHT Risk, the five year risk prediction model, has been filed but was not cleared at the time of writing.

DHIS2: Is DHIS2 free?

The software is free under a BSD licence. Implementation, hosting, training and support are not, and are the dominant cost.

Lunit: Can Lunit replace a second human reader in screening?

That depends entirely on your jurisdiction and professional body guidance, not on the software. The CE mark permits clinical use; it does not authorise a workforce model.

DHIS2: What is the Shared Services Fee?

A voluntary annual contribution introduced by HISP UiO in 2025 to fund shared global infrastructure and long-term platform sustainability.

Lunit: What did the Volpara acquisition add?

Volumetric breast density measurement, dose tracking and RiskPathways high risk programme management, which are the things American breast centres buy for density notification compliance rather than for detection.

DHIS2: Can I buy commercial support?

Yes, from regional HISP groups or private implementers such as Devotta, which is contracted by HISP UiO for core platform development and also works independently.

Lunit: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted per study or per annual volume, by product, with on premises and cloud priced differently.

Share

Related pages

More on DHIS2

More on Lunit

Keep looking

Other head to heads