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Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs Ibex Medical Analytics

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ibex Medical Analytics logo

Ibex Medical Analytics

Healthcare

Cancer detection AI for breast, prostate and gastric pathology deployed in routine clinical service, not just pilots

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.; Ibex Medical Analytics the European IVDR indication is broader than the United States position, where some applications operate under laboratory developed test arrangements rather than FDA authorisation, which determines whether AI output can influence a signed report.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, Ibex Medical Analytics covers Ibex Breast Suite.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and Ibex Medical Analytics actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and Ibex Medical Analytics differ
AttributeBahmniIbex Medical Analytics
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, AndroidWeb, Cloud, On-premise

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 Ibex Medical Analytics

  • Ibex Breast Suite
  • Ibex Prostate
  • Ibex Gastric
  • Second read safety net
  • Prescreening triage
  • Heatmap localisation
  • Quality reporting
  • Scanner-agnostic ingestion

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

Ibex Medical Analytics

  • A histopathology department that cannot recruit and wants an automated safety net on every prostate and breast biopsy before sign outnot Bahmni
  • A private laboratory group standardising Gleason grading across pathologists with known interobserver variabilitynot Bahmni
  • A service digitising histopathology that needs a clinical governance argument to justify the scanning programme to its boardnot Bahmni
  • A gastrointestinal service wanting Helicobacter pylori detection automated so pathologists spend their time on the neoplastic casesnot 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.

Ibex Medical Analytics

  • The European IVDR indication is broader than the United States position, where some applications operate under laboratory developed test arrangements rather than FDA authorisation, which determines whether AI output can influence a signed report.
  • It requires a fully digitised histopathology workflow, and slide scanning, storage and validation typically cost several times the algorithm licence.
  • Running it as a second read safety net adds a discrepancy resolution workload that departments consistently underestimate, and someone senior has to adjudicate every flag.
  • Coverage is limited to breast, prostate and gastric, so a general histopathology department still reads the majority of its case mix without any AI support.
  • Pricing is per case and unpublished, so cost scales directly with biopsy volume and does not flatten as the department grows.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

Ibex Medical Analytics

On request
  • Ibex clinical applications$undefined/year
    • Priced per case analysed under an annual agreement
    • Breast, prostate and gastric licensed as separate suites
    • Regulatory indication differs between Europe and the United States

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 Ibex Medical Analytics if

  • You need ibex breast suite.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, On-premise.
  • You also want ibex prostate.
Ibex Medical Analytics review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Ibex Medical Analytics: Is Ibex FDA cleared?

The regulatory position differs by product and market. In Europe the products carry CE marking under IVDR for defined diagnostic indications; in the United States some applications are used under laboratory developed test arrangements. Confirm the exact status for the specific application and market before assuming it can influence a signed report.

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.

Ibex Medical Analytics: Second read or prescreening?

Both are supported. Second read as a safety net is the more common clinical governance justification; prescreening is the efficiency case.

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.

Ibex Medical Analytics: Does it need a particular scanner?

It ingests from the major whole slide scanner vendors rather than requiring a single fleet, which is a practical advantage over vendors tied to one scanner.

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.

Ibex Medical Analytics: What tissue types are covered?

Breast, prostate and gastric. Everything else in the case mix is unsupported.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

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