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ERP · head to head

ADempiere vs Ivalua

ADempiere logo

ADempiere

ERP

Community-run open source ERP forked from Compiere, with no vendor behind it

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Ivalua logo

Ivalua

ERP

Source-to-pay on one codebase and one data model, sold to large enterprises by module

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only ADempiere has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: ADempiere there is no company behind it, so there is no support contract to buy, no SLA, no escalation path and no roadmap commitment; if your implementation partner leaves the market you own the problem entirely.; Ivalua entry deployments are reported around 150,000 US dollars a year before implementation, which puts it entirely out of reach for mid-market procurement teams.
  • They diverge on capability: ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Ivalua covers Single data model.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which ADempiere and Ivalua actually diverge.

Attributes where ADempiere and Ivalua differ
AttributeADempiereIvalua
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hostedWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (ERP).

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 ADempiere

  • Application dictionary
  • Financial accounting
  • Order to cash and procure to pay
  • Inventory and warehouse
  • Manufacturing
  • Point of sale
  • Workflow engine
  • Java and PostgreSQL stack

Only in Ivalua

  • Single data model
  • Supplier risk and onboarding
  • Contract lifecycle management
  • Direct materials procurement
  • Invoice matching and payment
  • Configurable workflow engine

What people use each for

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

ADempiere

  • A manufacturer in Latin America with an existing ADempiere consulting partner that needs localised tax and accounting behaviour a global vendor will not buildnot Ivalua
  • A company that wants to modify ERP screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than codenot Ivalua
  • An organisation with a hard requirement to keep financial data on its own servers under its own control with no cloud dependencynot Ivalua
  • A systems integrator building a vertical ERP product on a permissive base it can fork and ship without paying a licence feenot Ivalua

Ivalua

  • A manufacturer that needs direct materials sourcing tied to a bill of materials, not just indirect spendnot ADempiere
  • An enterprise whose last procurement programme failed because supplier master data could not be reconciled across modulesnot ADempiere
  • A regulated organisation needing third-party risk screening enforced before a supplier can receive a purchase ordernot ADempiere
  • Replacing separate sourcing, contract and invoice systems where each holds a different version of the supplier recordnot ADempiere

Where each one falls short

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

ADempiere

  • There is no company behind it, so there is no support contract to buy, no SLA, no escalation path and no roadmap commitment; if your implementation partner leaves the market you own the problem entirely.
  • The official website adempiere.net does not resolve, which strands most of the historic documentation and tutorials that search engines still point at and makes onboarding a new developer considerably harder.
  • The last conventional stable release, 3.9.4, is from January 2023, so despite ongoing GitHub activity a buyer evaluating on release cadence sees a project moving slowly.
  • iDempiere, a later fork of the same codebase, absorbed much of the developer community, so ADempiere competes for contributors with its own descendant and is the smaller of the two ecosystems.
  • The interface and the Java Swing heritage feel dated, and staff coming from a modern cloud ERP will need training and will complain; expect resistance from finance and warehouse users during rollout.

Ivalua

  • Entry deployments are reported around 150,000 US dollars a year before implementation, which puts it entirely out of reach for mid-market procurement teams.
  • Configurability requires an internal product owner and usually a systems integrator, so the total programme cost is a multiple of the licence and the failure modes are those of an ERP project.
  • Module-based licensing means capability you assumed was included, such as contract lifecycle management or supplier risk, is frequently a separate line item discovered late in the negotiation.
  • Supplier network pricing scales with active supplier count, so an organisation with a long tail of small suppliers pays for records that generate little spend.
  • The user interface prioritises configurability over ease, and casual requisitioners across the business need more guidance than a consumer-style intake tool would require.

Pricing, plan by plan

ADempiere

Free
  • Community editionFree
    • GPL v2 licensed, no licence fee
    • Full ERP, CRM, supply chain and POS modules
    • Self-hosted on your own infrastructure

Ivalua

On request
  • Ivalua Source-to-Pay$undefined/year
    • Module-based licensing rather than per seat
    • User counts tiered by role category
    • Supplier network pricing driven by active supplier count

Which should you pick?

Choose ADempiere if

  • You need application dictionary.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want financial accounting.
ADempiere review

Choose Ivalua if

  • You need single data model.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want supplier risk and onboarding.
Ivalua review

Questions people ask

Is ADempiere or Ivalua better?
Neither clearly leads. ADempiere starts at Free and Ivalua at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, ADempiere or Ivalua?
ADempiere has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for ADempiere and On request for Ivalua.
Does ADempiere or Ivalua run on more platforms?
ADempiere runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted. Ivalua runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use ADempiere for free?
Yes. ADempiere has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Ivalua starts at On request.
What is ADempiere best used for?
ADempiere is most often used for a manufacturer in latin america with an existing adempiere consulting partner that needs localised tax and accounting behaviour a global vendor will not build, a company that wants to modify erp screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than code, an organisation with a hard requirement to keep financial data on its own servers under its own control with no cloud dependency, a systems integrator building a vertical erp product on a permissive base it can fork and ship without paying a licence fee. Of those, a manufacturer in latin america with an existing adempiere consulting partner that needs localised tax and accounting behaviour a global vendor will not build and a company that wants to modify erp screens and document workflows without a vendor change request, using the application dictionary rather than code are not what Ivalua is typically brought in for.
What can ADempiere do that Ivalua cannot?
ADempiere covers Application dictionary, Financial accounting, Order to cash and procure to pay, Inventory and warehouse. Ivalua covers Single data model, Supplier risk and onboarding, Contract lifecycle management, Direct materials procurement.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

ADempiere: Should I choose ADempiere or iDempiere?

Look at iDempiere first. It is a later fork of the same codebase with a more active community and a modular OSGi architecture. Choose ADempiere if a specific partner or localisation you need only exists there.

Ivalua: What does the single codebase actually buy me?

One supplier and contract record used across every module, so there is no synchronisation layer to reconcile and no data drift between sourcing and invoicing.

ADempiere: Is ADempiere free?

The software is GPL licensed with no licence fee. The cost is implementation, customisation and permanent in-house maintenance, which for a real deployment is substantial.

Ivalua: What does Ivalua cost?

It is not published. Third parties report entry deployments around 150,000 USD a year and full-platform deployments above 400,000, plus implementation.

ADempiere: Is the project still alive?

Development continues on GitHub with commits into 2026, but the official website is down and the last stable release is from January 2023. Treat it as maintained rather than actively advancing.

Ivalua: Does it handle direct materials?

Yes, which distinguishes it from suites built primarily for indirect spend.

ADempiere: What is the application dictionary?

It is the metadata layer inherited from Compiere that stores the definition of every window, field and validation rule as data, so you can change the application without touching source code.

Ivalua: Is Ivalua still independent?

Yes. It is one of the few large source-to-pay vendors not owned by a bigger enterprise software group.

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