Softwr

Healthcare · head to head

Bahmni vs PathAI

Bahmni logo

Bahmni

Healthcare

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
PathAI logo

PathAI

Healthcare

Digital pathology image management with an FDA cleared platform for primary diagnosis

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.; PathAI aISight is labelled research use only and cannot be used for primary diagnosis; only AISight Dx carries the FDA clearance and CE-IVD mark, and laboratories regularly buy the wrong configuration and discover they cannot sign out on it.
  • They diverge on capability: Bahmni covers OpenMRS clinical record, PathAI covers AISight image management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bahmni and PathAI actually diverge.

Attributes where Bahmni and PathAI differ
AttributeBahmniPathAI
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 PathAI

  • AISight image management
  • AISight Dx
  • Scanner interoperability
  • Case and worklist management
  • AI algorithm deployment
  • Biopharmaceutical research tooling
  • LIS integration

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

PathAI

  • An academic medical centre going digital for primary diagnosis that needs the FDA cleared AISight Dx configuration rather than the research labelled versionnot Bahmni
  • A reference laboratory consolidating subspecialty sign out across sites so a specialist pathologist can read cases from any locationnot Bahmni
  • A pharmaceutical company needing consistent quantitative scoring of trial biopsies across many sites and readersnot Bahmni
  • A laboratory with a mixed scanner estate that needs one image management layer rather than each scanner vendor viewernot 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.

PathAI

  • AISight is labelled research use only and cannot be used for primary diagnosis; only AISight Dx carries the FDA clearance and CE-IVD mark, and laboratories regularly buy the wrong configuration and discover they cannot sign out on it.
  • The software licence is usually the smallest line in a digital pathology project, behind scanners, storage and network capacity, so a business case built around the software cost understates the real investment by a wide margin.
  • Whole slide images are very large, so a laboratory that does not model storage growth and retention policy from the start faces storage costs that grow faster than case volume and dominate the renewal.
  • Clinical validation is required per subspecialty rather than once for the platform, which means dermatopathology, gastrointestinal and breast each need their own concordance study and pathologist time before go live.
  • PathAI competes against pathology incumbents that also sell the scanners, and a laboratory buying an independent image management layer takes on the integration risk between scanner vendor and software vendor itself.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bahmni

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

PathAI

On request
  • AISight$undefined/year
    • Priced by annual slide or case volume and by pathologist seats
    • AISight Dx, the clinically cleared configuration, quoted separately from research use AISight
    • Image storage priced by capacity and retention policy

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 PathAI if

  • You need aisight image management.
  • You also want aisight dx.
PathAI review

Questions people ask

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

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.

PathAI: What is the difference between AISight and AISight Dx?

AISight is for research use only and not for clinical diagnostic use. AISight Dx received FDA 510(k) clearance in June 2025 for primary diagnosis and is CE-IVD marked in the EEA, UK and Switzerland. Only the Dx configuration can be used to sign out cases.

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.

PathAI: Can we use our existing scanners?

Yes. AISight is designed to ingest images from multiple whole slide scanner vendors, which is one of the main reasons laboratories choose an independent image management layer.

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.

PathAI: Do the AI algorithms carry the same clearance as the platform?

No. The platform clearance covers image management for primary diagnosis. Individual algorithms have their own labelling, and many are research use only. Check each one separately.

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.

PathAI: Is pricing published?

No. It is quoted by slide or case volume, pathologist seats and storage, with the clinically cleared configuration priced separately.

Bahmni: Where is it used?

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

Share

Related pages

More on Bahmni

More on PathAI

Keep looking

Other head to heads