Apache OFBiz

Java ERP and e-commerce framework from the Apache Foundation, sold as a toolkit not a product

As of 31 August 2026, Apache OFBiz is free to use. A twenty year old Apache-licensed suite covering accounting, order management, warehousing and manufacturing. Softwr lists it under ERP. Apache OFBiz is made by Apache Software Foundation, available on Web, Linux, Windows, macOS.

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Overview

What Apache OFBiz does

Apache OFBiz is a Java-based suite of business applications with an entity engine for data, a service engine for business logic and a widget framework for screens. Out of the box it provides accounting with general ledger, receivables, payables and fixed assets, CRM and order management with an e-commerce storefront, warehouse and inventory management, and manufacturing with MRP. It has been an Apache top level project since 2006 and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 licence. The distinction that matters commercially is that OFBiz is a framework first and an application second. The entity and service engines are designed to be extended, and most serious deployments are custom applications built on OFBiz rather than configured installs of it. That makes it attractive to systems integrators building vertical products, and unsuitable for a company expecting to switch it on and run a business next month. The security record is the fact that should change a shortlist. OFBiz has disclosed a run of critical vulnerabilities including pre-authentication remote code execution and authentication bypass chains, with fixes shipping through the 24.09.x line and CVEs continuing into 2026. Several have been actively exploited in the wild. Any deployment reachable from the public internet needs a patching discipline that most small teams adopting free ERP do not have.

What people use it for

A systems integrator building a vertical industry product on a permissively licensed ERP core it can redistribute commercially
An organisation with strong Java capability that needs an order and inventory data model it can extend rather than configure
A business that requires a permissive Apache 2.0 licence because GPL copyleft is unacceptable to its legal team
A team replacing a bespoke in-house order management system that wants an entity model rather than a finished application

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about Apache OFBiz.

OFBiz has disclosed repeated critical vulnerabilities including pre-authentication remote code execution and authentication bypass chains, several exploited in the wild, so an internet-facing instance that is not patched promptly is a genuine breach risk rather than a theoretical one.
There is no vendor, no support contract and no hosted edition, so every deployment depends on either in-house Java skill or an integrator you find and vet yourself.
The screens and default workflows look and behave like enterprise software from the 2000s, and user acceptance in a finance or warehouse team is frequently the reason projects stall.
It is a framework rather than a configurable product, so meaningful deployments require Java, XML widget and entity engine development, which puts the real cost in developer months rather than licence fees.
Localisation for tax, statutory reporting and payroll is largely absent, so any country-specific compliance requirement has to be built, and that build has to be maintained against upstream releases.

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of Apache OFBiz

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

Apache OFBizvs
ERPNext
ERPNext: A finished open source ERP you can actually configure and run, with a commercial hosted option behind it
Apache OFBizvs
Odoo
Odoo: Far better usability and a large partner network if you want an ERP rather than a framework
Apache OFBizvs
OpenBravo
OpenBravo: Open source with a commercial vendor and retail focus if you need an accountable supplier

Pricing

What Apache OFBiz costs

Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.

Self-hosted

Free

Apache License 2.0, permissive and commercially redistributable
Accounting, order management, warehousing and manufacturing included
E-commerce storefront included
No vendor, no support contract and no hosted edition
Security patches shipped through the 24.09.x release line
Requires Java hosting and an ongoing patching process

Capabilities

Features

Entity engine
Database abstraction layer that lets the data model be extended without SQL rewrites
Service engine
Business logic exposed as callable services with transaction handling
Accounting
General ledger, accounts receivable and payable, fixed assets
Order management
Order capture, fulfilment, returns and pricing rules
E-commerce storefront
A built-in web store tied to the same catalogue and order data
Warehouse management
Multi-facility inventory, picking, packing and shipping
Manufacturing and MRP
Bills of materials, routings, production runs and requirements planning
Party model
A single flexible model representing customers, suppliers and employees
Apache 2.0 licence
Permissive licence allowing commercial redistribution of derived products
Widget UI framework
Screen definitions in XML for rapid application assembly

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

Is Apache OFBiz safe to run on the public internet?

Only with disciplined patching. It has shipped fixes for pre-authentication remote code execution and authentication bypass flaws, with CVEs continuing into 2026, and some have been exploited in the wild.

What does it cost?

Nothing to licence. It is Apache 2.0. The cost is Java development, hosting and ongoing security maintenance.

Can I use it as a finished ERP?

Not realistically. It is a framework with reference applications, and most production deployments are custom builds on top of it.

Why choose it over a GPL ERP?

The Apache 2.0 licence is permissive, so an integrator can build and sell a derived commercial product without copyleft obligations.

Keep looking

Where to go from Apache OFBiz

Best ERP software for

Compare Apache OFBiz with

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Axonaut
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bexio
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Blue Link ERP
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Axelor
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BatchMaster
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From $1,250/mo14 researched notes

Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Apache OFBiz, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

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