Dear All,
I am looking for a new ERP for my company, and after evaluating about 20 Open sources ERPs, I found that the best 2 that can cover my needs are ERPNEXT and Opentaps.
But I need a more detailed comparison between them, so please share with your knowledge
Thanks
Hello,
Thank you so much for voting ERPNext in first 2 out of 20 open source ERP 
I’m sure you would be agree with me that fitment of any application is depends upon “nature of business” and "process/operation style within company.
Best way to “Taste” ERPNext is to give a try. You may setup it within 2 minute https://frappecloud.com/
We are always there if you need any assistance in real time uses.
Personally, I don’t believe in comparison. I have a grt respect for opentaps and community behind it.
Sunil
Nescode (http://nescode.com)
Partner for ERPNext
@hhashiesh If you can write a blog on your evaluation, it will be very helpful to anyone searching for Open Source ERPs. We will be happy to guest post it on https://frappe.io/blog
Thanks @hhashiesh for voting ERPNext in first 2 out of 20 open source ERP as @sunilsrikumar said. We have a Java team, so we also explored OPENTAPS. We tried to develop a small App using OPENTAPS but faced given below issues (might be due to non-expertise in OPENTAPS);
We have created a document which shows list of modules/submodules available in OPENTAPS. Though we have not used it.
Modules/Sub-modules available in OPENTAPS
CRM/SFA
WareHouse
Purchase
Financial Module
Payment
@sunilsrikumar Thanks for your reply, for sure I am testing both, but as you know for ERP solutions short time test is not enough; as you may face some problems ONLY after inserting too mush data and use the software for a long time.
@nhaiya Thanks, for your reply
Regarding the Modules/Sub-modules available in OPENTAPS; what we miss in ERPNEXT?
as I read in a website that this is the main feature of Opentaps over ERPNEXT
Hello Everyone,
This is an interesting topic. We have gone through the transitioning from Opentaps to the ERPNext. We have worked on the Opentaps framework for a considerable time and have a deployment experience with one of our customers. Whatever mentioned in this post is my personal opinion. I have tremendous respect for any open source projects out there on the web - big or small. In no way, I want to criticise anything / anyone. I really appreciate someone who is putting resources without expecting a payback.
Opentaps repo was forked out of Ofbiz. Ofbiz is an Apache Foundation sourced ERP Project and an application development framework.
I must confess, I am a big fan of the application + team. Both are fab.
To begin with, I have migrated my resources and focus to ERPNext from Opentaps based on the following comparison points where we as a group of developers struggled. I am not a programmer myself but a technical person with decent experience.
Deployment
Opentaps (OT): The deployment in Opentaps is not straight forward and requires a technical person and time. Setting up of an environment, variables and memory settings is crucial. I rarely see a newbie (non-technical) trying the application. The advantage? - It works on any platform. The application setup becomes tricky at the DB configuration if you are using external databases. You need to get into the habit of checking the access and error logs to see through the issues. You feel proud of yourself for being technical while your not-so-experienced team member looks at you in awe. The application setup is easy (as compared to Ofbiz) but the learning curve is steep especially with the concepts such as Seed data, sample data, config files, etc. There are about 13000 odd files in the installation
ERPNext (EN): The deployment is straight. You can set it up in minutes for trial and will take little longer for the production deployment. The database is not widely known among non-techies, but its being used by Big Daddies like Google, Wikipedia. The downside - it is available on Linux only. But the virtualisation technology makes the thing straight for anyone - just deploy a VirtualBox with any linux (I tried Ubuntu) and the ERPNext is up and running in an hour or so. The application setup is installer based - you have about 5-6 install screens and you are done with the setup - so non-technical, you see an accountant installing the app like a pro!
Data Import
OT - OT gives data import tool (excel sheet) for importing data such as Customers, Suppliers, Products, Inventory, Ledger Transactions, etc. The sample excel sheet is good enough to begin with, but personally, I have come across some foolish error messages without any description. The worst part is - it does partial imports. So by mistake if you correct the same import file without deleting the earlier imported records, the program will re-import them for you. The system messages are minimal to keep you updated of the happening.
EN - You can virtually import any record in the system. The import and export tool is creative. You export the existing tables to a csv and fill in all the required data and the same file is ready for the import again. The import process stops and gives a descriptive pointer at the failure record and aborts the partial import. What is more? you can export the tables with the associated data and associated tables data, edit the record that needs to be amended and import the file again with the corrected data - the system makes the correction in the import process.
User Interface
OT - Opentaps is based on the Ofbiz framework. It adds a UI layer and certain feature improvements with the help of Google GWT widgets. The widgets are powerful and come handy but are painful to add new ones and modify existing ones. The improved layer is available for 1. Sales, 2. Purchasing, 3. Warehouse, 4. Financialsbut the application uses the Ofbiz default theme for rest of the modules such as Users (Party Manager), Products, Some HR functions, some Accounting settings, Assets, etc. So from user experience point of view, you play around with two different worlds. Also, the flow of steps to complete a transaction is not user friendly either. I have seen users looking clueless during the Sales / Purchase / Accounting transactions yelling at support for the help. The application help is useless. We know, being an open source project, it is the community which does all these things, but for a beginner, you need to have a basic, to-the-point user manual which explains the flow of events in an application. The learning curve is steep for anyone who begins to learn the application and gets tedious when you have to work with the Opentaps and Ofbiz UIs.
EN - EN gives a unified experience. The UI is awesome with new controls, it adapts automatically to the device and the screen size - you use the application on a desktop, MAC, iPAD, cell phone, etc. with equal ease of use. All the application transactions are intuitive and logical in workflow. You know, the taste of pudding is in testing! go, test yourself.
Modules
OT - Majorly OT covers Sales/CRM, Purchases, Warehouse/Manufacturing & Financials. Major drawback from user point of view for all the modules is lack of clarity on the functional aspect. One needs to spend a considerable time to understand the functions. Few things worth mentioning -
EN - This is a complete product. Even the help manual is wonderfully explained. Following are the few shortcomings of the application
Accounting - Templates based account - (which is available in OT - set the right ledger association for every invoice line item type and forget the accounting knowledge) lacks. This feature may be helpful for non-accounting users. However, the EN team has this on agenda.
Warehouse - You can’t re-adjust inventory value for a serialised inventory item. Someone is working on this feature and will be available soon.
Payroll - The concept of one accounting entry for the payroll (read the concept on the website). I’ve seen CAs not happy with the function. They want the accounting to show individual payroll salaries. It may be a difference of opinion. Not a big deal to customise though.
Customisation / Framework
OT - The latest Opentaps stable is based on Ofbiz 11 version (whereas Ofbiz is at 13 - stable). Opentaps gives Financials, Warehouse, Sales and Purchase modules in a new, GWT skin and rest of the modules such as User, HR, Accounting (config part), Products, etc. are offered in the Ofbiz default skin. As an open source application, Ofbiz offers a better product as compared to OT. There is an active community which keeps on developing the functions.
Customisation in OT is not a straight forward task. You deal with GWT, FTL, XML, FO.FTL, Groovy, JAVA, etc. for any customisation. Module / application development takes high level of expertise with the application, Java knowledge. Mixing of Ofbiz and OT layers, makes certain customisation tasks confusing even to an experienced developer.
EN - Again, EN is a complete package. Application development with Frappe is breeze.
Taking variables from one form to another is straight forward and well documented. Customising reports is easy to understand and report templating is a novelty. Integration of new modules with existing ones is easy. We have found that most of the customer requirements are mapped with customisations which can be done from the front end only, without any technical knowledge.
Application Support
OT - The support forum is non-responsive. You are not certain whether the moderator will publish your queries or not. Again, if you compare this with Ofbiz, you have a better community response - both developer and user.
EN - As mentioned earlier, the support team is fab. You expect response to your queries in few minutes, and I am talking about the free support. The only thing I’ve seen not supported by the support team is - they don’t write customisation code themselves for you. They will do everything else to make you achieve your task. The pull requests, incase you develop small functions are accepted with wide smile. The team is helpful and serves with smile.
Summary
OT is based on the strong application development theory (which is inherited from Ofbiz). It is highly skilful work , you need best of the breed developers to handle the development. It doesn’t come across as a complete, developed package. Even for the error handling - errors are thrown as exceptions on the screen, in most of the cases. Though, from technology stack, you are assured of the scalability and robustness of the product, it lacks highly on the user experience and simplicity.
EN is based on Python and MariaDB with loads of JS, the interface is easy and intuitive. Your energies are not spent in making small customisations to improve the user experience. Focusing on the business logic is easy and thats what we feel is the strong point of EN. Spend your resources in strong logic and get it done easily in the code.
Overall, ERPNext feels far better than any other ERPs available in the market. More than anything else, it is their support which makes all the difference.
regards,
Sarang
Thank you! Sarangdj for confirm our good feelings about ERPNext.We havn’t done such a detail research but we are now implementing it and promoting the program to all our close partners. And your words help us a lot!
Thanks @sarangdj for this wonderful comparison. Is it ok if we Guest blog this post on https://frappe.io/blog ?
Great. I perfectly agree with everything. The only thing I’m waiting for now is a very detailed documentation covering the Frappe framework itself. What is currently available is good, but requires copious amounts of time on a developer’s part to figure out the apis. A thoroughly documented api is all I’m waiting for
Sure, thanks Rushabh. I can write an in-depth review with at least the following:
OFBIZ, Opentaps, Odoo
Sarang
Thanks @sarangdj. A comparison with Odoo will be great thats most frequent we get.
Also do write about updates / migrations. I have heard that migrations in Odoo are closed (?)
Also it is a common perception that ERPNext is a “simpler” alternative, but I have heard from an Odoo partner that ERPNext has many more features out of the box… So will be great for the community, esp those who are coming from these other projects.
I agree with @sinaisix about the need of detailed and updated documentation. And I hope I will be able to go deep inside Frappe framework…
For the first time I know about Sphinx…Thank you!
Thank you all very much
Your quickly and detailed response was the main reason for choosing ERPNEXT
The main topic in Opentaps forum has about 65 views with 0 replies
Thanks All, and I will do my best to summary the process of choosing ERPNEXT from about 20 Open Source ERPs.