Top Free Open Source ERP Software for Your Development

Enterprise Resource Planning, commonly referred as ERP, is a comprehensive software solution to manage all business processes and activities used in today’s modern business ecosystem.  In other word, ERP developers integrate the activities related to all business processes used in an organization into one software tool, which is transparently accessible by all employees.

According to the Allied Market Research and Statista information, the global market revenue of ERP software stands at about $33.8 billion in 2017, and it is expected to reach $41.69 billion by 2020. This revenue is increasing at about 7.2% CAGR.

The huge chunk of this gigantic revenue is linked to the paid ERP software tools, especially those offered by big guns like SAP, Microsoft and Oracle. ERP share was less than 2% in 2014, but its share is growing very fast in the marketplace owing to its fast adoption by ERP developers, ERP consultants and the SMBs. As businesses seek free open-source ERP software for their development needs, the expertise of a Salesforce development company can be invaluable in overcoming the shortage of programmers and leveraging the full potential of these ERP solutions.

Exploring ERP Python frameworks is essential for developers looking to leverage top free open source ERP software, offering powerful tools to enhance business operations and efficiency.

Open Source ERP Software for ERP Developer

The overall market share of open source software has increased rapidly during the past decade; according to the InfoWorld survey, more than 78% of the companies are using open-source software including ERP software platforms and many are planning to follow the same.

The open-source ERP software market is growing consistently due to the advantages given below.

• Open-source software is free to download, which is very useful startups, small businesses and ERP programmers.
• The operations and maintenance cost of an open-source ERP software is very low because the open ERP developer salary in an open market is very affordable
• It is can be customized and modified without any legal constraints
• Every ERP developer can contribute to the source code for improvement
• General technical support available
• Full freedom and no lock-in at all
• Consistent improvement in the code quality contributed by ERP developers
• It is flexible to customize and combine with the proprietary software
• It offers full control and command to the administrator to bring more improvements
• Global outreach and less chance of failures due to global contributions
• Consistently increasing market of open source ERP software and ERP software developers
• Increased data security due to full control over the source code
• Fully compliant with the local and international regulations
• No upfront or recurring charges

One of the fundamental parts of consistent improvement in the code quality is driven by recognition and appreciation bestowed upon the Open ERP developers and contributors in the global community.

Main Functions of Open Source ERP Software

The open-source ERP software is able to deal with the business processes in all sectors of the industries. Unified ERP software is normally made up of multiple modules dealing with different business processes and activities. The main functions of top ERP systems include:

• Customer relationship management (CRM)
• Supply chain management (SCM)
• Human resource management (HRM)
• Financial management (FM)
• Inventory management (IM)
• Sales & marketing management
• Production & manufacturing management
• Purchasing & procurement management
• Asset management
• Business intelligence

Any Open ERP developer can customize the open-source software to fit into their industry-specific requirements. So, the ERP software application developer is able to add new features based on their specifications without incurring any additional cost, for example, healthcare scientific research, social sector management, and others.

Uses of ERP Software

The main use of any ERP software – open source or proprietary – is to manage business processes and their day to day activities. To have a deeper perspective on the ERP uses, let’s expand upon some of the major modules.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM): This module is designed to manage effective and smooth relationships with the company customers by improving communication, support, motivation and satisfaction. This module helps improve the efficiency of employees, good relationships with customers and profitability of the company. Social media monitoring and getting useful information regarding the targeted customer is also a part of this process.

Supply Chain Management (SCM): In this module, ERP software developer manages the entire flow of products, finance and information among the users, contractors, manufacturers, wholesalers and any other third party involved in the flow. A module is designed for an efficient use of the minimum inventory by improving the workflow related to supply chain. Three main flows – finance, product and information – are commonly managed in SCM.

Human Resource Management (HRM): HRM software is used to manage the different activities related to company employees. The main examples of human resource management activities include:

• Managing employee data, such as ERP software developer resume, qualification documents, and personal information, etc.
• Managing payrolls, such as bonus, overtime, ERP software developer salary and others
• Managing training and skill development courses
• Managing recreational and motivational activities

Financial Management (FM): Financial management software deals with different activities associated with the utilization and management of funds within the organization. The main functions include managing income, monitoring assets and expenses of the company, financial record keeping, invoicing, managing balance sheets, and others.

Top Open Sources ERP Software

Small businesses and startup companies prefer to use open source ERP software in today’s marketplace due to flexibility, freedom and cost. It is very difficult to choose the right open source ERP form a long list of open ERP software platforms. Let’s expand on a few top open source ERP software platforms.

Odoo ERP Software

Odoo ERP software is a fully-featured suite of applications that integrate together to offer a professional grade ERP software platform to manage all kinds of business processes across all domains of industries.

It is an open-source web-based platform, which can be accessed from anywhere in the world. The main features of an ERP Odoo suite all Odoo developers should know are given below.

• It is a set of multiple independent modules (Apps) that can be integrated together to achieve ERP Odoo features
• These apps can be used independently as well as in the integrated environment
• Odoo development is powered by thousands of developers across the globe owing to its open-source nature
• More 312 new apps per month are appearing in the market due to consistent Odoo development
• Supports wide range of modules such as project management, HRM, CRM, eCommerce, eSignature, accounting, finance and many others
• It offers full flexibility and freedom to customize and scale up your resources
• It is based on Python of which developers and consultants are easily available
• Reduced cost and free general support

ERPNext ERP Software

ERPNext is another powerful open source ERP software platform that can be deployed in both the clouds and on-premise implementations. It supports numerous business process modules of management, such as ERPNext CRM, HRM, Finance, accounting, project management, and inventory. The main features include:

• Highly reliable platform powered by hundreds of ERPNext developers across the globe
• Very user-friendly interface, which is very easy to use
• ERPNext CRM, finance, PM and accounting, and HRM are very powerful modules for all size businesses
• ERNext developers are easily available at very affordable price
• High level of flexibility and compatibility to integrate with other tools and platforms
• Easy to deploy and maintain the system
• Support the website creation tool with customized designs

MixERP Software

MixERP is a highly rich-featured ERP software solution powered by multiple modules and functionalities. It is open-source software, which is available for free to download and use without any problems. MixERP uses PostgreSQL, which is not only free but also platform-independent to give you full freedom and flexibility.

The main features of MixERP include:

• It is very simple to use
• Very easy to migrate your existing ERP data to MixERP without any big problems
• MixERP for developers, it is really awesome!
• It is based on C# and ASP.net platform; so its community is growing very fast
• Developers are easily available in the market at a reasonable price
• MixERP can be used as a backend platform for any of your applications to integrate
• Very suitable for small businesses and startups

Xtuple ERP Software

xTuple ERP software is the re-branded name of OpenMFG software. It is an open-source ERP software platform based on “common public attribution license (CPAL) model”. It is powered by multiple modules and applications. It maintains a powerful xTuple developer zone for community support that helps creating custom developments, maintenance, custom features and other services to the users. Localization, translation, web improvement and documentation are other major components of xTuple developer zone community.

Major features of xTuple ERP software include:

• PostBooks ERP is completely free ERP version
• Supports multiple interfaces such as, web client, web API and local GUI
• Uses free and flexible PostgreSQL for database management
• Supports the feature of ROI prediction based on the contract cost
• Online customer support for cloud-based xTuple ERP

Vienna Advantages ERP Software

Vienna Advantage commonly known as Vienna ERP is an open source ERP software solution designed for medium sized enterprises and government organizations. It integrates multiple business process modules to offer a unified Vienna ERP solution. Vienna ERP open source solution possesses the following features:

• Support HTML5 interface to run smoothly on all devices
• It is a web-based solution powered by document management system DMS  and CRM modules
• Can be deployed as open API, cloud-hosted, and on-premises
• The vendor controls Vienna ERP open-source, so offers good reliability and customer support
• Supports the deep customization capabilities

Dolibarr ERP Software

Dolibarr software is unified ERP solution containing all modules that are required for modern business operations in all fields of industries. Dolibarr ERP is open-source software designed for both SMBs and large organizations. It is developed in PHP language, so the Dolibarr developers can easily be found in the marketplace. The main features of this ERP software are given below.

• Very easy to deploy and use
• Suitable for all sized organizations
• Dolibarr developers easily available at affordable price
• Powered by a strong community comprising thousands of testers and developers
• Auto installer package available for auto installation
• Can be used in standalone as well as distributed cloud-based service
• Also available as a cloud-based SaaS application

IDempiere ERP Software

‘IDempiere business suite’ is an open-source ERP software powered by ERP, SCM and CRM modules. IDempiere ERP is free to download, modify and customize its code. IDempiere ERP is fully dependent on a huge community of developers for technical support. It is developed in Java language and runs on PostgreSQL. It is very suitable for medium and large-sized organizations that have support for Java developers.

Main features of IDempiere include:

• Supports numerous functions from document management to product management, finance and CRM functions
• Easy to integrate with multiple modules, apps and Add-ons
• IDempiere developers are easily available
• The price of IDempiere developer falls within the moderate range
• Suitable for startups, small and medium-sized enterprises
• Most reliable and robust open source ERP solution

ERP Developers

ERP developers manage all technical aspects required for the development, ERP integration, ERP migration, and smooth operations of the software platform. Let’s further expand on the skills required for becoming good ERP software developers.

ERP Developer Skills

The main skills required for ERP software developer resume should include:

• Strong programming knowledge of the backend platform on which the ERP software is developed, such as Python, Oracle, ABAP or any other
• Additional programming skills like Java, SQL, C++ or others
• Software design knowledge and related tools
• Knowledge of ERP development and general business processes
• Creative thinking with strong analytical skills with focus on the problem-solving approach
• Should have strong interpersonal communication skills
• Should be committed and customer-oriented

ERP Developer Tasks

The general tasks of an ERP developer include:

• Installation, testing and commissioning of the platform
• Development of functions, forms and workflows
• ERP migration from one platform to another, if required
• ERP integration with any other tools or platforms for combined operations
• Maintenance and operations of the ERP platforms
• Troubleshooting of the problems

ERP Developer Salary

The ERP software developer salary is one of the most fundamental components in deciding for the best ERP platform for your business. Many startups and SMBs prefer to use open-source software platforms Odoo, ErpNext and Dolibarr CRM, etc.

One of the main reasons to choose Odoo open-source platform is the ERP software developer salary for the Odoo developers, which is lower than the proprietary ERP developers like SAP or Oracle. According to PayScale information, the average salary of an ERP software application developer is $70,361 per annum.

Average Salary of Odoo programmer in different European Countries

How Open ERP Developers Can Help Your Business

Using open-source software is free to download, customize and run, but there are some downsides too. In the majority of the cases, the technical support is fully dependent on the developer community, which may not be sufficient in certain cases. If you are unable to find appropriate support at the right time, then you can lose substantial business revenue. If you fail in the initial stages, then your ERP project may face a huge risk of failure. To maximize the benefits of implementing top free open source ERP software in your development project, hire ERP consultant can be a strategic move, offering expert guidance on customization, integration, and optimization to ensure the software aligns perfectly with your business processes and objectives.
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In such conditions, hiring an ERP developer or find real estate developers is the best option to choose for. He/she can help you deploy, customize, run and maintain your ERP project successfully at a very affordable cost. You can outstaff your ERP project to professional level third-party contractors like Mobilunity ERP developer provider company at a very reasonable price.

Let us help you find an ideal Open ERP developer for your project!

Written by:

Anastasia Stefanuk

Market Researcher

Disclaimer: All salaries and prices mentioned within the article are approximate NET numbers based on the research done by our in-house Recruitment Team. Please use these numbers as a guide for comparison purposes only and feel free to use the contact form to inquire on the specific cost of the talent according to your vacancy requirements and chosen model of engagement.