Metasfresh review: an open-source ERP forked from ADempiere in 2015. See its features, cloud vs self-hosted pricing, pros, cons, and top alternatives for 2026.
Metasfresh is an open-source ERP platform aimed at manufacturing, trading, and distribution companies that want enterprise-grade functionality without the licensing costs of proprietary systems like SAP or NetSuite. It was forked from the ADempiere ERP project in 2015 by a team of developers who had spent nearly a decade building ADempiere-based solutions for mid-market clients.
The software is maintained by metas GmbH, a German company, and released under the GPLv2 open-source license. Businesses can self-host the Community Edition for free, pay metas GmbH for managed cloud hosting and support, or engage implementation partners for custom rollouts.
Metasfresh covers the core functional areas of a traditional ERP: procurement, inventory and warehouse management, manufacturing and production planning, sales and distribution, financial accounting, and basic CRM. Its manufacturing module supports bills of materials, production orders, and resource planning suited to process and discrete manufacturers.
The platform is built on a Java backend with a modern web UI and a PostgreSQL database, and it exposes APIs for integration with e-commerce platforms, EDI systems, and third-party tools. Because the codebase is open, businesses can customize workflows, reports, and data models directly rather than waiting on vendor roadmaps.
The Community Edition is free to self-host under GPLv2, with no per-user licensing fee. Organizations pay only for their own infrastructure and, optionally, for commercial support contracts from metas GmbH or certified partners.
For teams that do not want to manage infrastructure, metas GmbH offers a managed cloud edition with pricing reported at roughly EUR 49 per user per month, along with Basic, Advanced, and Premium tiers that scale functionality to company size. Implementation services for either deployment model are quoted separately and typically range from about EUR 20,000 to EUR 100,000 depending on scope.
The Community Edition is free and open source under GPLv2 if you self-host it. metas GmbH also sells a managed cloud edition and support contracts for teams that do not want to run their own infrastructure.
Metasfresh is developed primarily by metas GmbH, a German software company founded by former ADempiere Foundation contributors, alongside an open-source community of contributors.
It targets small and mid-size manufacturing, trading, and distribution companies that want enterprise ERP functionality without proprietary licensing costs.
Both are open-source ERPs, but Metasfresh descends from the ADempiere/Compiere lineage with strong accounting and distribution logic, while Odoo has a broader app marketplace and a more modern out-of-the-box UI.
Yes. metas GmbH offers a managed cloud edition with per-user monthly pricing in addition to the free self-hosted option.
Independent estimates put typical implementation projects at two to six months, with costs ranging roughly from EUR 20,000 to EUR 100,000 depending on scope and customization.