Is ERPNext really free?

Yes. ERPNext is open source: the code is public and installing it costs nothing. At most you pay for hosting if you put it on a server, often a few euros a month. Sage, on the other hand, costs €38 a month.

Do I need to code to install ERPNext?

No. The level is advanced and the install takes about 60 minutes with the prompt from the page: Claude does the work, you answer its questions.

How is it different from Sage?

ERPNext does most of what Sage does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point by point comparison is on the page.

Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

Free alternative

Free alternative to Sage

Sage costs €38 a month. ERPNext does the same job for free, in open source: you install it on your machine or a small server, and you stop paying.

Public entry price, taken from Sage’s website (sage.com). Over a year, that is €456 that stays in your pocket.

What replaces Sage

The main alternative

ERPNext

🔴 Advanced⏱️ ~60 min to installSave €38/mo

ERPNext is no small invoicing tool: it is a complete ERP, open source for more than fifteen years, with close to 40,000 stars on GitHub, close to a thousand contributors and updates every week. In a single tool you run accounting, invoicing, quotes, purchasing, stock, manufacturing with bills of materials and work orders, projects and a CRM. Its publisher, Frappe, says it plainly: no hidden paid features, all the code is under the GPL-3.0 licence. It lives off hosting, not licences. For France, the interface is translated and the 2025 French chart of accounts is included. An extension, ERPNext France, maintained by a French cooperative Frappe handed it to, adds what the law requires: the accounting entries file (FEC) to hand over during a tax audit, VAT number checks, deposit invoices, a ban on deleting invoices, and journal exports to Sage and Ciel for your accountant. Two ways to use it: on your own server with Docker, free and with no user limit, or at Frappe Cloud from about €4 a month, billed on usage rather than per person. What to know before leaving Sage: an ERP needs setting up, count several days to get it running. And since 1 September 2026, e-invoicing between French businesses goes through an approved platform: ERPNext is not one, it has to be connected to one.

Loucash’s verdict on ERPNext

7/10

ERPNext is serious business: a real ERP, used by thousands of companies, from a publisher that lives off hosting rather than crippling the software. For a small company paying for Sage 100 and an integrator every year, or hitting Sage 50's three user limit, the saving can be huge. What I like: everything is connected. The quote, the stock, the invoice and the accounting entry live in the same place, and the French extension covers what your accountant will ask for, the FEC first. What may bite, and I would rather tell you: this is not software you install on a Friday night. It needs configuring, training, moving data over. Mandatory e-invoicing means plugging it into an approved platform. And if you work alone and only do bookkeeping, it is too big for you: keep a simple tool.

Who it is for: You run a small or mid sized company with stock, manufacturing or several people on the admin side, you pay for Sage 100 or have outgrown Sage 50, and you have someone, in house or a partner, to set it up. If you are self employed and only care about bookkeeping, stay with a lighter tool.

See the full page →See the tool ↗

ERPNext versus Sage: the match

Price
ERPNext
€0 on your server, or about €4/month at Frappe Cloud
Sage
€38 excl. VAT/month for Sage 50, Sage 100 on quote
Users
ERPNext
Unlimited, hosting is not paid per head
Sage
Three at most on Sage 50
What is covered
ERPNext
Accounting, sales, purchasing, stock, manufacturing, projects, CRM
Sage
Accounting and sales management, the rest as options

Sage ↗

VS	ERPNext	Sage ↗
Price	€0 on your server, or about €4/month at Frappe Cloud	€38 excl. VAT/month for Sage 50, Sage 100 on quote
Users	Unlimited, hosting is not paid per head	Three at most on Sage 50
What is covered	Accounting, sales, purchasing, stock, manufacturing, projects, CRM	Accounting and sales management, the rest as options
French legal requirements	2025 chart of accounts; FEC and VAT with the ERPNext France extension	Built in
E-invoicing	To be connected to an approved platform	Compatible, according to Sage
For your accountant	Journal exports to Sage and Ciel with the extension	Native
Setup	Several days of configuration	Quick for Sage 50, an integrator for Sage 100

The prompt that installs ERPNext

Paste this prompt into Claude: it checks the repository, asks you its questions and installs the tool step by step.

Je veux remplacer Sage par ERPNext, l'ERP open source (dépôt GitHub frappe/erpnext, site frappe.io/erpnext). Pose-moi d'abord les questions qui décident de tout : ma forme juridique, mon nombre de salariés, si je vends des produits en stock ou des services, et si mon expert-comptable travaille sous Sage. Aide-moi ensuite à choisir entre l'hébergement Frappe Cloud (à partir de 5 dollars par mois, facturé à l'usage) et mon propre serveur. Sur mon serveur, installe ERPNext avec le dépôt officiel frappe/frappe_docker, dis-moi ce qu'il faut comme machine et comment sauvegarder la base. Ajoute l'extension française scopen-coop/erpnext_france pour le fichier des écritures comptables (FEC), le contrôle des numéros de TVA et l'export des journaux vers Sage. Paramètre ma société avec le plan comptable général 2025, la TVA française et la numérotation de mes factures. Explique-moi comment relier ERPNext à une plateforme agréée pour la facture électronique, obligatoire entre entreprises depuis le 1er septembre 2026. Enfin, prépare avec moi la reprise de mes clients, fournisseurs, articles et soldes d'ouverture depuis Sage par import CSV.

Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.

Frequently asked questions

Is ERPNext really free?: Yes. ERPNext is open source: the code is public and installing it costs nothing. At most you pay for hosting if you put it on a server, often a few euros a month. Sage, on the other hand, costs €38 a month.
Do I need to code to install ERPNext?: No. The level is advanced and the install takes about 60 minutes with the prompt from the page: Claude does the work, you answer its questions.
How is it different from Sage?: ERPNext does most of what Sage does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point by point comparison is on the page.
Do I own my data?: Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

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