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Decision tree

When open source is the wrong choiceA decision tree: buy the proprietary product, use the maker's hosted edition, or self-host

Up to six questions on your rules, your team and what already exists. The answer can be: buy the proprietary product.

The five answers it can give

  • Buy the proprietary product
  • Use the maker's hosted edition
  • Self-host, with a support contract
  • Self-host, with your own people
  • Find out first

Your answer. Self-host, with a support contract. The software stays open and on your server. A supplier answers when it breaks.

Example: the commonest pathSelf-host + support

Self-host, with a support contract.

The software stays open and on your server. A supplier answers when it breaks.

Because
A supplier you pay would run it and answer when it breaks. The software stays open and on your server.
Check before you go on
  • Ask any supplier, us included, for four things in writing: response and resolution times · a restore test on a schedule · who holds the server login · how you leave.
  • Ask who does the upgrades, and whether your custom code is tested first.
What would change this answer
If a supplier's terms are too heavy for your size, hosted plans from the maker may be lighter, if your data rules allow them.
Where we fit
This is work we sell: we host and look after ERPNext, Medusa and WordPress systems. We are one supplier of several. Ask any of them the same four things.How we hostHow we support ERPNext
Find the right setup

Your choices stay in your browser. We count which result the tool gave, not your answers.

Example path

  1. No rule on where it lives Complete

    1 · Data location

    The data may live anywhere, so this does not narrow your choices.

  2. No certificate required Complete

    2 · Certificate

    No certificate is required, so this does not narrow your choices.

  3. No vendor has to answer Complete

    3 · Vendor support

    No vendor has to answer for support, so this does not narrow your choices.

  4. One exists, but it does not fit Complete

    4 · A finished product

    A product exists but does not fit, so the open-source route is still open.

  5. A supplier we pay Complete

    5 · Who runs it

    A supplier you pay would run it, and answer when it breaks.

Six questions, and why each one is asked

Each question can end the tree. Pick one: why it is asked, where each answer goes, and the plans we read.

Why it is asked. Asked first: a rule on where data lives can rule out a hosted plan.

The rule to ask is ours. The examples are sourced and dated.

Question 1 · where each answer goesData location
  • No, it may live anywhereIn one country; a cloud inside it is fineOn servers we control, not in anyone else's cloudQuestion 2: Must the software hold a certificate that you have to show someone?
  • I don't know yetFind out first

Examples, read 14 October 2026

  • Frappe Cloud lets you pick the provider and the region. Medusa lists data sovereignty on its Enterprise plan only.

Sources, read 14 October 2026Frappe Cloud pricingMedusa pricing

Why it is asked. A certificate covers a product, a service or a company. Ask which.

The rule to ask is ours. The examples are sourced and dated.

Question 2 · where each answer goesCertificate
  • NoQuestion 3: Does a contract or a regulator make a vendor answerable for supporting it?
  • Yes, and the open-source maker's own service holds itUse the maker's hosted edition
  • Yes, and the open-source maker does not hold itBuy the proprietary product: Buy the proprietary product that holds the certificate.
  • I don't know yetFind out first

Examples, read 14 October 2026

  • A certificate on the maker's service does not cover a copy you install.
  • FedRAMP lists cloud services. A SOC report covers a service organisation.
  • Medusa lists SOC 2 on its Enterprise plan only.

Sources, read 14 October 2026FedRAMP MarketplaceAICPAMedusa pricing

Why it is asked. A contract can name who answers, and in which hours.

The rule to ask is ours. The examples are sourced and dated.

Question 3 · where each answer goesVendor support
  • NoYes, and any supplier that signs for it will doQuestion 4: Is there a mature proprietary product that already does this job?
  • Yes, and it has to be the company that makes the softwareQuestion 3b: Does the open-source maker give that in writing?
  • I don't know yetFind out first

Examples, read 14 October 2026

  • Plans differ in hours and in what they leave out.
  • Frappe's agreement: IST weekday hours, no custom code. Medusa: SLA-backed response times on Enterprise only.
  • Some customers ask for an indemnity. Support firms often don't give one.

Sources, read 14 October 2026Frappe Cloud service level agreementMedusa pricingSimon Phipps, Open source procurement

Why it is asked. If one does, you pay for it instead of running something.

The line is ours. The list is dated.

Question 4 · where each answer goesWhat already exists
  • Yes, and it does everything we needBuy the proprietary product
  • Yes, but something we need is missing, or its terms don't suit usNo, nothing finished does this jobQuestion 5: Who would look after it every day: updates, backups and the call at night?
  • I don't know yetFind out first

Examples, read 14 October 2026

  • Running open source is work, even when the licence is free.
  • A 2014 CIO list of reasons not to use open source includes a proprietary product that has become the standard.
  • Mature, to us, means years at businesses like yours, and you have seen it do the job.

Source, read 14 October 2026Paul Rubens, 7 reasons not to use open source software

Why it is asked. Updates, backups and restores need a named owner.

The question is ours. The comparison is the vendor's own view.

Question 5 · where each answer goesWho runs it
  • People on our own teamQuestion 6: How many people on your side can look after it?Self-host, with a support contract (if a supplier must answer for support)
  • A supplier we pay to run itSelf-host, with a support contract
  • The maker, on its hosted serviceUse the maker's hosted edition
  • Nobody yetUse the maker's hosted editionSelf-host, with a support contract (if the data must stay on your servers)

Examples, read 14 October 2026

  • Frappe's comparison lists upgrades, backups and recovery as manual if you self-host. Frappe sells the alternative.
  • The maker, a supplier or your own people: each is a real answer.
  • "Nobody yet" points away from running it yourself.

Source, read 14 October 2026Frappe Cloud pricing

Why it is asked. One person is a single point of failure.

The line is ours, and untested.

Question 6 · where each answer goesYour team
  • One person, alongside other workUse the maker's hosted editionSelf-host, with a support contract (if the data must stay on your servers)
  • Two or more people who already run serversSelf-host, with your own people: Self-host. You don't need us.

Examples, read 14 October 2026

  • We count people who already run servers, not headcount.
  • Two can cover for each other. One alongside other work cannot cover nights and leave.
  • A rule of thumb, not a measured line.

Five answers, and what we do about each

Your answer from the tree is lifted first. Four of the five do not depend on us.

What each answer means, whether we do it, and whether we earn from it
Compared onBuyMaker's hosted editionYour pickSelf-host + supportSelf-host yourselfFind out first
Do we do it?Only if the product is Tally, SAP Business One, Zoho or Odoo: we implement or support those. Otherwise no; we can give a second opinion before you sign.We don't run it. On Frappe Cloud we can set it up and support what Frappe's warranty leaves out.Yes, as one supplier of several. If only the maker may sign, we can't.No need for us.No.
Do we earn from it?Not for recommending it. A margin on Tally licences we sell; on SAP Business One, Zoho and Odoo, only on work you ask us for.Not for recommending it: nothing from Frappe Cloud (see our essay) or Medusa Cloud. Work you ask us to do around it is paid.Yes. This is work we sell.No.No.
Your pick

Self-host + support

You keep the software and the server. A supplier answers.

Do we do it?
Yes, as one supplier of several. If only the maker may sign, we can't.
Do we earn from it?
Yes. This is work we sell.

Buy

You pay a vendor, who runs it and answers for it.

Do we do it?
Only if the product is Tally, SAP Business One, Zoho or Odoo: we implement or support those. Otherwise no; we can give a second opinion before you sign.
Do we earn from it?
Not for recommending it. A margin on Tally licences we sell; on SAP Business One, Zoho and Odoo, only on work you ask us for.

Maker's hosted edition

The people who make the software run it for a fee.

Do we do it?
We don't run it. On Frappe Cloud we can set it up and support what Frappe's warranty leaves out.
Do we earn from it?
Not for recommending it: nothing from Frappe Cloud (see our essay) or Medusa Cloud. Work you ask us to do around it is paid.

Self-host yourself

Your people run it. Nobody sells you anything.

Do we do it?
No need for us.
Do we earn from it?
No.

Find out first

The tree stops and tells you what to ask, and whom.

Do we do it?
No.
Do we earn from it?
No.

We implement or support ERPNext, Tally, SAP Business One, Zoho and Odoo, and build mainly on Frappe and Medusa. We earn a margin on Tally licences we sell. On ERPNext, SAP Business One, Zoho and Odoo we earn on our work only. Microsoft and Oracle we don't implement; we'll give you a second opinion on them.

What this decision tree answers

Whether open source suits this job, or a proprietary product would serve you better.

It weighs certificates, contracts, data location and who would look after the software every day, the things that decide it more often than the licence price.

What it rests on

  1. Your answersSix questions at most; nothing is sent to us.
  2. The reasons behind each questionShown with the question, and in the whole tree as text.

Where this tree is wrong

Six things it cannot see or does not do. Read them before you act on an answer.

  1. It can't read your contractIf a clause says "vendor", ask what the word means. The tree asks; it can't see.
  2. It doesn't price anythingIt says which routes your rules allow, not which is cheaper. A cost comparison is its own question.
  3. It doesn't name products or read licencesIt never says which product to buy or run. Whether a licence suits your use is another check.
  4. It draws hard linesA maker that will run its service in your own cloud sits between two answers. Ask the maker.
  5. It gives one first answerYou can run two routes at once: the maker's service now, your own server later.
  6. Its examples agePlans and terms change. Each example says when we read it (14 October 2026). Read the current one.

Who made this

4 of 5answers do not depend on us

We implement or support ERPNext, Tally, SAP Business One, Zoho and Odoo, and build mainly on Frappe and Medusa. We also sell hosting and support. Four of the five answers do not depend on us: buying, the maker's hosted edition, self-hosting yourself, and finding out first (which sells nothing). You may still hire us for work around some of them, and we earn a margin on Tally licences we sell; the table above says where. Only one is work we sell as the answer: self-hosting with a support contract, and then only if you pick us.

When the answer is a project

When the answer is open source, it needs someone to run it. These are the next steps.

  • Talk through your answer

    Bring the path you took; we say plainly if we would buy instead.

  • Support and AMC

    Someone answerable for the open-source software you run.

    See the service

  • Managed hosting

    Run, patched and backed up on servers you own.

    See hosting

Questions about this tree

The one most people ask is answered first. Type to find the rest.

When should you not use open source software?

When a rule or contract needs something the open-source maker won't give: a certificate, a signature on support, or data kept where its hosted edition can't. When a finished product already does the job. And when nobody can look after it. This tool asks those things in that order, and shows the reason for each answer.

The answer

Us and your data

Start with one conversation

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