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Open-Source vs Commercial EV Charging CMS: How to Choose
Open-source OCPP backends are free to download, but not free to run. A fair comparison with commercial charging management software, and how to decide.
The short answer
Choose open source if you have developers who will run, secure and extend the software for years, and charging is core to your product. Choose a commercial CMS if you want to run chargers and earn from them, not maintain software.
What open source gives you
Open-source OCPP backends are available to download and run on your own servers. Well-known examples include SteVe, for OCPP 1.6, and CitrineOS, for OCPP 2.0.1.
- No licence fee for the code.
- Full control over the code, the data and where it runs.
- Freedom to change anything, if you have the people to do it.
What open source leaves to you
An open-source backend handles the conversation with the charger. Most of what a charging business needs around it you build and run yourself.
- Hosting, monitoring, backups and security updates.
- Driver payments, refunds, receipts and settlement.
- Pricing by time of day, plug or customer.
- A driver experience: an app, a web page or a chat.
- Roaming with other networks through OCPI.
- Testing each new charger model and firmware version.
- Someone to call when a charger goes offline at night.
What a commercial CMS gives you
- Chargers online in days rather than months.
- Payments, pricing, reports and fault alerts already built.
- Charger models already connected and tested by the vendor.
- Support and updates included.
The trade-off is control and dependence on a vendor. Reduce it by choosing a CMS that uses open standards: with OCPP, you can point your chargers at another backend later without changing hardware.
Compare the real cost
The licence is rarely the biggest cost. Compare the total over three years: developer time, hosting, payment integration, support hours and the revenue lost while a charger is down. For a small or growing network, that total is usually higher for a self-run open-source backend than for a commercial CMS.
Questions that decide it
- Do we have developers who can run this software for years, not just set it up?
- Is charging software our product, or a tool for our business?
- How soon must the chargers start earning?
- Who answers when a charger fails at 11 pm?
- Can we move our chargers if the choice turns out wrong?
A middle path
Some businesses need control without building everything. Savekar offers a ready charging management system, a White Label version under your own brand, and custom CSMS development built to your requirements. We also publish an open-source OCPI simulator for testing roaming connections.
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