ABP Framework vs ABP Commercial
ABP.IO Platform consists of the open source ABP Framework and the ABP Commercial.
Introduction
ABP Framework is a completely free, open source and community-driven project. It provides a base framework, startup templates, CLI, a basic theme and some pre-built application modules.
ABP Commercial adds some benefits on top of the ABP framework with a set of professional application modules, UI themes, tools, premium support and services.
This document only focuses the major differences between the ABP Framework and the ABP Commercial. It doesn't cover all the features.
Overall
Here are the differences between the open source ABP Framework project and the ABP Commercial in overall:
| Open Source ABP Framework Project | ABP Commercial | |
|---|---|---|
| Base framework | ||
| Free startup templates | ||
| Free (basic) application modules | ||
| Free (basic) UI theme | ||
| ABP CLI (Command Line Interface) | ||
| Community support | ||
| Pro startup templates | ||
| Pro application modules | ||
| Pro UI themes | ||
| ABP Suite | ||
| Premium support | ||
| Download | Pricing |
The Framework
ABP Framework is completely open source and developed in a community-driven manner. While it is mainly developed and maintained by the Volosoft Team, it is getting contributions from the community. It will always remain open source and free.
ABP Commercial is not a replacement for the ABP Framework. It directly uses the ABP Framework and adds some benefits on top of it, those are described in this document.
Startup Templates
Startup Templates are pre-built and configured solution templates that you can easily create your own solutions based on them.
| Startup Template | Open Source ABP Framework Project | ABP Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| Application [1] | ||
| Module / Service | ||
| Microservice Solution |
[1] ABP Commercial application startup template has some additional features, like public website and separate tenant database schema support.
Open source startup templates use the open source themes and modules while ABP Commercial startup templates use the commercial (pro) modules and themes.
Modules
ABP Commercial has a lot of additional modules compared to the open source ABP Framework project. Also, some modules have commercial versions with more features. The table below shows the list of module differences in overall:
| Module | Open Source ABP Framework Project | ABP Commercial |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Basic | Pro |
| Account | Basic | Pro |
| Multi-Tenancy | Basic (only tenant management) | Pro (SaaS) |
| CMS Kit | Basic | Pro |
| Blogging | ||
| Docs | ||
| Identity Server Integration | ||
| Identity Server Management UI | ||
| Audit Log Reporting UI | ||
| Dynamic Language Management | ||
| Payment | ||
| Text Template Management | ||
| Chat | ||
| File Management | ||
| Forms | ||
| Twilio SMS Integration |
Some modules have "Basic" (open source) and "Pro" (commercial) versions. The next sections show the differences between the basic and the pro versions.
Identity Module: Basic vs Pro
Identity module's domain layer is the same. But the application, HTTP API and UI layers have differences shown below:
| Feature | Basic | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| User Management | ||
| Role Management | ||
| Organization Unit Management | ||
| Claim Type Management | ||
| Security Log Reporting | ||
| Lock/Unlock a User | ||
| Setting Management (like Password Complexity Settings) |
Account Module: Basic vs Pro
| Feature | Basic | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Login | ||
| Register | ||
| Multi-Tenancy (tenant switch) | ||
| User Lockout | ||
| Forgot Password / Password Reset | ||
| Social Logins | ||
| Email Confirmation | ||
| Two Factor Authentication | ||
| Account Linking | ||
| LDAP / Active Directory Login | ||
| User and Tenant Impersonation | ||
| Email / Phone Verification | ||
| User Profile Picture | ||
| Captcha on Login/Register Forms |
Multi-Tenancy
Open source multi-tenancy module named as "Tenant Management" while the commercial one named as "SaaS". The "SaaS" module is aimed to be a complete SaaS solution while the free one is for basic tenant management.
| Feature | Basic (Tenant Management) | Pro (SaaS) |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant Management | ||
| Edition Management | ||
| Separate tenant databases [1] |
[1] ABP Framework supports separate tenant databases in the framework level. However, only the SaaS module implements the UI, automatic database migrations and separate tenant database schema support.
ABP CLI vs ABP Suite
ABP CLI is an open source & free command line interface that is used to create a new solution, add a module/package to the solution, update ABP related packages and so on. Example usage:
abp new Acme.BookStore -d mongodb -u angular
ABP CLI can be used by the ABP Framework and the ABP Commercial developers.
ABP Suite, on the other hand, is a commercial tool that aims to assist to your development;
- It has the UI for the ABP CLI, so you don't have to memorize the commands.
- It has a code generator that creates a CRUD page from database to the user interface, including HTTP APIs, entities, services, DTOs, database migration and so on. It is a big time saver for creating new entities.
- It is planned to add more features in the future to help your development process.
A screenshot from the CRUD Page Generator:
Basic Theme vs Pro Theme
ABP Framework provides a theme system that has the following goals:
- To allow us to develop different kind of themes and let the application to use and upgrade a theme easily.
- To determine a standard set of libraries (like Bootstrap) to be supported by all the themes.
- To provide a standard and theme-independent development model for module developers, so a module can play nice with any theme.
There are currently two standard themes;
The Basic Theme is open source and free. It provides fundamental layout and features and looks like a standard Bootstrap UI.
Example screenshot from the user management page:
The Lepton Theme is a commercial theme development by the ABP Framework Core Team. It is 100% Bootstrap compatible, lightweight and powerful with multiple color styles and layout options.
A screenshot from the user management page of Lepton Theme:
Samples
We provide a lot of sample solutions based on the ABP Framework and ABP Commercial. All the sample solutions built with the ABP Framework are also valid for the ABP Commercial. So, ABP Commercial users can benefit from these samples. Because of that, we tend to create samples in the open source side to provide more value for everyone.
However, there are some samples only for the ABP Commercial. See the unique samples for the ABP Commercial.
Support
ABP Commercial provides two premium support options;
- All license types has the premium forum support. Your questions are answered by the ABP Framework development and experienced support team with a high priority.
- Enterprise license includes email & private ticket support too.
If you only use the open source project, you still get community support from the Stack Overflow and GitHub Issues. However, commercial customers have higher priority.
