Akeneo is one of the best-known PIM vendors, with a free open-source edition and a SaaS product line. If you are weighing it against other options, this page sets out what each platform includes, how it is priced and who it suits.
Akeneo sells packages called Growth, Advanced and Premium. Growth lists a starting price of $0 with a free trial, while Advanced and Premium are quoted. The Community Edition is free to download and self-host.
Teams compare it with other options mostly on three points: how far the entry package goes before a quote is needed, who runs the system day to day, and whether features such as workflows, rules and channel governance are included from the start.
The sections below set Akeneo next to three other platforms and show where LynkPIM fits and where it does not.
The shortlist at a glance
Four platforms, described from each vendor's own public information.
LynkPIM
PIM for ecommerce teams: one governed record per product, published to Shopify, WooCommerce and Google Merchant Center.
What it includes
Attributes, product families, variants and bundles
Workflows, approvals and change requests
Quality rules, completeness scoring and an issues queue
Localization with translation-provider connections
Media library with approval and archiving
SEO policies and audits per product
SSO (OIDC and SAML), roles and permissions, audit logs, API keys
AI Enrichment and Digital Product Passport as add-ons
Who it is for
Ecommerce brands, distributors and multi-channel retail teams, from small brands leaving spreadsheets to manufacturers with large catalogs.
Price and license
Published. The first 25 products are free, then one per-product rate by catalog size (for example 300 products at $0.18 each). Every core feature is on every plan. AI Enrichment is $149/mo and Digital Product Passport $299/mo as add-ons; the onboarding pack starts at $999 one-time.
Salsify
Product experience management (PXM) platform that pairs PIM with syndication, digital shelf analytics and a retailer network.
What it includes
PIM, syndication and the PXM Network
Enhanced content and catalog sites
Digital shelf analytics
GDSN data pool
Supplier experience management (SXM)
Automation and AI
Who it is for
Brands, retailers and suppliers; Salsify calls out food and beverage, fashion and beauty, and industrials.
Price and license
Not published. Pricing is given through a demo or sales conversation.
Pimcore
Open-core data and experience platform: PIM, MDM, DAM, customer data and digital experience in one framework.
What it includes
PIM, MDM, DAM and a customer data platform
Digital experience platform and a digital commerce framework
Product and asset experience portals
Data syndication and delivery over APIs
Community Edition and Enterprise Edition
Who it is for
Organizations that want one platform for product data, master data, assets and experiences, and have developer capacity to shape it.
Price and license
Since Platform version 2025.1 the Community Edition is under the Pimcore Open Core License and is free for companies earning under €5M a year (earlier releases were GPLv3). The Enterprise Edition is a yearly subscription with a commercial license.
inriver
PIM and product-marketing platform for manufacturers and multi-market enterprises, with onboarding, syndication and AI content tools.
What it includes
PIM with content onboarding
Syndication (Syndicate Advance)
Brand store and print and publish
Digital shelf analytics
Inspire AI content creation
Who it is for
B2B manufacturers with complex specifications and variants, and multi-market enterprises; inriver cites catalogs from about 1,000 to over 1,000,000 SKUs and more than 1,600 brands.
Price and license
Not shown on the main site. Request a quote.
Akeneo and LynkPIM: what each covers
Akeneo entries come from akeneo.com. Where Akeneo does not state something, the table says so instead of guessing.
Capability
Akeneo
LynkPIM
Free starting point
Growth lists $0 as a starting price; free Community Edition to self-host
First 25 products free, every core feature included
Pricing beyond the entry package
Advanced and Premium by quote
Published rate card by catalog size
Hosting
SaaS packages with automatic updates; Community Edition is self-hosted
SaaS
Workflows and collaboration
Collaboration workflows start at the Advanced package
Included on every plan: states, approvers, SLAs and change requests
Rules and data governance
Rules engine and channel-ready data governance start at Advanced
Included on every plan: rule sets, completeness scoring and an issues queue
Supplier onboarding
Yes, Supplier Data Manager
Import mappings and external review links; no dedicated supplier portal
Syndication
Activation to retailers and marketplaces
Shopify, WooCommerce and Google Merchant Center, plus exports and API
Digital asset management
Separate DAM product
Media library with approval, archiving and versioning
AI features
AI description generation and asset extraction in Growth
AI Enrichment add-on ($149/mo) with review before publishing
Digital Product Passport
Not listed on its packages page
Add-on ($299/mo): EU DPP, GS1 Digital Link, IEC 62474
Vendor information is taken from each vendor's public website and was checked on 3 October 2026. Plans and features change, so confirm details with the vendor before you decide.
When Akeneo is the better choice
You need supplier onboarding or syndication to many retailers and marketplaces.
Your developers want to self-host an open-source PIM.
You want a vendor with a long track record and a large partner and community network.
When LynkPIM is a good fit
You publish to your own storefronts (Shopify, WooCommerce) and Google Shopping.
You want published prices and to start free with a real catalog.
Catalog, content and ecommerce operators will run it day to day.
You need a Digital Product Passport or AI-assisted enrichment with human approval.
How to choose
1List what you must have: the channels you publish to, the approvals you need and any compliance data.
2Check each option against that list using the table above, and ask vendors to confirm anything marked as not stated.
3Run the same pilot on each shortlisted tool: one category, the same product sample, the same channel outputs.
4Compare total cost, including setup, hosting, developer time and add-ons, not just the license.
Frequently asked questions
Is Akeneo free?
Akeneo offers a free open-source Community Edition that you host yourself, and its Growth package lists a starting price of $0 with a free trial. Advanced and Premium are quoted. LynkPIM's free tier covers your first 25 products with every core feature included.
What are Akeneo's editions?
On its packages page Akeneo lists Growth, Advanced and Premium for its SaaS Product Cloud, plus the free Community Edition.
What is the best Akeneo alternative?
For a focused PIM with published pricing and workflows included on every plan, look at LynkPIM. For retailer syndication and GDSN, look at Salsify. For one platform covering product data, master data and experiences, look at Pimcore. For technical, variant-heavy manufacturer catalogs, look at inriver.
Can I migrate from Akeneo to LynkPIM?
Yes. Export your products from Akeneo as files, recreate your families and attributes in LynkPIM, map the columns with a saved import mapping and import one pilot category first. Then check the quality dashboard and move the rest in stages.
Want to see how LynkPIM would handle your catalog?
Share your channels, catalog size and workflow needs. We will show where LynkPIM fits and tell you plainly where another platform would suit you better.