Orthanc
Orthanc is a free, open-source DICOM medical imaging server maintained by UCLouvain ICTEAM and Orthanc Team SRL. It serves hospitals, academic centers, and medical imaging vendors with a C++ core, REST API, and a plugin ecosystem spanning databases, Python, and AI frameworks.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- Headquarters—
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Orthanc does
Orthanc is a free, open-source DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) server designed to store, retrieve, and exchange medical imaging data. The project was started in 2012 by Sébastien Jodogne at the University Hospital of Liège, Belgium, and is now maintained by the UCLouvain ICTEAM research group alongside the commercial entity Orthanc Team SRL, which succeeded the earlier commercial arm Osimis S.A. (2017–2023). Orthanc serves hospitals, academic medical centers, medical imaging vendors, and AI/ML researchers working with diagnostic imaging workloads, with a deployment footprint spanning enterprises such as GE Healthcare, McLean Hospital (Harvard), Karolinska Institutet, IBA, and Circle Cardiovascular Imaging, as well as public hospitals in markets including Malaysia and Kenya.
The core Orthanc server is written in C++ and comprises more than 140,000 lines of code released under the GPLv3+ license. It exposes a REST API, supports the DICOMweb protocol for interoperability, and ships with an extensible plugin ecosystem covering PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, Python, Java, and Web viewers. The Python plugin, launched in 2020, integrates with PyTorch and TensorFlow, positioning Orthanc as a data infrastructure layer for medical imaging AI workflows rather than as an AI product in its own right. Notable recognitions include the FSF Award for Outstanding New Free Software Contributor (Sébastien Jodogne, 2015) and the Agoria Award.
Orthanc's business model combines a free open-source core with commercial services delivered through Orthanc Team SRL, including custom development, integration, training, and consulting. The project also accepts donations and sponsorship through Open Collective rather than pursuing traditional venture capital. Revenue, headcount, and pricing are not publicly disclosed, and the company operates without institutional VC funding.
Orthanc firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Orthanc
- Legal name
- Orthanc Team SRL
- Website
- https://orthanc-server.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Orthanc is a free, open-source DICOM medical imaging server maintained by UCLouvain ICTEAM and Orthanc Team SRL. It serves hospitals, academic centers, and medical imaging vendors with a C++ core, REST API, and a plugin ecosystem spanning databases, Python, and AI frameworks.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Orthanc industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Medical Imaging Software
- NAICS
- Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (62151), Computer Systems Design Services (541512)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Site Data Management Support (EDC/Source/SDV Readiness) (HLAGACAL)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Database/Application Data Layer Modernization (DB migration, ORM, caching) (BPAEAFAL)
Keywords
Orthanc business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Open-Source Software (Free): Orthanc is free and open-source software. The core server is released under GPLv3+ license. The source code is freely available to benefit hospitals, healthcare professionals, researchers, and patients.
- Commercial Support Services: Orthanc Team provides commercial services on top of Orthanc including dedicated support, custom development, bug fixes, plugin/script development, integration, installation, maintenance, and training. UCLouvain ICTEAM offers research collaboration opportunities.
- Open Collective Donations: Orthanc launched an Open Collective project to financially support development and maintenance. Users can donate to support the project.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Open-Source Core |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Commercial Services |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels7 records
Orthanc product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Orthanc is a free, open-source, lightweight DICOM server written in C++ that enables medical imaging storage, retrieval, and management on standard computers. It exposes a RESTful API for programmatic access and integrates with a plugin ecosystem covering web viewing, PostgreSQL/MySQL back-ends, DICOMweb interoperability, whole-slide imaging, and Python-based automation for ML/AI workflows. Commercial support, custom development, integration, and training services are offered by Orthanc Team SRL on top of the open-source core.
Product overview
Orthanc is an open-source DICOM server ecosystem consisting of a core lightweight DICOM server with embedded SQLite storage, augmented by a modular plugin architecture. The product portfolio includes the core Orthanc Server (C++ based, cross-platform), Stone of Orthanc C++ rendering toolkit, Stone Web Viewer (WebAssembly-based zero-footprint viewer), Orthanc Web Viewer (Cornerstone-based), PostgreSQL and MySQL database plugins for enterprise storage, DICOMweb protocol plugin, Whole-Slide Imaging plugin for digital pathology, ImageJ interface plugin, and commercial support services via Orthanc Team. The system provides REST API for automation and integrates with Python, Java, and machine learning frameworks for AI-enabled medical imaging workflows.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Stone of Orthanc: Lightweight, cross-platform C++ toolkit for the rendering of medical images, featuring MPR, PET-CT fusion, and WebAssembly support.
- Orthanc Web Viewer
- Stone Web Viewer
- DICOMweb Plugin
- PostgreSQL Plugins
- MySQL Plugins
- Whole-Slide Imaging
- ImageJ Interface
Products and services
- Orthanc Server Free, open-source, lightweight DICOM server for medical imaging. Supports Windows, Linux, and macOS, with a built-in Orthanc Explorer web interface, REST API, and standalone architecture requiring no external database by default.
- Stone of Orthanc Lightweight, cross-platform C++ toolkit for rendering medical images with MPR (multiplanar reconstruction), PET-CT fusion, and accurate physical world coordinates. Supports WebAssembly for browser-based applications and GPU-accelerated 2D rendering.
- Stone Web Viewer Next-generation, zero-footprint web viewer for medical images written in C++ using WebAssembly and the DICOMweb protocol. Cross-platform viewer requiring no server-side computation, with multiple demo datasets.
- Orthanc Web Viewer Basic web viewer plugin for medical images based on the Cornerstone JavaScript library and GDCM for advanced DICOM image decoding.
- PostgreSQL Plugins Plugins replacing the default SQLite engine with PostgreSQL as the database back-end for enterprise-ready storage of DICOM metadata and files.
- MySQL Plugins Plugins replacing the default SQLite engine with MySQL or MariaDB as the database back-end, including an index plugin and a blob storage area plugin for direct DICOM file storage in the database.
- DICOMweb Plugin Reference implementation of the DICOMweb standard, extending Orthanc's native REST API with support for WADO-URI, WADO-RS, QIDO-RS, and STOW-RS.
- Whole-Slide Imaging DICOM support for whole-slide microscopic imaging (digital pathology), including a Dicomizer command-line tool for converting whole-slide images to DICOM, a web viewer plugin for display, and a DicomToTiff export tool.
- ImageJ Interface Plugin enabling browsing of Orthanc server content and import of 2D/3D DICOM images into ImageJ for quality control of medical imaging devices or pedagogical use.
- Orthanc Team Support Services Commercial services provided by Orthanc Team SRL on top of the open-source Orthanc server, including dedicated support, custom development, bug fixes, plugin/script creation, integration, installation, maintenance, and training.
Quantifiable outcome
- Supports deployment at scale with 2.2TB database containing ~80,000 studies (as reported by Selayang Hospital)
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Orthanc
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Orthanc technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration8 records
AI capability6 records
Feature10 records
Orthanc partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.
- Orthanc Team SRLcoreOrthanc Team SRL is the primary commercial entity providing support and custom development services for Orthanc. They provide Windows installers, commercial support, custom development, bug fixes, plugin/script development, integration, installation, maintenance, and training services. They also co-copyright the Orthanc source code (2024).
- ICTEAM, UCLouvaincoreThe ICTEAM research institute at UCLouvain hosts Sébastien Jodogne's research laboratory which primarily develops and maintains Orthanc. ICTEAM co-copyrights the Orthanc source code (2021-2024). Sébastien Jodogne is a full-time professor at UCLouvain.
- University Hospital of LiègecoreOrthanc originated from the Department of Medical Physics at the University Hospital of Liège. The hospital co-copyrights the Orthanc source code. Osimis was given responsibility by the hospital to develop commercial activity on top of Orthanc.
- Osimis S.A.majorOsimis S.A. was the commercial partner of Orthanc, providing support services and developing plugins. Osimis developed the commercial activity on top of Orthanc (2017-2023). They developed the Python plugin and MySQL/MariaDB plugins through crowdfunding and industrial funding. They also provided the Osimis Web viewer and Docker images. Osimis co-copyrights the Orthanc source code (2017-2023).
- GNU Solidario / GNU HealthmajorOrthancCon is jointly organized with GNU Health Con, the annual conference about GNU Health health and hospital information system. This partnership fosters collaboration between free, libre and open-source software projects for healthcare.
- Leibniz University HannoverminorOrthancCon 2023 venue host. The conference took place at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany on September 29-30, 2023.
- University of Las Palmas de Gran CanariaminorOrthancCon 2022 venue host. The conference took place at Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud de Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain in November 2022.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Orthanc competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- dcm4chee: Open-source DICOM/PACS server and clinical imaging archive written in Java with a JBoss/undertow stack. Direct competitor to Orthanc's core DICOM-server use case, especially in hospital archive deployments.
- Weasis: Open-source DICOM viewer used in hospitals and research, with DICOMweb and PACS connectivity. Competes for the medical-imaging viewer use case that Orthanc's web viewers address.
- Conquest DICOM server: Open-source DICOM server used for small PACS, research, and teleradiology. Direct competitor to Orthanc's core lightweight DICOM-server proposition.
- 3D Slicer: Open-source platform for medical image computing and visualization with broad plugin ecosystem and DICOM support. Comparable platform-level approach for research and clinical image analysis.
- Horos Project: Open-source DICOM viewer for macOS (forked from OsiriX). Competes with Orthanc's web-viewer products in radiology workflows, especially on Apple hardware.
- OHIF (Open Health Imaging Foundation): Open-source, web-based DICOM viewer and imaging platform with extensible plugins. Comparable target audience (radiologists, developers) and integrates with DICOMweb archives similar to Orthanc's Stone Web Viewer.
Others
- Orthanc Team / Osimis: Listed because Osimis was the predecessor commercial entity for Orthanc services (2017-2023); now Orthanc Team SRL carries that commercial-services banner. Relevant as ecosystem siblings rather than external competitors.
Broad incumbents
- DCMTK (Offis): Offis's DCMTK is the foundational open-source DICOM toolkit that Orthanc itself is built on. Broader toolkit (not a server product) but competes in developer mindshare for DICOM implementations.
Emerging players
- Kitware / Cornerstone: Cornerstone is an open-source JavaScript library for medical imaging that powers Orthanc's basic Orthanc Web Viewer. Closely coupled technology partnership and overlap in the web DICOM viewer category.
- MITK (Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit): Open-source C++ toolkit for medical imaging with interactive segmentation and rendering. Adjacent to Orthanc's Stone of Orthanc for medical-image rendering use cases.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Orthanc social profiles
Digital presenceOrthanc financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Orthanc leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Orthanc funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Orthanc M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Orthanc
What does Orthanc do?
Orthanc is a free, open-source, lightweight DICOM server written in C++ that enables medical imaging storage, retrieval, and management on standard computers. It exposes a RESTful API for programmatic access and integrates with a plugin ecosystem covering web viewing, PostgreSQL/MySQL back-ends, DICOMweb interoperability, whole-slide imaging, and Python-based automation for ML/AI workflows. Commercial support, custom development, integration, and training services are offered by Orthanc Team SRL on top of the open-source core.
Is Orthanc a public or private company?
Orthanc is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Orthanc founded?
Orthanc was founded in 2012.
How does Orthanc make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Open-Source Software (Free) is the primary driver. The others are commercial Support Services and open Collective Donations.
Who are Orthanc's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are dcm4chee, Weasis, Conquest DICOM server, 3D Slicer, Horos Project and OHIF (Open Health Imaging Foundation). Orthanc Team / Osimis is listed as an others. DCMTK (Offis) is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Kitware / Cornerstone and MITK (Medical Imaging Interaction Toolkit).
Does Orthanc have an API?
Yes. Orthanc provides a RESTful API that enables developers to drive Orthanc from any computer language. The API allows full CRUD operations (create, read, update and delete) on DICOM resources, along with DICOM protocol commands (C-Echo, C-Store, C-Find, C-Move, C-Get). DICOM tags can be downloaded in JSON format, and PNG images can be generated on-the-fly from DICOM instances. The API is documented with OpenAPI specification. Developer documentation is at orthanc.uclouvain.be/book/users/rest.html.
What industry is Orthanc in?
Orthanc's product category is Medical Imaging Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGACAL, Site Data Management Support (EDC/Source/SDV Readiness), with a secondary code of BPAEAFAL, Database/Application Data Layer Modernization (DB migration, ORM, caching). Its NAICS code is 62151 and its SIC code is 7372.