---
title: "Community Edition"
description: "OpenEPCIS tools licensed under Apache 2.0, including EPCIS converters, validators, an event hash generator and test data generators."
canonical_url: "https://benelog.com/openepcis/community-edition"
last_updated: "2026-09-16T09:19:13.952Z"
---

The Community Edition is the free, open way into OpenEPCIS. It is aimed at developers who want to try out or use individual building blocks. If you are looking for a complete, supported solution for your organisation, you will find it in the Research and the Business Edition.

benelog provides various EPCIS building blocks and tools under the Apache 2.0 licence. They are maintained in public [GitHub repositories](https://github.com/openepcis) and can be used directly in your [browser](https://tools.openepcis.io/), run locally from a container image, or added to your build as a Maven dependency. There is no registration, no contract and no trial period, because these tools are offered under Apache 2.0.

## The tools at a glance

Tools in the literal sense: each one does one specific job with EPCIS data, from converting to validating to generating test data. They can be used on their own, without the full platform. A selection, you will find all of them on [OpenEPCIS on GitHub](https://github.com/orgs/openepcis/repositories?type=source).

<cards-row cols="4" gap="1">
<icon-card description="Converts EPCIS documents between version 1.2 and 2.0, and between XML and JSON/JSON-LD. It also converts EPC URN identifiers to GS1 Digital Link and back." icon="mdi:swap-horizontal" title="Format Converter">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Checks a document against the EPCIS 2.0 schema and the Core Business Vocabulary. Each error comes back with its line and its exact position in the document, so you get a list of the errors that need fixing." icon="mdi:check-decagram" title="Document Validation">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Produces one hash per event. The same event gives the same hash in XML and in JSON. That is what makes duplicate detection and integrity checks possible between two different systems." icon="mdi:fingerprint" title="Event Hash Generator">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Builds realistic EPCIS event streams with valid GTIN, GLN and SSCC identifiers. Handy for development, for demos, and for seeing how a pipeline copes under load." icon="mdi:settings" title="Test Data Generator">



</icon-card>
</cards-row>

## Who the tools are for

<cards-row cols="3" gap="2" max-width="5xl">
<icon-card description="Get a feel for the event model, the vocabularies and the JSON-LD context." icon="mdi:code-braces" title="Developers Trying Out EPCIS 2.0">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Transform documents to 2.0 and back while both versions are still valid." icon="mdi:sync" title="Teams Coming From EPCIS 1.2">



</icon-card>

<icon-card description="Use one capability inside your own product. A converter in a middleware, or a validator in a build pipeline." icon="mdi:puzzle-outline" title="Integrators & Solution Providers">



</icon-card>
</cards-row>

## The first steps

Getting started takes no registration and no contract. You can begin right away, on whichever route suits you.

The quickest is straight in the browser, with nothing to install. If you want to go deeper, take the code from the public GitHub repositories, run the tools locally from a ready-made container image, or add individual building blocks to your own software as a Maven dependency. Every interface comes with an OpenAPI description, and you simply keep the licence text and attribution notices in whatever you ship.

If you need more than individual tools, a complete and supported platform, the next steps lead to the [Research Edition](/openepcis/research-edition) (free of licence fees for non-commercial use) and the [Business Edition](/openepcis/business-edition) (for production use).

<button-row :buttons="[{"label":"Open the online tools","href":"https://tools.openepcis.io/ui/"},{"label":"Browse the source on GitHub","href":"https://github.com/openepcis"}]">



</button-row>

<callout-box>

Stuck with the tools, or do you need support implementing a specific project? [Talk to us](mailto:info@benelog.com), we are glad to advise you.

</callout-box>

## FAQ

<faq-accordion :items="[{"question":"Can I use these components in a commercial product?","answer":"Yes. Apache 2.0 allows commercial use, changes and redistribution. Keep the licence text and the attribution notices in what you ship and you are within the terms."},{"question":"Is OpenEPCIS open source?","answer":"OpenEPCIS follows the open-core approach. The core components of OpenEPCIS described on this page are completely free and open under Apache 2.0. The platform around them is a licensed product: the repository with multi-tenancy, real-time delivery, the Digital Link Resolver, and the support that comes with running it."},{"question":"Do the open components follow the same standard as the paid editions?","answer":"Yes. There is one implementation of GS1 EPCIS 2.0 and one of the Core Business Vocabulary. They are shared by the open components, the Research Edition and the Business Edition."},{"question":"Can benelog help if we get stuck?","answer":"Yes. Issues and questions on GitHub are read and followed by the developers who wrote the code, so an answer comes from someone who knows it."}]">



</faq-accordion>