Odoo

What is Odoo

Odoo is a suite of integrated business applications that cover ERP, CRM, eCommerce, accounting, inventory, point of sale, project management and related business functions. The product is produced as an open source Community edition and a paid Enterprise edition; both editions share a core framework and many apps but the Enterprise release adds extra modules, hosting options and professional services. Odoo is distributed as both self-hosted software for companies that want full control over infrastructure and as a cloud-hosted offering for teams that prefer managed operations.

The platform is modular: each business capability is shipped as an app (for example Sales, Accounting, Inventory, Manufacturing, Website, CRM) that can be installed independently and integrated automatically with other apps on the same instance. This app-based approach lets organizations adopt Odoo incrementally — start with a few apps, add more as needs grow — while preserving data integration across departments. The community-driven development model also produces a large ecosystem of third-party apps and connectors that extend core functionality.

Odoo positions itself for a broad range of industries and company sizes. Typical buyers include small and mid-market businesses that want a single platform to manage sales, operations and finance, and larger companies that use Odoo’s extensibility and on-premise options to build tailored solutions. Odoo is also used by software integrators and agencies who deliver customized implementations and vertical solutions for retail, manufacturing, services and more.

Odoo features

What does Odoo do?

Odoo provides a comprehensive toolset for everyday business operations. Key capabilities include: CRM for lead and opportunity management; sales and invoicing workflows; full accounting with automated reconciliation and reporting; inventory and warehouse management with multi-warehouse routing; manufacturing resource planning (MRP) and work orders; eCommerce and website/CMS tools; point of sale (POS) for retail; HR and recruitment; and marketing automation including email campaigns and social posting.

Beyond functional modules, Odoo includes platform-level features that support customization and automation. The Odoo Studio visual editor allows non-developers to create custom forms, fields, reports and automated actions. Server-side automation, scheduled actions and API hooks allow integration with other systems. The platform offers role-based access control, multi-company support, multi-currency, and localization packages for taxes and regulations in many countries.

Operational features include mobile-friendly interfaces, offline-capable POS apps, barcode and IoT integrations for the shop floor, batch and serial number tracking in inventory, subscription management for recurring billing, and document management. The breadth of built-in features is intended to reduce the number of separate vendors required to run core business processes.

Odoo pricing

Odoo offers these pricing plans:

• Community (Free Plan): Free — Open source edition, self-hosted. Includes core apps maintained by the community and suitable for organizations that can manage their own hosting and customizations.
• Enterprise: €19.90/month — Paid edition that includes access to extra apps, proprietary features, cloud hosting options, and professional services. Annual billing equivalents and team discounts are available depending on the chosen hosting and support options.

The Enterprise tier is commonly offered as a per-user subscription with costs that depend on the number of users, the chosen apps, and whether you use Odoo’s cloud hosting or self-host. For straightforward comparison, a publicly advertised figure on Odoo marketing pages is €19.90/month for access to all apps under certain cloud plans; an annual equivalent for a straight 12-month charge would be €238.80/year per user at that rate. Many buyers will see different effective rates after factoring volume discounts, hosting plans (Odoo Online vs Odoo.sh vs self-host), and any onboarding or third-party implementation costs. Check Odoo's current pricing options (https://www.odoo.com/pricing) for the latest rates and enterprise options. Visit their official pricing page for the most current information.

How much is Odoo per month

Odoo Enterprise commonly starts at €19.90/month per user for cloud plans that advertise access to all apps; exact per-user monthly charges can vary by region, number of users, and selected add-ons. Self-hosted implementations will have no per-user license fee for the Community edition but will incur hosting, maintenance and support costs instead. For teams that use Odoo Online (Odoo’s managed cloud), the monthly subscription typically includes hosting, basic backups and standard updates — additional costs apply for premium hosting, third-party integrations and advanced support.

How much is Odoo per year

Odoo Enterprise can cost around €238.80/year per user at the quoted €19.90/month rate if billed monthly; Odoo often provides annual billing options which may change the effective price. Annual billing sometimes results in a small discount depending on promotional campaigns and reseller agreements. For self-hosted Community edition deployments, yearly cost estimates must include hosting infrastructure (cloud VM, storage, backups), routine maintenance and any partner implementation fees; those operational costs typically range widely based on scale and SLAs.

How much is Odoo in general

Odoo pricing ranges from Free (Community) to paid Enterprise subscriptions typically quoted at about €19.90/month per user for full-app cloud plans. The total cost of ownership for Odoo depends critically on three components: license or subscription fees, hosting and infrastructure costs, and professional services for implementation and customization. Organizations should budget for project-based setup and integration work (often a one-time professional services fee), ongoing administration, and periodic upgrades or custom development.

What is Odoo used for

Odoo is used as a single platform to consolidate multiple business processes and systems, removing the need for multiple disconnected point solutions. Companies use Odoo to manage the full customer lifecycle — from marketing and lead capture to sales, delivery, invoicing and ongoing account management. The unified data model keeps customer, product, pricing and inventory data synchronized across departments.

Operations teams use Odoo for warehouse and inventory management, procurement, manufacturing work orders and scheduling, and logistics. Finance teams use the accounting and invoicing modules to automate bookkeeping, tax reporting and reconciliation. Retailers and hospitality businesses use Odoo’s Point of Sale and eCommerce modules for in-person and online sales, with a unified backend for product and stock management.

Developers, IT teams and integrators use Odoo as a customizable platform to build vertical solutions or integrate with third-party systems. The modular architecture and open source codebase mean organizations can create custom modules, add integrations to shipping carriers and payment processors, and tailor reports to regulatory and internal reporting needs.

Pros and cons of Odoo

Pros:

• Broad functional coverage: Odoo includes ERP, CRM, eCommerce, POS, inventory, manufacturing and finance in one suite, which reduces the number of separate vendors and integration projects.
• Modular and extensible: Apps can be added gradually and custom modules can be developed using Odoo’s framework and Odoo Studio visual editor.
• Open source option: The Community edition is open source and free to use, making it attractive for self-hosted deployments and organizations that prefer full control over their stack.
• Large ecosystem: More than 40,000 community and third-party modules exist to extend functionality for verticals and local requirements.

Cons:

• Implementation complexity: While modular, full implementations across multiple departments usually require significant configuration and partner support, particularly for complex accounting and manufacturing workflows.
• Variation between editions: Some advanced features and stable hosted services are only available in the Enterprise edition, which can require additional subscription costs.
• Upgrade and customization overhead: Heavy customizations change the upgrade path and may require developer resources to maintain during platform updates.
• Performance and hosting: Large-scale deployments require careful hosting architecture and optimization; self-hosted installations place more operational burden on internal teams.

Odoo free trial

Odoo offers trial access to the Enterprise cloud edition so prospective customers can evaluate apps and configurations before committing. The trial experience typically includes the Enterprise module set and a temporary cloud instance that lets teams test workflows, import sample data, and run simple end-to-end scenarios. The duration of trial periods varies by promotion and country, and resellers or implementation partners sometimes provide extended demos as part of the sales process.

For the Community edition, there is no trial because the code is openly available: you can download and deploy it immediately on your infrastructure. That makes it easy for developers and technical teams to test Odoo in realistic environments under production-like conditions. For organizations that need managed trials or a quick proof-of-concept, Odoo partners offer sandbox environments and paid proof-of-concept engagements.

To start a trial or download the Community code, prospective users should use Odoo’s official download and trial tools. For hosted trials and immediate evaluation of Enterprise features, request a trial through Odoo’s cloud signup or contact an Odoo partner to arrange a test environment. Check Odoo's current pricing options (https://www.odoo.com/pricing) and trial pages for the latest trial conditions.

Is Odoo free

Yes, Odoo provides a free open source edition called Community. The Community edition is available for download, can be self-hosted, and includes many core modules for CRM, sales, inventory and basic accounting, though some enterprise-grade modules and hosted services are reserved for the Enterprise edition. Organizations that have internal DevOps resources or a partner can operate a production-ready stack using the Community edition without per-user license fees.

No, full cloud-hosted and added-feature experiences typically require a paid subscription. The Enterprise edition and Odoo’s cloud hosting services include additional modules, managed updates, and SLAs which are available under subscription. For most companies that prefer a managed service or need enterprise-only features, there will be subscription charges and potential partner implementation fees.

Odoo API

Odoo exposes a comprehensive API set that supports RPC-style and REST-like access patterns. The XML-RPC and JSON-RPC endpoints are commonly used to interact with models, perform CRUD operations and execute server-side methods. Odoo also provides a web controller layer for custom REST endpoints and Odoo.sh offers deployment hooks and Git-driven workflows for development and continuous integration.

Developers can build custom modules using the Odoo framework (Python on the server, JavaScript on the client) and leverage module scaffolding to register models, views, automated actions and menu items. Authentication is typically handled by session cookies for web UI use and token-based access or API keys for external integrations. There are official documentation pages and community guides that describe model extensions, ORM usage and best practices for migrations and upgrades; consult Odoo’s developer documentation for specifics and examples.

For integrations with external systems (payment gateways, shipping providers, BI tools), many ready-made connectors exist in the Odoo app store. For custom or high-volume integrations, organizations commonly build middleware that consumes Odoo’s RPC APIs or uses the Odoo External API libraries available in multiple languages. See Odoo’s developer documentation for the latest API references and integration guides (https://www.odoo.com/documentation).

10 Odoo alternatives

Paid alternatives to Odoo

• SAP Business One — ERP targeted at small to mid-sized businesses with strong financial and inventory controls and a large partner ecosystem.
• NetSuite — Cloud-first ERP with native financials, multi-subsidiary management and a broad set of cloud modules suited to mid-market and enterprise businesses.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 — A modular cloud ERP and CRM platform with deep integration into Microsoft 365 and Azure services for mid-market and enterprise customers.
• Zoho One — An integrated suite of business applications with CRM, finance, HR and marketing tools, positioned for small and growing businesses with competitive pricing.
• QuickBooks Online (Plus / Advanced) — Accounting-first solution with integrations and add-ons for inventory, time tracking and payments, commonly used by small businesses.
• Acumatica — Cloud ERP that emphasizes flexible licensing and robust financial and manufacturing modules with partner-driven implementations.
• Sage Intacct — Cloud financial management and accounting platform designed for organizations with complex accounting needs and strong multi-entity consolidation.

Open source alternatives to Odoo

• ERPNext — Open source ERP that includes accounting, CRM, manufacturing, inventory and HR; designed for small to mid-sized companies with a strong community and simple deployment model.
• Dolibarr — Lightweight open source ERP/CRM with modules for sales, invoicing, stock and HR aimed at small businesses and associations.
• Tryton — Modular open source ERP framework built in Python with a focus on customization and stability for business applications.
• Metasfresh — Open source ERP targeted at wholesale and distribution, with emphasis on inventory and order processing workflows.
• Apache OFBiz — Foundation framework for enterprise applications including eCommerce, order management and catalog that requires development effort to tailor into a full ERP.

Frequently asked questions about Odoo

What is Odoo used for?

Odoo is used for managing core business processes across ERP and CRM functions. Companies use Odoo to consolidate sales, accounting, inventory, purchasing, manufacturing and HR into a single platform so that data and workflows are shared across teams. It is suited to organizations that want an integrated, modular suite rather than many separate point solutions.

How does Odoo handle accounting?

Odoo includes an integrated accounting module that supports invoicing, payments and reconciliation. The accounting app provides ledger entries, tax reports, bank synchronization, automated reconciliation rules, and exportable financial statements. For country-specific compliance and tax rules, Odoo provides localization packages and partner services to configure accounting workflows correctly.

Does Odoo integrate with eCommerce platforms and payment gateways?

Yes, Odoo has built-in eCommerce and payment integrations. The Odoo Website and eCommerce apps include product catalogs, shopping cart workflows and modules for common payment providers and shipping connectors; additional gateways and integrations can be added from the apps store or by custom integration.

Can I host Odoo on my own servers?

Yes, you can self-host Odoo using the Community or Enterprise edition. Self-hosting gives you full control over infrastructure, data residency and custom code, but it also requires operational capacity for backups, security patches and updates. Many businesses choose to self-host when they need heavy customizations or strict compliance requirements.

Is Odoo suitable for manufacturing businesses?

Yes, Odoo provides manufacturing (MRP) and shop floor features. The manufacturing modules support routings, work orders, BOMs (bills of materials), capacity planning and integration with inventory and purchase modules. For complex discrete or process manufacturing, Odoo is often customized with partner-developed modules to match industry-specific needs.

Why choose the Odoo Community edition over Enterprise?

The Community edition is a free, open source option that removes per-user license costs. Organizations with development resources or budget constraints can deploy Community and build custom modules, while retaining control over hosting and data. The trade-off is that Enterprise-level features, managed hosting and official support are not included and must be handled by internal teams or partners.

When should a company upgrade from Community to Enterprise?

Organizations typically upgrade when they need official support, proprietary Enterprise features, or managed cloud hosting. Common triggers include the need for advanced manufacturing, payroll, mobile support, guaranteed cloud SLAs, or when the cost of maintaining customizations outweighs subscription fees. A total cost-of-ownership analysis helps determine the right time to switch.

Where can I find Odoo implementation partners?

Odoo maintains a global partner network of implementation and consulting firms. Partners range from small local integrators to large consultancies that deliver configuration, custom development and training. You can find partners and their specializations on Odoo’s official partner directory at Odoo’s website.

How secure is Odoo for business data?

Odoo provides standard enterprise security measures and supports secure deployment practices. Cloud-hosted instances include managed backups and platform-level hardening; self-hosted installations rely on customer-controlled infrastructure security. For specific certifications, compliance features and security controls, consult Odoo’s documentation and security pages or ask a partner for an architecture review.

Does Odoo offer an API for integrations?

Yes, Odoo exposes XML-RPC and JSON-RPC APIs and supports custom REST controllers. Developers can use these APIs to read and write records, run server actions, and extend data models; official developer documentation provides examples and recommended patterns for creating and maintaining integrations.

Odoo careers

Odoo hires across product, engineering, sales, partner management and customer success roles in multiple global locations and remote positions. The company often posts openings for Python developers, front-end engineers, ERP consultants and technical support roles. Candidates can review openings and application instructions on Odoo’s careers pages and LinkedIn listings and should highlight ERP or SaaS experience for technical positions.

Odoo affiliate

Odoo supports a partner and affiliate ecosystem that includes implementation partners, ISVs and referral programs. Partners can register to resell Odoo subscriptions, provide implementation services and list custom apps in the Odoo app store. Businesses interested in referral or reseller opportunities should contact Odoo’s partner program through the partner sign-up pages for program details and revenue sharing terms.

Where to find Odoo reviews

Independent reviews for Odoo can be found on software review platforms such as G2, Capterra and TrustRadius where users rate features, support and ease of use. In addition, case studies and customer testimonials are available on Odoo’s website and many partner sites publish implementation case studies. For impartial feedback, compare reviews across multiple platforms and filter by industry and company size to find implementations similar to your own.