Odoo

Odoo is a modular open-source ERP from Belgium with 50+ integrated business apps, used by 5 million+ users (updated June 2026). Enterprise pricing starts at $24.90/user/month and the Community edition is free. It best fits SMBs in professional services, distribution, retail, and light manufacturing wanting a flexible, highly customisable system.

Odoo: Open Source ERP and CRM

What is Odoo ERP?

Odoo, formerly OpenERP and TinyERP, is an open-source ERP system based in Belgium. Founded in 2005, Odoo has been developed for small and medium businesses and is available in the cloud or on-premise.

Odoo is a full ERP suite, not just a CRM — CRM is one of its 50+ integrated apps. The platform unifies accounting, inventory, manufacturing, project management, eCommerce, HR, and sales on a single database, so a company can start with one app (such as CRM) and add the rest as it grows. This is why Odoo is often discovered as a CRM but adopted as a complete ERP.

Odoo's open-source architecture makes the system highly customisable. Developers can directly access and modify the modules, tailoring the software to your organisation's specific requirements without waiting on the vendor's roadmap.

Odoo ERP is available in two editions:

1. Enterprise Edition — Purchased on a SaaS subscription, hosted in the cloud or on-premise. Includes premium modules and support.
2. Community Edition — Free, open-source version with core functionality.

Licensing is based on the number of users, their responsibilities within the system, and the advanced modules and third-party extensions required. Subscriptions are typically paid annually.

Odoo integrates with payment processors and external shipping systems including Amazon, eBay, UPS, FedEx and QuickBooks.

Modules & Features

Accounting & Invoicing

Odoo Accounting covers the full financial cycle: accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliation, cash management, taxes, and reporting. The Enterprise edition adds automated bank synchronisation, asset management, and analytic accounting, while the free Community edition provides core double-entry bookkeeping. Invoices, expenses, and payments flow directly from sales and purchase orders, removing manual re-entry.

Project Management

Odoo Project Management lets teams plan and track multiple projects and resources through Gantt charts, calendar, graph, Kanban, and pivot-table views. Tasks link to timesheets, sales orders, and invoices, so billable work is tracked from quote to payment. The same project data drives forecasting and resource allocation across the company.

Inventory Management

Odoo Inventory provides full traceability from supplier to customer, whether you run a single stockroom or a multi-warehouse map across geographies. It supports double-entry inventory (no stock input/output), lot and serial tracking, and configurable routes for drop-shipping, cross-docking, and multi-step delivery. Enterprise adds barcode scanning, batch transfers, and wave picking for higher-volume operations.

Manufacturing

Odoo Manufacturing (MRP) manages bills of materials, work orders, and production scheduling, and integrates with the Quality, Maintenance, and PLM modules. A Work Centre Control Panel displays work orders, progress, production quantities, work instructions, and time tracking on the shop floor. Light manufacturers and assemble-to-order businesses are the strongest fit; complex discrete manufacturing may need partner customisation.

eCommerce

Odoo eCommerce ships a built-in online store that shares one database with inventory, sales, and accounting, so stock levels and orders stay in sync automatically. Businesses choose from drag-and-drop templates and customise them to showcase products without separate web development. Customer portals, payment processors, and shipping carriers (UPS, FedEx, Amazon) connect natively.

Timesheets

Odoo Timesheets lets employees record activities on the go from the mobile app, while managers view and report on team time and link entries to sales orders. Logged hours convert directly into customer invoices and project profitability reports. This tight link between time, billing, and projects is a core reason professional-services firms choose Odoo.

CRM

Odoo CRM tracks leads, manages opportunities through a visual pipeline, and automates sales follow-up. Because it sits on the same database as quotations, invoicing, and inventory, a won deal becomes a sales order without re-keying. The CRM app is free to start (one app on Odoo's cloud), which is how many companies first adopt Odoo before expanding into the full ERP.

Industry Fit: Is Odoo a Good ERP and Who Is It For?

Odoo is a good ERP for small and mid-sized businesses that want broad functionality, low per-user cost, and the freedom to customise — and a poor fit for large enterprises needing deep, out-of-the-box financial consolidation or heavily regulated complex manufacturing. It is strongest for professional services, distribution, retail and eCommerce, and light manufacturing. Companies that value flexibility over a fully turnkey system, and that have (or will hire) a partner for setup, get the most from Odoo.

Professional Services

Integrated financial management & accounting, deep project management, billing, CRM and more — suited for services firms of all sizes.

Distribution

Odoo suits wholesale and distribution businesses that need to connect purchasing, inventory, and sales on one system. It manages finance, supply chain, invoicing, delivery notes, and product tracking, and supports the full warehouse-to-delivery process including multi-warehouse routing and barcode picking. Replenishment rules and supplier lead times automate purchasing so stock-outs and overstock are reduced.

Retail & eCommerce

Integrated eCommerce platform where inventory and sales are maintained via automatic stock adjustments. Dedicated customer portals for order tracking, invoices and delivery management.

Manufacturing

Manage core manufacturing processes including budgeting, forecasting, shop floor management and performance tracking. Integrates with other Odoo apps for a complete solution.

More Odoo Industry Guides

• Odoo for Agriculture
• Odoo for Construction
• Odoo for Distribution
• Odoo for Education
• Odoo for Food & Beverage
• Odoo for Healthcare
• Odoo for Non-Profits
• Odoo for Professional Services
• Odoo for Retail

Odoo ERP Pricing

Odoo Enterprise pricing starts at £20/user/month (Standard) and the Community edition is free. Pricing depends on the edition, the number of users, and whether you need Studio and advanced features:

Annual billing applies. The list price above is the per-user licence only — total cost of ownership is higher once implementation is included. Odoo implementation typically costs between £4,000 and £80,000, depending on the number of users, modules, data migration, and customisation. A simple SMB rollout on standard apps sits at the low end; multi-entity deployments with heavy customisation and partner-led integration sit at the high end. Community is "free" in licence terms but carries hosting, IT, and development costs that should be budgeted separately.

See our full Odoo pricing guide for detailed cost breakdowns and Odoo Enterprise pricing for enterprise-specific costs.

Comparing Odoo with other ERPs? See how Odoo stacks up against competing platforms on features, pricing, and industry fit.

Compare Odoo Side-by-Side

Pros & Cons

Odoo's main strength is breadth and flexibility at a low entry price; its main weakness is that depth and support are gated behind the paid Enterprise edition and partner expertise. The following summary helps buyers weigh the trade-offs.

Pros

• Open-source core with a large ecosystem — a global community contributes modules and the source code is fully accessible, reducing vendor lock-in.
• Highly customisable and extensible — developers (or Studio's low-code builder) can adapt almost any workflow to the business.
• Cost-effective per-user pricing — at £20–£30/user/month it undercuts most mid-market ERPs, and you only pay for the apps and users you need.
• 16,000+ third-party apps — the Odoo App Store covers payroll, PLM, integrations, and niche industry needs.
• Modern, unified interface — a consistent, mobile-friendly UI across web, tablet, and mobile with all apps on one database.

Cons

• Best features require the paid Enterprise subscription — bank sync, Studio, native mobile apps, and advanced manufacturing/HR are not in the free Community edition.
• Community edition has no vendor support — you rely on community forums or a partner, which can slow troubleshooting for non-technical teams.
• Complex implementations need an experienced partner — multi-entity or heavily customised rollouts are rarely successful as pure DIY projects.
• Some advanced features are less mature — deep financial consolidation and complex discrete manufacturing trail established competitors like NetSuite or SAP.

Odoo Community vs Enterprise: Feature Comparison

Understanding what is locked behind the Enterprise paywall is critical for budgeting:

Enterprise Edition pricing: £20/user/month (Standard) or £30/user/month (Custom — includes Odoo Studio and multi-company).

Odoo vs ERPNext: Cost Comparison at Scale

Both Odoo and ERPNext are open-source ERPs, but their cost structures diverge as you scale:

Odoo Community and ERPNext self-hosted costs include server hosting only — internal IT and development costs are additional.

At scale, Odoo Enterprise offers significantly more functionality per pound than ERPNext Cloud. However, ERPNext's MIT licence provides more freedom for self-hosted deployments and custom modifications without vendor lock-in.

Third Party Extensions

Odoo offers 16,000+ third-party apps via its internal app store, including:

• Payroll
• Asset Management
• Budget Management
• Sales Order Automation
• Product Lifecycle Management
• Data Migration
• Stock Picking

Seamless integration with applications such as WhatsApp, Amazon and QuickBooks.

History

Odoo was launched in 2005 by Fabien Pinckaers in Brussels, Belgium. Originally named TinyERP, the company was renamed OpenERP in 2008, then became Odoo in 2014 as it expanded beyond ERP into business solutions including CRM, e-commerce and business intelligence.

Odoo is headquartered in Belgium with offices in the US, Mexico, Luxembourg, India, China and UAE. The company has over 950 employees and 5 million+ users, with notable customers including Toyota, Hyundai, Danone and Cox.

User Interface

Odoo offers a modern, consistent interface across web, tablet, and mobile devices, widely regarded as more user-friendly than legacy ERP systems. Users interact with familiar navigation and forms, and records such as contacts, tasks, and orders move seamlessly between apps and devices because everything shares one database. Native iOS and Android apps are included with the Enterprise edition, while Community is browser-based.

Deployment Options

Odoo offers multiple hosting and licensing options:

• SaaS (Cloud) — Software hosted on Odoo's cloud infrastructure, accessible from any web browser or mobile device. All infrastructure and upgrades are handled by Odoo with an annual subscription.
• Private Cloud — Software hosted in a private cloud with a provider of your choice or on-premise. Annual subscription includes updates — you decide when to apply them.
• On-Premise (Perpetual) — Traditional purchase where you buy the software licence and pay yearly maintenance. Lower initial cost since hosting and cloud services are excluded.

Implementation & Deployment

A typical Odoo implementation takes 2 to 6 months, though a single-app go-live can happen in a few weeks and a multi-entity rollout can run 9 months or more. The timeline depends on the number of modules, data migration volume, customisation, and whether you use an official Odoo partner. The standard phases are discovery and requirements, configuration, data migration, user acceptance testing, training, and go-live.

To implement Odoo, most SMBs follow a phased approach: start with one or two core apps (often CRM and Sales, or Accounting and Inventory), validate the workflow with real data, then add modules in waves rather than going live with everything at once. This reduces risk and lets users adapt gradually.

Odoo can be deployed three ways: Odoo Online (SaaS cloud), the fastest and lowest-maintenance option where Odoo hosts and upgrades everything; Odoo.sh (private cloud), a managed platform that allows custom code and staging environments; and on-premise, where you host and control the software yourself. Cloud deployments suit teams that want minimal IT overhead, while on-premise suits organisations with strict data-residency or deep customisation needs. Most SMBs choose Odoo Online or Odoo.sh; engaging an experienced Odoo implementation partner is the single biggest predictor of a successful go-live.

Localisation, Languages & Support

Localisations

Odoo provides country-specific localisations for 40+ countries, each preconfigured with the local chart of accounts, tax rules, and statutory reporting. New localisations are added through Odoo-led or partner-led packages, so coverage continues to expand. This makes Odoo viable for multi-country businesses that need compliant accounting in several jurisdictions on one system.

Languages

Odoo's interface is available in more than 30 languages, and individual users can switch their own working language independently. This lets multinational teams operate in their local language while sharing a single database, which is important for distributed SMBs and partner-led international rollouts.

Support

An Odoo Online subscription includes unlimited support at no extra cost, available Monday to Friday, with teams located globally including in San Francisco, Belgium, and India. The free Community edition has no vendor support and relies on community forums or a paid Odoo partner. For business-critical deployments, buyers should budget for either an Enterprise subscription or an ongoing partner support contract.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Odoo a CRM or an ERP?

Odoo is a full ERP suite, and CRM is one of its 50+ integrated apps. Many companies first adopt Odoo for its free CRM, then expand into accounting, inventory, manufacturing, and other modules — all on the same database. So Odoo is correctly described as an ERP that includes a CRM, not a standalone CRM.

Is Odoo ERP free?

Yes — the Odoo Community edition is free and open-source with core functionality, and you can also run one app free on Odoo's cloud. The paid Enterprise edition starts at £20/user/month and unlocks advanced features (bank sync, Studio, native mobile apps, professional support). Even with the free editions, expect hosting, IT, and implementation costs.

How much does Odoo ERP cost per user?

Odoo Enterprise costs £20/user/month on the Standard plan and £30/user/month on the Custom plan (which adds Odoo Studio, multi-company, and external API access). The Community edition has no licence fee. Total cost of ownership also includes implementation, typically £4,000 to £80,000 depending on scope.

What is the difference between Enterprise and Community editions?

The Community edition is free and open-source with core functionality. The Enterprise edition builds on Community with additional modules such as bank reconciliation, a responsive mobile interface, Odoo Studio, native mobile apps, and professional support. Community is self-hosted only, while Enterprise can run on Odoo's cloud, Odoo.sh, or on-premise.

Is Odoo a good ERP and who is it for?

Odoo is a good ERP for small and mid-sized businesses that want broad functionality at a low per-user cost and the freedom to customise. It fits professional services, distribution, retail and eCommerce, and light manufacturing best. It is a weaker fit for large enterprises needing deep out-of-the-box financial consolidation or complex regulated manufacturing.

How long does Odoo implementation take?

A typical Odoo implementation takes 2 to 6 months. A single-app go-live can be done in a few weeks, while a multi-entity, heavily customised rollout can run 9 months or more. Using an experienced Odoo partner and a phased rollout is the biggest factor in a fast, successful go-live.

Is Odoo ERP available in my country/region?

Odoo ERP is available in a growing number of markets, with country-specific localisations for 40+ countries. New countries are added through Odoo-led or partner-led localisations.

How does Odoo define a paying user?

A user is defined as an employee or supplier who has access to Odoo in create and/or edit mode. External users such as portal customers and suppliers are not counted. Website visitors are also not counted.

Odoo ERP Competitors