In the digital age, managing businesses with online enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools is a must to optimize performance and get the best outcome.
Odoo, an open-source and one of the most popular business management software in the world, serves over 12 million happy users worldwide for a plethora of reasons, and here are some:
Comprehensive & Integrable
With more than 70 certified and integrable apps, we streamline your business processes with data centralization and sharing.
Scalale
As your business expands, assemble the apps you need and scale your suite with more.
Customizable
Fine-tune your system with shortcuts using the Studio app. For more advanced features, enhance your suite with third-party apps available on Odoo Apps Store.
Easy To Use
With an intuitive design, Odoo allows team members with varying computer literacy to collaborate seamlessly and with ease on the same platform.
Simple Pricing
Use one app for free, or get access to all certified apps under our Standard or Custom plan for a single fee with no hidden cost.
Such great flexibility helps Odoo fit into your unique business workflow—but we also understand that it could be overwhelming for those unfamiliar with our products and services. Here are five things you want to know to optimize the use of Odoo before you commit.
1. Odoo Community or Odoo Enterprise?
Did we already mention that it's entirely free? Open-source, Odoo Community is hosted on your own or rented server to manage the operations of finance, sales, eCommerce, human resources, marketing, services, and productivity across 29 certified apps that come with their basic features.
If you are starting your own online business, Odoo Community is your optimal choice for testing and managing the database entirely on your own!
Unlock the full set of features by upgrading to the licensed Odoo Enterprise by paying monthly or annually as your business expands. Our Enterprise version unlocks you to comprehensive accounting features and exclusive functionalities, such as payroll management, Amazon Connector, and more. Your database will also equip more new features with our regular product upgrades. In addition, Odoo Enterprise users are eligible for our unlimited functional support by simply submitting a ticket.
Designed for businesses ready to take off, the Enterprise version maximizes your resources by supporting custom developments—Cross-check with this table to see which version covers more of your needs.
2. Where Should I Host Odoo?
On-Premise
Other than the Community version, Odoo Enterprise users can also host their database on private servers. This hostage grants end users full freedom to run the database and infrastructure, as well as the liberty to make all the custom changes they want.
To put it in short, it's all yours. We recommend this to those with advanced technical knowledge, as Odoo SA is free of responsibility here regarding your infrastructure's robustness, performance, and scalability.
On Odoo Cloud, we provide either software (SaaS) or a platform as a service (PaaS)—both automatically update your database to the latest Odoo version—ideal for small and medium-sized enterprises to start their Odoo journey.
Odoo Online (SaaS)
Performance and security are the biggest benefits of hosting your database with Odoo Online—With 19 global offices, Odoo monitors your database 24/7 across time zones. By doing a full backup of your database every day to have it replicated on at least three different machines on different continents, Odoo allows you to download any of your backups within the last three months while guaranteeing maximum security.
Supported by Odoo Studio, Odoo SaaS users can also tailor the low-code platform to their unique needs.
Odoo.sh (PaaS)
Odoo.sh stands in the best of both worlds. This PaaS hosting option enables end users to enjoy everything they already do with Odoo SaaS while also granting access to the open-source code for customization purposes.
Besides the certified apps, Odoo.sh also supports any third-party apps available on our app store and built-in tools that will help you to develop new apps and custom features such as:
- Integration with GitHub
- An online editor
- Continuous integration (your own "runbot")
- A development and staging environment
- Branch management (track, fork, merge, etc...)
- Automated testing of every new commit
- And more
Incredibly flexible and powerful, Odoo PaaS serves your business with the deployment and maintenance convenience of Odoo Online and the freedom of Odoo On-Premise as it grows.
Every business is unique. This is why we offer the freedom for users to choose from the different hosting options to create a management suite that best fits their businesses within budget and control. Maximizing our support, Odoo also partners with over 3000 local service providers to provide the best regional support, functionally and culturally.
Click here for a more comprehensive comparison.
3. Which Apps Do I Need?
Our certified apps are categorized into 8 major modules:
- Sales
- Finance
- Inventory & Manufacturing
- Website
- Marketing
- Human Resources
- Services
- Productivity
As their names suggest, each module targets one operation line in your business. Integrable and instantly automated, apps in these modules contribute to data sharing and centralization, optimizing resources and streamlining every workflow.
"Our experience with Odoo is excellent, "quoting from Dipesh Nag, the Managing Director at Grameen Danone, a Bangladeshi social enterprise that manufactures dairy products. "It gives us the flexibility to tackle all the issues in the procedure faster and more accurately. I recommend Odoo to any other organization looking to be a more agile entity and drive business performance."
Have a quick glance at the core Odoo apps:
Book a demo to see how Odoo can be tailored to streamline your business or experience the power of Odoo first-hand today with a 15-day free trial, no credit card required.
4. Can Odoo Help With Launching My Online Business?
Yes, you can. Odoo understands a crisp online presentation is just as crucial for the success of a modern business. Whether you are planning to launch your online business or are hoping to implement an ERP to assist with operations at the backend, Odoo has just the support you need.
For new entrepreneurs-to-be, Odoo offers our Web Design Service (WDS) to launch your online business. Guaranteeing the best practices of UX/UI and customer journey, Odoo assigns an in-house team of professional web designers, sales experts, and front-end developers to set up your business with an apt breeding ground for instant success and great first impression.
And we have equal support for up-and-running businesses, too. Be it project and customer relationship management (CRM) or finance and inventory administration, Odoo allows businesses to tailor the system with selected functionalities to support the existing operations, no matter where you host your website. Click here to know more!
5. Where Do I Go To Know More About Odoo?
Odoo is all about sustainable business development—that's why the modular architecture and annual product updates. Besides the detailed documentation on all standard and localized features available in our certified apps, you can always count on our 12+ million-strong online community and online forums to brainstorm and inspire.
In addition, we provide many more functional support and success cases to help you better understand our products and utilize them to their full potential. Through our frequent local Roadshows, training sessions, webinars, and e-Learning platform, we keep users updated with new Odoo features, integrations, product updates, and more while guaranteeing a chance for you to consult with one of our project managers and functional consultants.
For those who want to understand how your industry utilizes Odoo on a more personal level, we ensure we bring new stories that dive deep into successful integrations from varying sectors around the globe.
Of course, you are always welcome to reach out and consult with us directly to see how we can scale your business!
5 Things You Should Know Before Using Odoo