The selection of an ERP system involves more than a comparison of subscription prices for software. If the decision is made to implement Odoo 20, there are a number of variables affecting the price of implementation.
Odoo runs on a subscription-based pricing model for its Enterprise version. The pricing policy of Odoo enables access to various business apps through a single subscription; however, the actual price depends on the selected plan, paying users, hosting requirements, etc.
So, for example, a small firm with basic Sales, Purchase, Inventory, and Accounting processes can make use of an Odoo Standard subscription; however, if the firm requires any customized modules, API integration, or running several companies within a single database, then it should choose a Custom subscription plan.
This blog provides an overview of Odoo 20 Pricing, Subscription Plans Differences, Licensing, Hosting, In-App Purchases, and other expenses associated with the implementation of the system.
1. Odoo 20 Pricing: Subscription Plans and Costs
The Odoo software runs using a user-based subscription model, which is only for the enterprise version. Depending on your chosen plan and the number of paying customers, your subscription costs will differ.
From the Odoo US Pricing Page, the following costs can be seen:
| Subscription plan | First-year annual billing | Regular annual billing |
| One App Free | $0 | $0 |
| Standard | $24.90 | $31.10 |
| Custom | $49.00 | $61.00 |
| Light User | $8.90 | Subject to quotation |
Pricing indicated below is per user per month.
For now, both the Standard and Custom plans have promotional pricing for 12 months for only eligible initial users. Normal subscription pricing will come in after the promotional pricing period.
About Plans
One App Free
This plan allows for the use of 1 Odoo application, and it also comes with unlimited users. The One App Free plan is perfect for businesses that would like to start with 1 application and grow into an ERP.
Standard Plan
- Price: $24.90/user/month for the first-year subscription.
- Normal Annual Subscription Price is $31.10/user/month
- This plan comes with all standard Odoo applications.
- Odoo Online hosting
- Standard Odoo features
Custom Plan
- Price: $49.00/user/month for the first-year subscription.
- Normal Annual Subscription Price is $61.00/user/month
- This plan comes with all Odoo applications.
- Odoo Studio
- Multicompany features
- Access to external APIs
- Customization features
- Odoo Online, Odoo.sh or On-Premise deployment
Light User
Light User plan is priced at $8.90/month. It is geared towards eligible employees who would require access to selected employee features rather than back-end access.
1.1 Odoo Subscription Cost Based on Number of Users
For an explanation of the subscription investment, the following examples should be considered based on the rates discussed above.
| Paying users | Standard/month | Custom/month |
| 5 | $124.50 | $245.00 |
| 10 | $249.00 | $490.00 |
| 20 | $498.00 | $980.00 |
| 50 | $1,245.00 | $2,450.00 |
By way of illustration, let us consider a business with 20 users on the backend.
Standard plan:
Equivalent monthly: $498.00
Annual Subscription: $5,976.00
Custom Plan:
Equivalent monthly: $980.00
Annual Subscription: $11,760.00
The calculations made above are based on the special annual billing introductory pricing, excluding taxes and additional services.
It is important that companies consider the long-term financial implications and the annual subscription cost after the promotion is finished.
For 20 users, the annual subscription will amount to:
- Standard: $7,464.00 annually.
- Custom: $14,640.00 annually.
This explains why there is a need for businesses to distinguish between promotions and recurrent prices in relation to subscription prices.
Prices Note: The prices above apply to the US and not necessarily to the rest of the world. Prices are different based on regions on the Odoo pricing page.
2. Understanding the Odoo 20 Subscription Model
This type of enterprise makes use of the subscription pricing strategy.
The company organization is charged based on the number of paying users and the subscription package opted for.
The first benefit of this subscription package is that it allows multiple applications in Odoo to be accessed with one fee only.
- The subscription package.
- The number of paying users.
- The billing period.
What is a paying user?
A paid user is typically someone who uses the Odoo backend for creating, viewing, or modifying business documents.
Examples of paid backend users of Odoo include:
- Salesperson - quotes and sales orders
- Accountant - invoicing and payments
- Warehouse staff - inventory
- Manager - business transactions and reports
Customer and Supplier accesses to invoices, quotes, or deliveries via the portal is not considered a paid backend user of Odoo.
Odoo provides the choice of Light User license category in some cases of suitable employee usage. Should be verified with Odoo.
Note: The number of employees in the organization is not automatically the number of Odoo licensed users. Better practice would be to purchase licenses based on Odoo licensing requirements.
3. Odoo Standard vs Custom Plan
However, there are various subscription models available in Odoo according to the requirements of the business.
There are two subscription models that are applicable for almost all enterprise-level deployments, namely, Standard and Custom.
Standard Subscription Model
The standard subscription model is ideal for businesses that would like to use the standard functionalities of Odoo applications without requiring any form of customization or configuration.
The main characteristics of this subscription model are as follows:
- Availability of Odoo's standard applications.
- Use of Odoo Online hosting facility.
- Standard configuration and functionality of the application.
- Upgrades to Odoo software.
- Standard infrastructure, backup and maintenance services.
- Odoo support.
This model is suitable for those organizations that are capable of managing their operations through the standard features provided by Odoo.
An example of this would be a retail company using Odoo's standard Sales, Purchases, Inventory, and Point of Sale functionalities without any customization.
Custom Plan
The Custom package targets business firms that require flexibility, customization, or better deployment methods.
The Custom package is equipped with the Standard package features, along with features such as:
- Odoo Studio.
- Custom modules and development.
- Other systems' APIs.
- Multi-company environment.
- Compatibility with Odoo.sh hosting service.
- On-premise deployment.
- Moreover, other customized services.
A manufacturing company is one such case where a Custom package would be required.
What would prompt the upgrade to Custom from Standard?
Companies need to know particular configurations and technical details that would necessitate a Custom package.
| Requirement | Plan implication |
| Standard Odoo applications | Standard |
| Odoo Studio | Custom |
| Multi-company database | Custom |
| External API access | Custom |
| Custom-developed modules | Custom |
| Odoo.sh deployment | Custom |
| On-premise deployment | Custom |
A practical example:
For example, a company may begin using Odoo’s Standard plan with Sales, Purchase, Inventory, and Accounting.
However, the company may decide to:
- Add another company to the existing database.
- Develop a custom module for their business operations.
- Integrate Odoo with another warehouse management system using an API.
Such needs lead to Custom plans.
The fact of having multiple companies on a standard database would mean an immediate need to upgrade the database to Custom. Likewise, the use of Odoo Studio and anything related to API functionality would require a subscription.
There is only one exception here: Integration done by Odoo, including integration with payment providers and shipping, is not considered automatic API integration. It depends on whether the third-party application uses an API to interact with Odoo.
4. Odoo Hosting Options and Their Costs
Hosting is yet another essential component that needs to be taken into account while calculating the total cost of Odoo implementation.
Odoo provides the following types of hostings:
Odoo Online
This is Odoo's cloud hosting solution.
This option suits perfectly those businesses that want to use Odoo functionality but have no need to own their servers.
The features are as follows:
- Cloud hosting.
- Managed database services.
- Backup capabilities.
- Infrastructure security and maintenance.
- Automated updates.
- No server administration needed.
But Odoo Online does not support the installation of custom Python modules and server-side code changes.
Odoo.sh
Odoo.sh is the cloud hosting solution provided by Odoo for Odoo custom solutions hosting and maintenance.
This is helpful for developers and companies who implement custom modules.
The following features can be found in Odoo.sh:
- Development, Staging, and Production branches.
- Git integration.
- Automated builds.
- Module dependency management.
- Test environments.
- Web shell and SSH access.
- Deployment management.
Although access to Odoo.sh is provided in the Custom subscription, one should take into account that the price for Odoo.sh hosting varies.
It depends on the infrastructure used in the project.
On-Premise Hosting
Hosting services are one of the options where people want more control over their infrastructure or need some settings.
However, there are many other things to be considered:
- Server/cloud infrastructure
- Database administration
- Backup administration
- Security
- Server maintenance
- Technical management
- Disaster recovery
A custom subscription is required for the On-Premise enterprise version deployment.
Hosting comparison
| Feature | Odoo Online | Odoo.sh | On-Premise |
| Managed hosting | Yes | Managed platform | Customer-managed |
| Custom Python modules | No | Yes | Yes |
| Development branches | No | Yes | Depends on setup |
| Server access | No | Available | Full control |
| Infrastructure management | Odoo | Odoo.sh platform | Customer |
| Custom plan required | No | Yes | Yes |
| Additional hosting cost | Included | Separate | Infrastructure-dependent |
Selection of the hosting service should depend upon the need for customizations, infrastructural policy, technical availability, and maintenance capability.
5. Understanding Odoo In-App Purchases (IAP)
There are additional services that Odoo provides aside from its IAP services.
These services are not included in regular subscription prices. Companies purchase prepaid credits and use them based on the services required.
These services include:
SMS
SMS services give customers an opportunity to send text messages through Odoo.
Applications of SMS services include:
- Sales orders
- Appointment notifications
- Payments reminders
- Marketing communications
- Deliveries notifications
Consumption of the credits depends on the number of characters in the message and the country location.
OCR and Document Digitization
Document Digitization in Odoo uses optical character recognition and artificial intelligence in order to retrieve data from uploaded documents.
Some popular cases of usage of this functionality may include:
- Invoice digitization.
- Expense document processing.
- Curriculum vitae digitization.
This service provides the possibility to save the effort of manual data entry, though document processing consumes credits.
Partner Autocomplete
The Partner Autocomplete helps users complete their information on business contacts using company names.
Based on the availability of the information, the following may be provided:
- Company name.
- Address.
- Phone number.
- Email.
- Tax information.
- Every autocomplete process will cost you credits.
Lead Mining
The Lead Generation module is used by business organizations to discover their new clients and CRM leads.
This feature will help sales departments find new leads based on specific criteria.
The generation of leads uses up IAP credits.
Snailmail
The Snailmail feature helps business organizations to mail paper documents through Odoo. Such documents include:
- Customers' invoices.
- Letters reminding them of their payments.
- And other documents.
Where can you check IAP usage and credits?
In Operations.
Such data regarding IAPs may be obtained in the subscription management area:
My Subscription > In-App Purchases
With the help of the subscription management, one can easily find out which services are available as well as view purchases of those. The interface may vary.
In addition, there is the Odoo IAP Catalog where all the available services and credit bundles are listed by the company.
Suggestion: Before using any IAP (such as SMS, OCR, Lead Mining, etc.), it is suggested to estimate the amount of usage and purchase credits.
6. Additional Costs Beyond the Odoo Subscription
One of the most important considerations regarding the implementation of Odoo is that the subscription cost does not equal the total cost of the project.
The ERP implementation must undergo the following processes: business analysis, configuration, data preparation, testing, training, and technical support.
The following are some of the costs that must be considered.
6.1 Implementation Cost
The implementation cost refers to the customization of the Odoo system in relation to the business needs of the organization.
The following are some of the activities involved.
- Requirement gathering.
- Business process analysis.
- Configuration of modules.
- Creation of chart of accounts.
- Setting up the warehouse.
- Setup of users and access rights.
- Setting up workflow.
- Functional testing.
- Go live preparation.
The implementation cost depends on the number of applications and configuration.
6.2 Customization and Development Cost
It is impossible to do all the operations through the use of Odoo standard functionalities.
Sometimes the organizations will have to customize the modules, fields, workflows, reporting, or even integration with other systems.
These include:
- Workflow processes customization.
- Industry-specific business process customization.
- Inventory processes customization.
- Financial reporting.
- Customizing the Point-of-Sale Module.
- Integration with other systems.
- Automated business notifications.
The customization cost will largely depend on the complexity and the number of workflows that are there.
Always try to find out whether the processes to be customized can be done using Odoo standard functionalities.
6.3 Data Migration Cost
Migration of the data that exists within your company is another critical element of costs involved.
For example, when migrating from your current ERP system or other software, you will need to migrate:
- Customers/vendors.
- Product/product categories.
- Chart of accounts.
- Opening balances.
- Outstanding invoices/invoices.
- Inventory balances.
- Transactions.
- Employees.
Complexity of the migration process may vary greatly depending on many things, including the volume of data to be migrated, the structure of the system the data exists in, the quality of the data, mapping, and validation.
Clean customer/product migration from Excel will be less complex than transaction migration from your previous ERP.
Before the migration, the data should be cleaned and validated.
6.4 User Training Cost
Training will help ensure that the employees are well-versed in the Odoo system.
The training program consists of:
- Sales & CRM training.
- Purchasing & Inventory Training.
- Accounting training.
- Manufacturing Process Workflow training.
- POS training.
- Administrator training.
The price for training is determined by the number of users, the applications that are used for the training, the number of training sessions, and whether the training is on-site or remote.
Incorrect training will result in mistakes in transactions and inefficiency.
6.5 Support and Maintenance Cost
There is always a need for technical and functional support once the system has been deployed.
Some of which are:
- Bug fixes.
- Workflow modification.
- Helpdesk.
- Performance monitoring.
- Security patching.
- Integration support.
- Database monitoring.
- Upgrade support.
It should be noted that the support services that are included in the subscription service are different from the support services offered by the partner who did your deployment/custom software maintenance.
The reasons are the service level agreement, complexity of the solution, and support requirements.
7. Custom Code Maintenance: A Cost That Businesses Often Overlook
There are many advantages of custom programming for business, though it is associated with a long-term commitment to supporting the developed software.
Every custom module becomes a part of the technical infrastructure of the company, and its modification becomes required with each software update or new business needs in Odoo.
So, for example, custom programming support for 15 custom modules during an Odoo upgrade will take much more time than for companies that use standard applications.
Maintenance tasks may include the following:
- Outdated methods and APIs review.
- Revision of the Python code.
- Modification of XML views.
- JavaScript and OWL update.
- Resolution of module dependencies.
How to calculate the size of custom code with odoo-bin cloc
Odoo gives an opportunity to use the command called cloc to evaluate the codebase and the number of lines of code.
It could help technical teams to estimate the size of a custom software development process and make estimations about maintenance efforts.
For example:
./odoo-bin cloc -c odoo.conf -d your_database
The above command would allow the analysis of modules that have been installed in the particular database and provide code statistics.
- Such statistics would help you to evaluate:
- Total number of code lines.
- Number of Python codes.
- Number of XML codes.
- Number of JavaScript codes.
- Overall size of the modules analyzed.
8. Calculation of the Total Cost of Ownership of Odoo 20
Total cost of ownership is the consideration for the business organization and not just the monthly price.
The cost estimation model comprises the following components:
| Cost component | Calculation basis |
| Subscription | Paying users x plan rate x billing period |
| Odoo.sh hosting | Selected hosting resources |
| Implementation | Functional and technical project effort |
| Custom development | Development and testing effort |
| Data migration | Data volume and migration complexity |
| Training | Number of users and training sessions |
| IAP services | Expected monthly credit consumption |
| Support | Monthly or annual support agreement |
| Maintenance | Custom code maintenance and upgrades |
| Infrastructure | Servers, backups, and monitoring where applicable |
9. Where to Check the Latest Odoo 20 Pricing
Nevertheless, Odoo subscription pricing, regional pricing, special offers, and business terms might be different at times.
Therefore, a company is advised to check the Odoo pricing page prior to estimating the price.
Official Sources:
While checking the price, consider the following:
- Subscription pricing for Standard & Custom packages.
- Billing cycle per month/annually.
- Number of paid users.
- Discounts and special offers.
- Regional currency and taxes.
- Odoo.sh hosting cost.
- In-App Purchase credits price.
- Implementation and Partner services charges.
Do not use outdated screenshots and other third-party sources while estimating the offer for your client.
To comprehend the pricing of Odoo 20, it is essential to go beyond the subscription fees and consider many other aspects, such as plan choice, user base, hosting service, use of IAP services, implementation services, development, migration, and maintenance services.
The Odoo Online and Standard plans would be suitable for organizations that can operate on standard Odoo features and Odoo Online Hosting Service, but for organizations that require complicated customizations, multi-company support, and external APIs as well, the Custom plan is preferable.
It is important for organizations to have an understanding of their functional and technical needs prior to signing up for subscriptions, as well as considering future expenses related to custom code maintenance.
An implementation process that focuses on using standard Odoo features, good quality data, proper licensing, and maintainable customizations will help in controlling costs.
To read more about How Much Should You Budget for an Odoo 20 Migration?, refer to our blog How Much Should You Budget for an Odoo 20 Migration?.