The main differences between Odoo Community Edition and Odoo Enterprise Edition rest in the availability of advanced features, official support, and hosting options. The Community Edition is free and open-source, making it ideal for small to medium-sized businesses with in-house technical expertise or outsourced assistance. In contrast, the Enterprise Edition offers additional premium functionalities/apps and official support, making it suitable for larger organizations or those requiring more advanced features, professional services, or continued support.
Since Odoo is an open-source software, as with any open-source software, anyone can download and use it for free. This version is known as Odoo Community, however there is also a more advanced licensed edition of Odoo known as Odoo Enterprise. While Odoo Enterprise does offer more features than Odoo Community, it is still fundamentally the same platform as Enterprise is Community with additions built on top. An important question to ask yourself when considering Odoo is whether you need Enterprise or Community, and the best way to figure that out is to know the differences between the two.
The Differences Between Community & Enterprise
As mentioned, Odoo Enterprise is an extension of Odoo Community, so the former has all of the capabilities of the latter. So the real question is, what does Enterprise offer you that Community does not? (Check out this fun comparison chart as well.) First off, Enterprise clients are offered more professional support from Odoo, including technical support and additional hosting options. Additionally, Enterprise clients are able to utilize the Odoo app on their mobile devices. All the remaining differences between Enterprise and Community are apps or features of apps that are exclusive to Enterprise.Â
Here is the full list of apps and app features that are exclusive to Enterprise: (know that these are simply the differences and that there are way more apps you get with Odoo on either version. Find the full app list here.)
- Accounting
- Invoicing Automation (feature)
- Payroll
- Documents
- Digital Signing
- Loyalty Programs & Gift Cards (feature)
- Subscriptions
- Rentals
- Amazon Connector
- Barcode Scanning (feature)
- Workcenter Control Panel (feature)PLM
- Quality Control
- HR Departmental Dashboards (feature)
- Referrals
- Appraisals
- Social Marketing
- Email Marketing Templates (feature)
- Marketing Automation
- Timesheet Validation (feature)
- Field Services
- Helpdesk
- Planning
- Appointments
- Approvals
- VoIP
- IoT
- Studio
This list may seem long, but compared to the full list of apps and features available in Odoo Community, this is only a small set. Of course, that is not to say that these are not powerful tools that are exclusive to Odoo Enterprise; only that they are not all that Odoo has to offer. (For the advanced tinkerers, check out the OCA and their work.)
The Key Differences, at a glance
- Odoo Community Edition:
- Free & Open-Source: Available to the public without any licensing fees.
- Basic Business Applications: Includes essential business applications like CRM, inventory management, sales, project management, etc.
- Customization: Highly customizable with the flexibility to add or develop your own modules.
- Community Support: Relies on the global Odoo community for support and troubleshooting.
- Odoo Enterprise Edition:
- Paid Version: Requires a subscription fee.
- Advanced Features: Offers advanced features, proprietary apps, and premium support.
- Official Support: Includes access to official Odoo support and regular updates.
- Additional Hosting Options: Provides extra hosting options like Odoo.sh, not available in the Community Edition.
Pricing and Costs
Price is a critical consideration that any business will want to review before making a decision on any software package, including Odoo. As mentioned, Odoo Community is open-source and free for anyone to use, however Odoo Enterprise requires a license. As for taking full advantage of Enterprise, there are several pricing plans available, both standard and custom, on a yearly or monthly renewal per user. The standard Odoo plan grants you access to all apps except Odoo Studio and is hosted via Odoo Online, which has some limitations, but also gives you the option for their one-free-app promotion. A custom plan gives you the option to self-host or host via Odoo.sh (although this option carries an additional cost in hosting); additionally, it enables you to use multi-company environments, Odoo Studio, and the external API. Thankfully, these plans also offer a free trial so people can use and experience Enterprise before committing to it! (Lighthouse can also hook you up with a longer free trial!)
If you are interested in utilizing Odoo for your organization, then Lighthouse IT Solutions is here to help you. We can help you with setup, data migration, hosting, maintenance, development, and more. Our Navigate solutions, combined with our Odoo partnership, are your business' solution to achieving that next level of efficiency and productivity.