Odoo

One platform of business apps instead of many separate tools

Companies that run sales in one program, accounting in another and stock in a third often enter the same data several times and lack a complete view of the business. Odoo is built to remove that problem. It is a customizable, open source suite of business applications, and the company describes its apps as fully integrated with each other so that records stay in one place.

The apps and how they fit together

The suite covers CRM, sales, project management, manufacturing, inventory, accounting and invoicing, along with eCommerce and website tools. A company chooses the apps it needs now and adds others later. Alongside the apps from Odoo itself there are tens of thousands of community apps contributed by outside developers, which Odoo presents as an answer to nearly every business need in one modular system. The company says usability improvements made to its framework apply automatically across all apps, and that it publishes a new version every year.

Artificial intelligence across the apps

Odoo says AI is built into its apps to automate work, tailor features and carry out research. It also says that, because the code is open, developers can use Odoo.sh to build custom modules, including with AI coding tools.

Community and Enterprise editions

Odoo comes in two editions. Community is open source and free to use. Enterprise adds extra apps, infrastructure and professional services. Customers can choose the hosted cloud, including Odoo.sh, or install the software on their own premises. Data is stored in PostgreSQL with no proprietary format, and the source code is available through GitHub. The company says a community of more than 100,000 developers works on the platform.

Companies of every size

Odoo says it is designed for businesses regardless of size or budget, and it divides its audience into micro companies of one to five employees, small companies, medium-sized companies and large organizations of more than 250 people. Odoo says its open source development model has made it the world's largest store of business apps.