--- title: "Odoo Community vs Enterprise: how to choose an edition" description: "Odoo Community vs Enterprise compared on licence, apps, hosting, support, upgrades and Studio, sourced from odoo.com, with advice on which edition fits." url: "https://www.noordev.com/blog/odoo-community-vs-enterprise/" lang: "en-CA" --- [Blog](https://www.noordev.com/blog/) # Odoo Community vs Enterprise: how to choose an edition By Sara L, Blogger · Published October 26, 2026 ![Four colleagues standing around an open laptop, discussing what they see on its screen](https://www.noordev.com/assets/blog/odoo-community-vs-enterprise/hero.webp) In the Odoo Community vs Enterprise choice, Community is the open-source edition under [LGPL v3](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/legal/licenses.html), with no subscription. Enterprise is subscription-based, with support and upgrades, and its [plans](https://www.odoo.com/pricing) include “All apps” (one app on the free plan). The [editions page](https://www.odoo.com/page/editions) shows what Community includes. Choose Community if you have developers to run it; Enterprise if you want support and upgrades. Everything below comes from Odoo’s own pages, which we read on 26 October 2026: the [editions page](https://www.odoo.com/page/editions), the [pricing page](https://www.odoo.com/pricing), the [licences page](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/legal/licenses.html) and the 20.0 documentation on packages, upgrades, Studio, inheritance and switching editions. Odoo changes its plans and prices, so we link to them and quote no prices. Check the links before you decide. ## Odoo Community vs Enterprise at a glance | | Odoo Community | Odoo Enterprise | Source | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Licence | LGPL v3 | Odoo Enterprise Edition License v1.0 | [Licences](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/legal/licenses.html) | | Subscription | None required by the licence | Required to run it. Publishing, distributing, sublicensing or selling copies is forbidden | [Licences](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/legal/licenses.html) | | Where it runs | On-premise: official Community packages are on Odoo’s download page | “Odoo Online” on the One App Free and Standard plans; “Odoo Online / Odoo.sh / On-premise” on the Custom plan | [Packages docs](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/on_premise/packages.html), [Pricing](https://www.odoo.com/pricing) | | Apps | Set out line by line on the editions page | “One app” on One App Free; “All apps” on Standard and Custom | [Editions](https://www.odoo.com/page/editions), [Pricing](https://www.odoo.com/pricing) | | Studio and AI | Not listed for Community on Odoo’s plan pages\* | “Odoo Studio / Agentic AI” is listed on the Custom card, not the Standard card; the free plan can use Studio as its one app; installing Studio on a Standard plan triggers an upsell to Custom | [Pricing](https://www.odoo.com/pricing), [Studio docs](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/applications/studio.html) | | Support | Not part of the licence\*: your team or a partner | Unlimited support by email, Monday to Friday, in English, French, Spanish or Dutch, in every plan | [Pricing](https://www.odoo.com/pricing) | | Upgrades | You plan and run them; custom modules are updated by whoever maintains them\* | Included at no extra fee in every plan; upgrading to the latest version is free under the Enterprise Subscription Agreement | [Pricing](https://www.odoo.com/pricing), [Upgrade docs](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/upgrade.html) | | Moving between them | A Community database can be switched to Enterprise | Needs an Enterprise subscription code | [Switch docs](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/on_premise/community_to_enterprise.html) | \* Our reading. Odoo describes support, hosting and upgrades as benefits of its subscription plans, and none of its pages describes them as part of Community. Likewise, the pricing and Studio pages we read place Studio and Agentic AI on the plans and do not list them for Community. The rest of this guide explains each row and what it means when you choose. ## Licence and cost: what “free” covers Community’s licence, LGPL v3, does not ask for a subscription. Enterprise’s [licence](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/legal/licenses.html) says the software can be used, modified and run only with a valid Odoo Enterprise subscription, and forbids publishing, distributing, sublicensing or selling copies of it or of modified copies. That is the licence, not the whole cost. Even on Enterprise, Odoo’s pricing page lists implementation services, In-App-Purchase credits and custom code maintenance as not included. On Community you add the work Odoo otherwise does for you: a server, backups, security updates, upgrades and anyone to call when something breaks. So the useful comparison is not licence fee against no fee. It is the subscription against the hours your team or a partner will spend on those jobs. Our comparison of [Odoo and SAP Business One](https://www.noordev.com/blog/odoo-vs-sap-business-one/) looks at the same trade from the other side. For the Enterprise plans themselves, the [pricing page](https://www.odoo.com/pricing) shows three plans. One App Free is “One app” with “unlimited users”, on Odoo Online. Standard is “All apps”, on Odoo Online. Custom is “All apps” too, hosted on Odoo Online, Odoo.sh or on-premise (Odoo.sh hosting costs extra), and its card lists “Odoo Studio / Agentic AI”, “Multi-Company” and “External API”, which the Standard card does not. The page’s FAQ says Custom is for companies that need Studio, agentic AI, custom developments or the API, and that the free plan allows multiple companies and can take Studio as its one app. If you need those with all apps, price Custom, not Standard. If you plan to connect other systems, the External API is the item to check. ## Apps: where the editions differ Odoo’s [editions page](https://www.odoo.com/page/editions) lists the apps by category (finance, sales, websites, supply chain, human resources, marketing, services, productivity) and marks what each edition includes. It is the page Odoo keeps current, so read it rather than any blog’s summary, ours included. Walk through it with your own list: write down every app and feature you need, then check the Community column for each line. ### Accounting is the question people ask most The editions page splits finance into separate lines. Invoicing is one. Accounting is another, with a “Comprehensive Accounting” group beneath it: general ledger, bank statement reconciliation, analytic accounting, vendor bill OCR, budgets, check writing, consolidation, localizations and reports. Expenses, payroll, documents and sign are further lines. Each line carries its own marks for the two editions. So “does Community have accounting?” has no single answer. Check each line your finance team needs, and ask your implementer for a written list of which of them your edition covers. Our advice, as on our [Odoo page](https://www.noordev.com/odoo/), is Enterprise for any business that expects to run accounting, HR or multi-company features. ## Hosting Community runs where you install it. Odoo’s [packages documentation](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/on_premise/packages.html) says official Community and Enterprise packages can be downloaded from Odoo’s download page, and that the Enterprise packages are for paying on-premise customers or partners. With Community you look after the server, the database and the backups. On the [pricing page](https://www.odoo.com/pricing), the free and Standard plans list Odoo Online only. Custom lists Odoo Online, Odoo.sh or on-premise, with a footnote that the cost of Odoo.sh hosting is not included. ## Support Every Enterprise plan includes, per the [pricing page](https://www.odoo.com/pricing), unlimited support by email, Monday to Friday, in English, French, Spanish or Dutch. The editions page calls it “Unlimited Functional support”. The same pricing page lists implementation services and custom code maintenance as not included. On Community, the support is whoever you arrange: an in-house developer, or a partner under contract. That is a fair choice when you have the people. It is a risk when the one person who knows the system leaves. ## Upgrades Odoo’s [upgrade page](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/upgrade.html) says each major version is supported for three years, and that with Enterprise, upgrading to the most recent version is free under the Enterprise Subscription Agreement. The [pricing page](https://www.odoo.com/pricing) repeats that upgrades are included in all plans at no extra fee. What the upgrade service does not cover matters as much. The same page lists cleaning pre-existing data and configuration, upgrading extra modules without a maintenance contract, and training on the new version. It also says a database with custom modules cannot be upgraded until a version of those modules exists for the target version, and that fixing a customization broken by a new version is the responsibility of its maintainer. The upgrade does not cover switching from Community to Enterprise either. In our experience, whichever edition you run, the upgrade bill follows how much you have customized. We cover that in [Odoo customization: Studio, custom modules and upgrade cost](https://www.noordev.com/blog/odoo-customization/). ## Customization: Studio and code [Studio](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/applications/studio.html) is Odoo’s no-code toolbox for adding or changing fields, views, models, automation rules, webhooks, PDF reports, approval rules and security rules. Odoo lists it on the Custom plan, and the free plan can use it as its one app, as above. Studio is not listed for Community on Odoo’s plan pages, so plan on code there: Python and XML modules that extend Odoo’s own through [inheritance](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/developer/tutorials/server_framework_101/12_inheritance.html), rather than editing Odoo itself. Either way, the customization is what drives your upgrade cost, which the guide linked above compares layer by layer. ## Switching from Community to Enterprise You can start on Community and move later. Odoo documents the switch in [Switch from Community to Enterprise](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/on_premise/community_to_enterprise.html): back up your Community database, install the Enterprise packages (they install over the Community package on Linux), install the `web_enterprise` module, restart the server and enter your Enterprise subscription code. The database is updated rather than replaced. Plan it as a small project with a test copy first. And because Odoo’s upgrade service does not cover the switch itself, do not bundle it with a version upgrade. ## Which Odoo edition fits ### Community fits when - You have developers, in-house or under contract, who will run the server and the upgrades. - Your needs are a few apps, and you have checked each one in the Community column of the editions page. - You can live without Odoo’s support and without Studio. - You would rather own the maintenance than pay a subscription. ### Enterprise fits when - You want Odoo’s support, hosting options and upgrade service included in one subscription. - You expect to need accounting, HR or multi-company, which is also our advice above. - Nobody on your team wants to maintain a server. - You want Studio on all apps, which points to the Custom plan. ### Before you decide 1. List every app and feature you need and check each in the Community column of the [editions page](https://www.odoo.com/page/editions). 2. Count the hours a year you would spend on the server, backups and upgrades, and price them. 3. List the customizations you expect, and who will maintain them. 4. Try it. The One App Free plan costs nothing to test with your own data. The decision is rarely about price alone. It is about who carries the work Odoo would otherwise do. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Odoo Community free? The licence, [LGPL v3](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/legal/licenses.html), does not require a subscription. You still pay for hosting, setup, support and upgrades, whether in staff time or to a partner. ### Does Odoo Community include accounting? Odoo’s [editions page](https://www.odoo.com/page/editions) lists Invoicing and a “Comprehensive Accounting” group as separate lines. Check the Community column on each line you need before you assume it is included. ### Are upgrades included in Odoo Enterprise? Yes. The [pricing page](https://www.odoo.com/pricing) says upgrades are included in all plans at no extra fee. Custom modules still have to be updated by their maintainer, per the [upgrade documentation](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/upgrade.html). ### Which Odoo plan includes Studio? The Custom plan lists it, and the free plan can use it as its one app. Installing Studio on a Standard plan triggers an upsell to Custom, according to the [Studio documentation](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/applications/studio.html). ### Can I move from Community to Enterprise later? Yes. Odoo documents the [switch](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/on_premise/community_to_enterprise.html): back up, install the Enterprise packages and `web_enterprise`, restart, and enter your subscription code. If you are choosing an edition, [talk to us](https://www.noordev.com/contact/) with your list of apps first. We will say plainly which edition fits, and how we run [Odoo implementation and support](https://www.noordev.com/odoo/) for each. Want this done for your business? [See the service](https://www.noordev.com/odoo/) [All posts](https://www.noordev.com/blog/)