Dolibarr vs Odoo · Open-source ERP comparison · Updated October 2026
Dolibarr vs Odoo: which open-source ERP fits a small distributor?
Both started as free, open-source ERPs. One stayed free. This is the comparison we wish we had before we chose, written by an operator who runs Dolibarr with 26 custom modules in a live distribution business. If you are weighing Odoo ERP against Dolibarr (Odoo vs Dolibarr), or looking for Odoo alternatives or Dolibarr alternatives, start here.
The short answer
Dolibarr if you want enterprise-size capability with no license line. Odoo if you want a vendor-run SaaS and will pay per seat.
Dolibarr is released under the GPL v3 or later. Every module, including stock, barcode, lot and serial tracking, bills of materials, manufacturing orders, double-entry accounting, point of sale and the REST API, is in the free core. There is no paid edition.
Odoo Community is free under the LGPL v3, but the parts an inventory business leans on hardest are Enterprise-only: comprehensive accounting with bank reconciliation, the barcode app, Quality, PLM, Studio, the iOS and Android apps, and vendor hosting, support and version upgrades. Odoo pricing for Enterprise is per user per month: US$24.90 on the Standard plan or US$49.00 on the Custom plan with yearly billing. odoo.com shows those as discounted from US$31.10 and US$61.00, and notes the discount is valid for 12 months on the initial users ordered.
For 20 users on the Custom plan, that is $11,760 a year at the first-year rate and $14,640 at the regular rate, before implementation, and it grows with every seat you add. Dolibarr is $0 for 20 users or 200.
Side by side
What you get, what you pay for, what you own.
An ERP software comparison or ERP system comparison is only as good as its sources. Facts below are from dolibarr.org, the Dolibarr GitHub repository and odoo.com as of October 2026. Prices change; check the vendor page before you sign anything.
| Criterion | Dolibarr | Odoo |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL v3 or later. One edition, fully open source. | Community: LGPL v3. Enterprise: proprietary subscription on top of Community. |
| Software cost | $0 for unlimited users. | One App Free: $0 (one app). Enterprise: US$24.90 (Standard) or US$49.00 (Custom) per user per month, yearly billing, for the first 12 months on initial users; US$31.10 / US$61.00 regular. |
| Full accounting | Included: double-entry ledger, bank accounts, reconciliation, reports. | Invoicing in Community. Comprehensive accounting (bank reconciliation, budgets, consolidation, localizations) is Enterprise. |
| Multi-warehouse stock | Included | Included in Community. |
| Barcode scanning | Included in core, extended by our modules for receiving, picking and cycle counts. | Barcode app is Enterprise-only. |
| Lot, batch and serial tracking | Included | Included in Community. |
| Manufacturing | Included: bills of materials and manufacturing orders. | MRP in Community. Shop floor, scheduling, PLM, Quality and Maintenance are Enterprise. |
| Point of sale | Included | Included in Community. |
| Quality control | Not in core. Pass/Fail QC is part of our Digital Warehouse Execution module. | Enterprise-only. |
| Multi-company | Not native. Requires an external module. | Included on the Custom plan. |
| Mobile apps | Responsive web app on any device. No vendor-run native app. | iOS and Android apps with Enterprise. |
| No-code customization | Extra fields and module framework. No Studio equivalent. | Studio, Enterprise (Custom plan). |
| REST API | Included | External API on the Custom plan. |
| Hosting | Self-host on any PHP + MariaDB/MySQL/PostgreSQL server, or a partner cloud. You own the data. | Odoo Online (vendor cloud), Odoo.sh or on-premise with the Custom plan. |
| Upgrade path | Clean when customizations stay in modules. We run 26 modules with 1 native source change. | Vendor-managed upgrades with Enterprise; custom code must be migrated each major version. |
| Who it suits | Inventory businesses from $5M to $100M that want enterprise capability without a per-seat bill, and are willing to work with a partner on modules. | Companies that want a polished vendor SaaS with a large app store and partner network, and can carry the per-user subscription. |
Full feature checklist
Dolibarr vs Odoo, feature by feature.
The same 66 features we use for every ERP comparison on this site (see all four ERPs side by side). A plain check for Dolibarr means a module in the free, stock Dolibarr core. Anything Built-N-AI built is marked separately, so you can see exactly what comes out of the box and what comes from us. Use “Only differences” to focus on the 27 rows where the two systems differ.
| Feature | Dolibarr | Odoo | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financials | |||
| General ledger / accounting | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Customer invoicing (AR) | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Vendor bills (AP) | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Bank reconciliation | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Dolibarr stock: manual reconciliation against bank statements. Built-N-AI also adds a custom reconciliation module. |
| Online payments | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Dolibarr: Stripe, PayPal, direct debit. |
| Sales tax | Partial | ✓ Included | Dolibarr stock: tax rates on invoice lines and a Tax module that records tax payments; no automated U.S. sales tax by state/county/city. |
| Multi-currency | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Fixed assets | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Loans | ✓ Included | Not verified | |
| Margin tracking | ✓ Included | Not verified | |
| Expense reports | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Contracts / recurring revenue | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Odoo: Subscriptions app. |
| Multi-company / intercompany | Not available | Add-on, extra cost | Dolibarr: third-party DoliStore module only. Odoo: Custom plan required. |
| Unalterable audit log | ✓ Included | Not verified | |
| Sales and CRM | |||
| Customers / prospects (CRM) | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Quotes / proposals | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Sales orders | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Product variants / dynamic pricing | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Email marketing / surveys | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Calendar / booking / events | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Customer portal | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Help desk / tickets | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Dolibarr 24 adds AI tools in the ticket editor. |
| Knowledge base | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Inventory and warehouse | |||
| Products / services | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Multi-warehouse stock | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Lot / serial tracking | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Stock transfers | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Purchasing / RFQs | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Receiving | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Built-N-AI adds AI receiving and bulk receiving: labor cost per truckload down 81%. |
| Barcodes / labels | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Odoo: Barcode app. |
| Bin locations | Built-N-AI module | ✓ Included | Built-N-AI custom module, not stock Dolibarr. |
| Picking | Built-N-AI module | ✓ Included | Built-N-AI digital wave picking. Built-N-AI custom module, not stock Dolibarr. |
| Shipping | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Built-N-AI adds one-click shipping and tracking. |
| Quality control | Built-N-AI module | ✓ Included | Odoo: Quality app. Built-N-AI custom module, not stock Dolibarr. |
| Returns (RMA / RTV) | Built-N-AI module | ✓ Included | Odoo: Repairs app. Built-N-AI custom module, not stock Dolibarr. |
| Manufacturing | |||
| Bills of materials | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Manufacturing orders / MRP | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Workstations / shop floor | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Advanced planning and scheduling | Not available | Not verified | |
| Product configurator / estimating | Not available | Not verified | |
| Product lifecycle management (PLM) | Not available | ✓ Included | Odoo: PLM app. |
| Equipment maintenance | Not verified | ✓ Included | Odoo: Maintenance app. |
| Service and projects | |||
| Field service / technicians | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Built-N-AI adds a technician testing and chain-of-custody module. |
| Projects / tasks / timesheets | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| HR | |||
| Employees / leave / recruitment | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Payroll | Not verified | ✓ Included | Dolibarr Salaries module records payments; payroll tax calculation not verified. Odoo payroll depends on country localization; US coverage not verified. |
| Members / donations | ✓ Included | Not verified | |
| Commerce | |||
| Point of sale | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Website / e-commerce | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Marketplace sales (eBay, Amazon, Whatnot) | Built-N-AI module | Not verified | Built-N-AI: eBay reconciliation, Whatnot import. Built-N-AI custom module, not stock Dolibarr. |
| Platform | |||
| API / integrations | ✓ Included | Add-on, extra cost | Odoo external API requires the Custom plan. |
| Workflow / scheduled jobs / alerts | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Document management | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Odoo: Documents and Sign apps. |
| Build your own modules | ✓ Included | Add-on, extra cost | Dolibarr: Module Builder plus full source code. Odoo: Studio and custom modules require the Custom plan. |
| Single sign-on (LDAP / OAuth / OpenID) | ✓ Included | Not verified | |
| Mobile app | Not verified | ✓ Included | Dolibarr is a web app; native mobile app not verified. Odoo mobile apps are Enterprise only. |
| Reporting / dashboards | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Dolibarr stock: 63 dashboard widgets plus statistics and turnover reports. Built-N-AI adds custom operational reports. |
| AI | |||
| AI text tools (email, web content, summarize, translate) | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | Dolibarr needs your own AI provider key (OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, Groq). |
| AI assistant | ✓ Experimental | ✓ Included | Dolibarr 24, experimental. Odoo AI agent connects to ChatGPT or Gemini. Odoo lists Agentic AI on its Custom plan. |
| AI agent connection (MCP server) | ✓ Experimental | Not verified | Dolibarr 24, experimental. Odoo: third-party MCP modules only, none native found. |
| AI receiving / product identification | Built-N-AI module | Not verified | Built-N-AI Advanced Intake: photo to identification in under 30 seconds. Built-N-AI custom module, not stock Dolibarr. |
| Licensing | |||
| Unlimited users | ✓ Included | Not available | DoliCloud hosting charges per user; self-hosting does not. Odoo One App Free has unlimited users but only one app. Odoo also sells a Light User license at $8.90 per user per month. |
| Free software license | ✓ Included | Not available | Odoo Community edition is free (LGPL) but lacks Enterprise apps, support and mobile apps. |
| Published pricing | ✓ Included | ✓ Included | |
| Full source code access | ✓ Included | Partial | Odoo: Community edition only. |
| Run on your own server | ✓ Included | Add-on, extra cost | Odoo: Custom plan or Community edition. |
Sources: Dolibarr from the official Dolibarr 22.0.4 source code and the Dolibarr 24 changelog. Odoo from odoo.com editions, Glorium Technologies on Odoo licensing, AI in Odoo 19. Add-on prices are third-party estimates where the vendor does not publish them. “Not verified” means we could not confirm it from vendor or published sources; it does not mean the feature is missing. Checked 9 October 2026.
Pricing and feature information is for general comparison only. It reflects our research as of 9 October 2026. Vendor prices, plans, editions and contract terms change often, and figures marked as estimates come from third parties, not the vendors. Built-N-AI does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information and is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Always confirm current pricing, features and terms directly with the vendor before you buy.
Price protection
What happens to your bill next year.
A subscription price is a starting point, not a promise. Here is what each vendor commits to at renewal, and what has already happened.
| Dolibarr | Odoo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price protection | No license fee to raise. Dolibarr is $0 under the GPL v3 or later, and the versions you already run cannot be repriced or taken back. | No published cap on renewal prices. The first-year discount applies for 12 months, on the initial users ordered only. |
| Recent price increases | None. There is no license fee. | U.S. Custom plan list price up 31%, from $46.70 to $61.00 per user per month (between late December 2025 and January 2026). Custom plan up about 20% in Europe, announced 24 September 2026. Previous change: 2022. |
Hosting, support and implementation can change in price on any system, Dolibarr included; this compares the software license. Sources: odoo.com pricing, Mediod Consulting, Skysize. Checked 9 October 2026.
Pricing and feature information is for general comparison only. It reflects our research as of 9 October 2026. Vendor prices, plans, editions and contract terms change often, and figures marked as estimates come from third parties, not the vendors. Built-N-AI does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information and is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Always confirm current pricing, features and terms directly with the vendor before you buy.
The objection you will read elsewhere
“Dolibarr is fine for very small companies, but it runs out of road.”
That is the recurring line in nearly every Dolibarr review and Dolibarr vs Odoo comparison, and for stock Dolibarr it is a fair point. Out of the box it will not run a paperless warehouse, photograph a unit and create the product record, or push product data to eBay and Amazon the same day.
It does not have to. Dolibarr has a module framework and a REST API, and that is where the gap closes. Built-N-AI runs 26 custom modules on a live Dolibarr instance with only 1 modification to the native source code, so version upgrades stay practical. Those modules are what turned a free ERP into the operating system of a multi-million-dollar hardware distribution and asset-recovery business.
Receiving
AI Advanced Intake
Photograph a unit once; AI identifies it, builds the product record and the PO line. Receiving labor cost fell 81%.
Receiving
Single-Touch Bulk Receiving
A 500-line PO went from 4 hours to 1 hour; labor cost per PO fell 75%.
Warehouse
Digital Warehouse Execution
Paperless pick tickets, wave picking, tote control, Pass/Fail QC and shipping. Cancelled orders that shipped anyway went from about 20 a month to zero.
Inventory
Real-Time Inventory Reconciliation
Barcode cycle counting that reconciles on the spot. Manual list comparisons dropped to zero.
Marketplace
AI Product Data & Marketplace Sync
300,000 part records backfilled in 9 days at 98% accuracy, about $625,000 of manual research avoided.
Shipping
EasyPost One-Touch Shipping
A packed order ships in one touch: label bought and printed, tracking written back to the order, best-rate selection with carrier override on the fly.
Marketplace
Rithum Marketplace Order Integration
Amazon and eBay orders are created in the ERP automatically by API, in real time, 24 hours a day.
All modules
See the full Dolibarr page
Out-of-the-box functionality, the custom modules, who it is for and how an implementation runs.
Honest guidance
When Odoo is the right call.
You need native multi-company
Dolibarr needs an external module for it. Odoo Custom includes it.
You want a vendor-run SaaS with mobile apps
Odoo Online, Odoo.sh and the iOS and Android apps come with Enterprise. Dolibarr is a responsive web app you or a partner host.
You want no-code customization
Odoo Studio lets a power user add fields and views without a developer. Dolibarr customization beyond extra fields is module work.
You want a big partner network
Odoo has far more US implementation partners and app-store modules. Dolibarr’s US partner base is small, which is why we document everything we build.
Questions buyers ask
Dolibarr vs Odoo, answered plainly.
Is Dolibarr really free?
Yes. Dolibarr is released under the GNU GPL v3 or later. There is no paid edition, no per-user fee and no feature gate. You pay for hosting, implementation and any custom work, not for the software.
Is Odoo free?
Odoo Community is free under the LGPL v3, and Odoo offers a One App Free plan. Full accounting, the barcode app, Quality, PLM, Studio, the mobile apps, hosting, support and version upgrades are part of Odoo Enterprise. Odoo pricing on odoo.com in October 2026 is US$24.90 (Standard) or US$49.00 (Custom) per user per month with yearly billing, discounted from US$31.10 and US$61.00 for the first 12 months on the initial users ordered.
What does Dolibarr cost compared with Odoo for 20 users?
Dolibarr license cost is $0 for any number of users. Odoo Enterprise on the Custom plan is US$49.00 per user per month for the first 12 months and US$61.00 after, which is $11,760 to $14,640 a year for 20 users before implementation. Both need hosting and implementation; those costs are comparable.
Can Dolibarr handle barcode scanning and multiple warehouses?
Yes. Multi-warehouse stock, barcode support, lot, batch and serial tracking, stock movements and inventory valuation are in the free core. Built-N-AI adds paperless pick tickets, wave picking, tote-based order control, QC and single-touch bulk receiving through its custom modules.
What are the disadvantages of Dolibarr?
No native multi-company (an external module is required), a plainer interface than Odoo Enterprise, no vendor-run mobile app, and a smaller US partner ecosystem. Advanced warehouse execution, AI intake and marketplace automation are not in the core and have to be added as modules.
Can Dolibarr be customized without changing its core?
Yes. Dolibarr has a module framework and a REST API. Built-N-AI runs 26 custom modules on a live Dolibarr instance with only 1 modification to the native source code, which keeps version upgrades practical.
Does Dolibarr support manufacturing?
Yes. Dolibarr includes bills of materials and manufacturing orders in its free core. Built-N-AI’s production build adds a Quality Control and Tech Lab module with inspection, testing and technician workflows, and advanced work orders beyond basic manufacturing orders.
Is Dolibarr suitable for a midsize business?
Yes. Built-N-AI ran Dolibarr as the operating system of a 30-user distribution business with more than 400,000 SKUs and up to 300 orders a day with no performance issues. The limits to plan for: multi-company is not native and needs an external module, and advanced warehouse execution, AI intake and marketplace integration are added as modules rather than included in the core.
What is Odoo?
Odoo is an ERP system that was named OpenERP until 2014, which is why people still search for Odoo open ERP or open ERP Odoo. Odoo ERP software comes in two editions: Odoo Community, the Odoo open source ERP under the LGPL v3, and paid Odoo Enterprise. The Odoo ERP system is sold per user on the Odoo pricing plan page.
Can Odoo be self-hosted?
Yes. Odoo self hosted means running Odoo Community on your own server, or Odoo Enterprise on-premise, which odoo.com lists with the Custom plan. Dolibarr can be self-hosted on any PHP server with MariaDB, MySQL or PostgreSQL at no license cost.
How does Odoo Inventory compare with Dolibarr?
Odoo Inventory in Community covers multi-warehouse stock and lot and serial tracking, but the Barcode app is Enterprise-only, so Odoo inventory management with scanning means a paid plan. Dolibarr includes multi-warehouse stock, barcode, lot and serial tracking in its free core.
What is an open source alternative to Odoo?
People search for “Odoo alternative open source” when they want Odoo’s breadth without a paid edition. Dolibarr is the one we run: GPL v3 or later, every module in the free core and no per-user fee.
When is Odoo the better choice?
Odoo for small business is a good fit when you need native multi-company, a vendor-hosted SaaS with iOS and Android apps, a no-code tool like Studio, or a large partner network, and the per-user subscription fits the budget.
Sources: odoo.com pricing, odoo.com editions, odoo.com on the OpenERP rename, dolibarr.org, Dolibarr on GitHub. Checked 4 October 2026. Odoo and Dolibarr are trademarks of their respective owners; Built-N-AI is not affiliated with either project.
Pricing and feature information is for general comparison only. It reflects our research as of 9 October 2026. Vendor prices, plans, editions and contract terms change often, and figures marked as estimates come from third parties, not the vendors. Built-N-AI does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of this information and is not responsible for decisions made based on it. Always confirm current pricing, features and terms directly with the vendor before you buy.
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