Odoo alternatives: how to compare modular ERPs fairly

Odoo is one of the most widely used modular ERPs, and for good reason: lots of apps, a free open-source edition and a large network of partners. But it isn’t the right fit for everyone. This guide gives you a fair, plain-language way to compare alternatives, and an overview of the main options. We build Fidar, so we have an interest here — we’ll be clear about where Fidar fits and where it doesn’t.

Start with your reason

“Odoo alternative” means different things to different buyers. Before comparing products, write down why you are looking:

If your reason is “we need more modules today”, most alternatives won’t beat Odoo’s range. If it is local rules, access control or support, you have more options.

First, understand Odoo’s two editions

Odoo comes in two editions. The Community edition is open source, under the LGPL v3 licence. The Enterprise edition has its own commercial licence and needs a paid subscription. Many “Odoo vs X” comparisons blur the two, so be clear which edition you are comparing against.

Five things to compare

Licence →Modules ready today →Local rules →Access control →Where it runs

1. Licence and total cost

Open-source licences (such as LGPL or GPL) let you run and change the software yourself. Commercial licences give you a company that is responsible for the product. Either way, compare the total over three years: subscription or licence, setup, moving your data, training, customisation and support.

2. Modules ready today

Ask about the modules you need now and those you’ll need within a year — and how the vendor tells you what is finished and what isn’t. A vendor that openly labels unfinished modules is easier to plan with than one that claims to do everything.

3. Local rules

Calendars, tax rules, electronic invoicing, payroll and language vary hugely from country to country. Ask whether support for your country is built into the product, or comes from community or third-party add-ons — and who updates it when the law changes.

4. Access control and change history

Giving each user a role (RBAC) is the bare minimum. Also check:

• rules about which records each person sees (for example, salespeople see only their own customers);
• rules about which fields they see (for example, hiding profit margins);
• limits that send large discounts or payments for approval;
• whether all of these rules also apply in reports, exports and connections to other software.

A record of every change that nobody — not even an administrator — can edit matters for any business that gets audited.

5. Where it runs

In the cloud, on a private server hosted for you, or on your own servers? Can you move between them later, and can you export all your data at any time? See cloud or on-premise for the trade-offs.

The main alternatives

Open-source ERPs

• ERPNext — an open-source ERP under the GPL v3 licence. It covers a lot of ground and has an active community. The GPL terms matter if you plan to share modified versions.
• Dolibarr — a lighter open-source ERP and CRM, popular with small businesses.

Commercial cloud ERPs

• Oracle NetSuite — a long-established cloud ERP for mid-sized companies.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central — part of Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 family; a good fit if you already use a lot of Microsoft software.
• SAP Business One — SAP’s ERP for small and mid-sized businesses, usually sold and set up by partners.

Regional and specialist ERPs

Products built for one market or one industry often win on local rules and support, even when their list of modules is shorter. Fidar is one of these: designed for Iranian companies and teams in the region, with Persian, the Jalali calendar and local regulations built in.

Comparison at a glance

Licences and features change. Check each vendor’s current terms before you decide.

Where Fidar fits — honestly

Fidar is a good fit if your priorities are:

• Persian and the Jalali calendar built in, not added on;
• detailed control over who sees what, with a change history nobody can edit;
• the option to run on your own servers;
• support directly from the people who build the product;

— and if you can start with what is ready today: CRM, Contacts, Activities, reporting and access control.

If you need connected accounting, inventory and manufacturing today, a more mature ERP such as Odoo is probably the better choice right now. Those Fidar modules are coming soon — see our roadmap for the order they are planned in.

How to run a fair comparison

1. Make a shortlist using your must-haves. Drop any option that fails a hard requirement — for example running on your own servers, a particular country’s rules, or a particular language.
2. Send every vendor the same scenarios. For example: “an enquiry from a trade show becomes a deal; a quote with a discount above the limit goes to a manager for approval; a branch manager runs a sales report that shows only their branch.”
3. Test with your own data in a trial account, not with the vendor’s demo data.
4. Score everyone the same way. Decide how much each of the five things matters to you, and score every option on the same scale.
5. Compare the total cost over three years, including setup, moving data, training and support.

Moving your data

Leaving any ERP is easier if you plan the data first:

If you are leaving Odoo in particular, export everything before your subscription or support ends, and keep a read-only copy of your history.

Questions to ask every vendor

• Which modules are ready for everyone today, and which are still coming?
• Is support for our country’s rules built into the product, or provided by add-ons or partners?
• Do the access rules also apply to reports, exports and connections to other software, not just to forms?
• Can we export all of our data at any time, in a usable format?
• Who provides support, in which language, and how quickly do they reply?

Summary

There is no single best Odoo alternative — only the best fit for your reason for looking. Write that reason down, compare options on licence, ready modules, local rules, access control and where it runs, and test with your own data. For the basics, read what is cloud ERP.