Odoo

Odoo takes a different approach to ERP. Rather than one monolithic system, it is a suite of interlocking apps, accounting, CRM, inventory, manufacturing, ecommerce, HR and dozens more, and you switch on the ones you need. It is open source at its core, which gives it a price and flexibility story that the proprietary ERPs cannot match, and a growing UK following to go with it.

What it does well

The modular model is genuinely flexible. A business can start with CRM and accounting and add inventory or manufacturing later, paying for and learning each piece as it becomes relevant. That incremental path suits a growing company far better than a big bang ERP implementation.

Value is a strong draw. The one app free tier lets a micro business run a single function at no cost, and the Standard tier around twenty pounds per user and Custom around thirty put a broad platform within reach of businesses that could never afford NetSuite or SAP.

Because it is open source with a large partner and developer community, customisation is effectively unlimited, and there is a partner in most regions to implement it.

Where it falls short

The flexibility cuts both ways. Odoo can be configured to do almost anything, which means getting it right takes real implementation effort, and a poorly configured Odoo is as painful as any badly set up ERP. Budget for a good partner.

The promotional pricing and the renewal pricing differ, and the true cost of a multi app deployment across many users adds up, so model the real configuration rather than the headline per user figure.

Quality varies across the many apps and community modules, and support depends heavily on your partner and edition.

The UK detail that matters

Odoo's accounting module supports UK VAT and Making Tax Digital, but the quality of the UK setup depends on your partner and configuration, so confirm the MTD submission route and UK localisation explicitly. As a flexible platform it can be made to fit UK requirements well, but that is an implementation outcome rather than a guarantee out of the box.

Who should buy it

UK businesses that want a flexible, modular, affordable platform and are willing to invest in implementation, particularly those that will use several apps beyond accounting. Businesses wanting a proven, tightly integrated ERP with less configuration should compare against Dynamics 365 Business Central and Sage 200.