Why companies are looking around
SAP is a powerful platform — we take nothing away from that. But for many organisations below enterprise scale it chafes: high licence and consultancy costs, implementations that take years, and customisation that costs money again with every upgrade. Anyone looking for an ERP that ships with 80+ integrated apps as standard — from finance and purchasing to manufacturing, warehousing and eCommerce — and that you can largely set up without customisation soon ends up at Odoo. Configure instead of program: that is the difference in philosophy.
Odoo vs SAP Business One
| Feature | Odoo | SAP Business One |
|---|---|---|
| Licence costs | From €24.90 per user per month, all apps included | From approx. €90 per user per month plus licences |
| Implementation time | Weeks to a few months | Often 6–18 months |
| Customisation needed? | ✅ Usually not: standard apps + configuration (Studio) | ⚠️ Often yes, via consultants and add-ons |
| Functional breadth | ✅ 80+ apps incl. eCommerce, POS, marketing | ✅ Sterk in financiën/logistiek, webshop via derden |
| User-friendliness | ✅ Modern interface, fast adoption | ⚠️ Steeper learning curve |
| Open source / vendor lock-in | ✅ Open source, data and code in your own hands | ❌ Closed ecosystem |
| Depth of enterprise finance | ⚠️ Very good, but less deep than SAP at consolidation extremes | ✅ Bewezen in complexe (proces)industrie |
| Total annual cost (50 users, indicative) | ± €15.000 – €25.000 | ± €60.000 – €100.000+ |
* Prices are indicative and depend on modules, number of users and implementation partner.
ERP without customisation: how?
The pitfall of many ERP projects — SAP first and foremost — is that the system is bent to fit the organisation with customisation that then makes every upgrade more expensive. Our approach is the reverse: we start from the standard Odoo apps, set up processes through configuration and Odoo Studio, and only build custom work where it genuinely sets your business apart. The result: lower costs, faster go-live and upgrades that are not a project in themselves.
When SAP is the better choice after all
Do you run a group with dozens of entities, highly complex international consolidation or deep process-industry requirements for which SAP templates exist? Then SAP may be worth its premium. Honest advice means we simply say so.
Work out the difference yourself
In a no-obligation Business Scan we put your processes side by side with the standard Odoo apps — and you see straight away how much customisation you save.
Free Business Scan →View our pricing