By Alpit Patel and the aibrevo team · October 22, 2026 · 5 min read
Is Odoo CRM Really Free?
Quick answer
Yes, in two ways. Odoo's One App Free plan gives you one app, such as CRM, for unlimited users on Odoo Online at no charge, and the open-source Community edition is published under LGPLv3 and can be self-hosted. Adding a second app moves you to the paid Standard plan, and some features cost credits or need the paid Custom plan.
Key takeaways
- Odoo's pricing page offers One App Free: one app (CRM can be that app) for unlimited users on Odoo Online, with the apps it depends on also free and no time limit. Checked October 22, 2026.
- Installing a second app moves a database to the paid Standard plan. Installing Odoo Studio or adding companies moves it to the paid Custom plan, which also adds the External API and a choice of hosting.
- The open-source Community edition is separate: the odoo/odoo repository is published under LGPLv3 and its CRM module declares the LGPL-3 license, so you can self-host it without a license fee, paying for your own server and work.
- Lead mining in Odoo CRM is not free: each generated lead costs one credit, and each extra contact one more. Credits for lead generation cannot be used for other paid services.
- Odoo's pricing page shows regional prices, in rupees on the copy we could read, so this page quotes no paid-plan amounts. The price page and the free-plan FAQ also disagree about multiple companies.
Odoo CRM is free in two separate ways. Odoo’s One App Free plan lets you run one app, CRM included, for unlimited users on Odoo Online at no charge and with no time limit. The open-source Community edition is published under LGPLv3 and can be self-hosted without a license fee. The cost appears when you add a second app, Odoo Studio or companies, or buy credits for services such as lead mining. All of it comes from Odoo’s pricing page, documentation and source repository, checked on October 22, 2026.
Is Odoo CRM really free?
Yes, with conditions that Odoo states on its own pages. The conditions differ for the hosted plan and for the open-source code.
| Route | Cost | What you get | Where the cost comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| One App Free (Odoo Online) | No charge, no time limit | One app for unlimited users, plus the apps it depends on | A second app, Studio or companies moves you to a paid plan |
| Community edition (self-hosted) | No license fee | Open-source code under LGPLv3 | Your server, upgrades, maintenance and any consulting |
| Standard (Odoo Online) | Per user per month | All apps on Odoo Online | Implementation services and in-app purchase credits are extra |
| Custom | Per user per month | Adds multi-company, Studio, External API, hosting choice | Odoo.sh hosting costs extra |
Source: Odoo pricing page, Odoo GitHub repository README and LICENSE, checked Oct 22, 2026. Paid prices are regional on the page, shown in rupees on the copy we could read, so none are quoted here.
What does the Odoo One App Free plan include?
Odoo’s pricing page describes it as one app with unlimited users on Odoo Online. The apps your chosen app needs to run are included at no charge, and Odoo says usage is free “for unlimited users, forever”. You can pick CRM as the one app.
Two limits are stated on the same page:
- Installing a second app moves the database to the Standard plan. Installing Odoo Studio, or adding companies, moves it to Custom.
- All paid plans include support, hosting and maintenance. Implementation services, in-app purchase credits, Odoo.sh hosting and custom-code maintenance are not included in any plan.
One inconsistency is worth knowing. The page’s free-plan answer says multiple companies are allowed, yet the plan table lists multi-company under Custom and the upgrade note says adding companies moves you to Custom. We cannot tell which is current. If you run several legal entities, ask Odoo before you rely on it.
Is the Odoo Community edition free too?
Yes. The open-source code is published under LGPLv3. The README of the odoo/odoo repository describes Odoo as a suite of web-based open-source business apps and lists an “Open Source CRM” among the main apps. Its LICENSE file states that Odoo is published under the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 3, and the CRM module’s manifest lists the license as LGPL-3.
That means no license fee. It does not mean no cost: you host it, secure it, upgrade it and fix it, or pay someone to. Odoo’s editions page describes two versions, Community (open-source) and Enterprise (licensed), and says you can switch between them. The text we could read did not show which apps or features sit in which edition, so we cannot list CRM feature differences. Third-party blogs make claims about this, but they are not primary sources and are not repeated here.
What is the catch with free Odoo CRM?
The catches are scope, credits and effort, and none is hidden. Odoo documents all three.
Scope. One app means one app. A real CRM rollout often wants Sales for quotations, Invoicing or an email tool next to it. Each extra app takes you to a paid plan.
Credits. Odoo’s lead mining documentation says each generated lead costs one credit, an additional credit is used for each generated contact, and lead generation credits cannot be spent on other paid services. The same page says Enterprise subscribers, demo, educational and one-app-free databases get free credits to test such in-app services, so you can try it before paying. The page does not list the price of a credit.
Effort. On the free hosted plan, setup is yours. Odoo’s pricing page says paid plans include support and maintenance, and it lists implementation services as not included in any plan. Configuring pipelines, automation and data import is work, either yours or a partner’s.
How do you move data into or out of free Odoo CRM?
Importing and exporting are built in. Odoo’s “Export and import data” documentation covers .xlsx and .csv files for any business object, and the steps are in our guide to importing contacts into Odoo CRM. To leave Odoo, export any list to a file. The export dialog has an option for an import-compatible file that adds the External ID, which keeps relationships intact when you load it into another database.
If you are comparing free tiers, our CRM pricing comparison and the pages on Pipedrive’s free plan and what the Bitrix24 Free plan includes set out the same questions for other CRMs.
When to get help
The free plan is a reasonable way to start. Help pays off when you outgrow it: a second app, several companies, data that has to move cleanly, or a decision about whether Odoo is the right long-term home. Odoo is quoted per project and aibrevo does not implement it. Migrating Odoo CRM data into Salesforce, HubSpot, Dynamics 365, Zoho CRM, Pipedrive, monday.com, Airtable or GoHighLevel is a common request. Book a short call or send a message, and read the CRM migration guide and the Zoho CRM service page to see how a move is scoped.
Sources
- Odoo, Pricing, checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Odoo, Editions: Community and Enterprise, checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Odoo on GitHub, README and LICENSE, checked Oct 22, 2026. The CRM module manifest declares the LGPL-3 license.
- Odoo Documentation, Lead mining, checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Odoo Documentation, Export and import data, checked Oct 22, 2026.