Enterprise resource planning (ERP) has become an inevitable need for businesses to grow and expand to new markets. Being an integral part of the business expansion strategy, ERP is critical to achieve higher levels of productivity as a business grows. Nevertheless, ERP application development could be a fairly large investment for small and medium-sized businesses that are tight on budget. It is, therefore, essential to choose the right ERP solution that would best address their requirements and provide long-term benefits.
A common misconception amongst most small-scale enterprises is that ERP systems are overly expensive and would not deliver any significant ROI. Apparently, there are ample concrete evidences to debunk many such myths and misconceptions, proving that ERP systems can be very much affordable, given the right choice. Odoo and ERPNext are two such platforms that have gained significant traction worldwide because of their open-source ERP solutions. Unlike market leaders like SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce, the ERP solutions by Odoo and ERPNext are relatively cost-effective. Besides, they offer comprehensive software solutions to cater to diverse business needs and requirements.
Here, we shall have a high-level comparison between Odoo vs ERPNext with a focus on their modular features and the most crucial performance parameters.
Also, Read Improving Remote Workforce Management Using Odoo ERP
Odoo vs ERPNext: An Overview
When it comes to ERP application development, both Odoo and ERPNext offer promising solutions to industry-specific business problems. However, Odoo is more powerful and offers several unique features, making it one of the best platforms for custom ERP development. ERPNext, on the other hand, is more suitable for building simple and lightweight business applications with basic features and functionalities. In the following section, we shall learn more about these two popular open-source ERP technologies. Before we delve into the features and technical details, let us begin with a basic overview of Odoo vs ERPNext.
You may also like to read Odoo Community vs Odoo Enterprise: Making The Right Choice
Odoo
Odoo is a comprehensive suite of business applications that provides custom software solutions for business process management. It offers a series of customizable modules that cater to diverse business needs related to retail, manufacturing, eCommerce, inventory/warehouse, CRM, HRM, accounting, and supply chain. Odoo has two product variants to match the needs of every enterprise, small-to-medium enterprises, and even large-scale companies. It includes a free (open-source) community version as well as an elite enterprise version.
The community version covers all the basic features and is best suited for small-scale businesses. Whereas, the enterprise edition is more advanced and offers the best integration support for a wide range of business applications. Besides, it offers several unique features including cloud hosting, version upgrades, and unlimited functional support.
ERPNext
ERPNext is a similar software suite for business process management that is increasingly popular for developing custom ERP applications. It is an open-source platform that enables developers to build custom enterprise applications for CRM, accounting, manufacturing, inventory, HRM, and other mission-critical business functions.
As compared to Odoo, ERPNext is relatively new to the market as it was only introduced in 2008. Nevertheless, ERPNext has garnered a fair share of users and customers over the years and is perceived as a reliable ERP platform. Moreover, ERPNext software solutions are relatively cheaper than Odoo but lack several crucial features like contract management, freight carrier integration, automated time tracking, and more. Odoo, on the other hand, renders support for all these features and more in its enterprise edition.
Odoo vs ERPNext: The Modular Comparison
Below is a tabular comparison between Odoo vs ERPNext with a focus on the features in their respective business modules. Please note that the following comparison is between the enterprise edition of both Odoo and ERPNext.
| Module Features | Odoo | ERPNext |
General |
||
| Multi-currency Support | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-language Support | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Compatibility | Yes | Yes |
| Hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Version Upgrades | Yes | Yes |
| Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) | No | No |
CRM |
||
| Lead Management | Yes | Yes |
| Leads Scoring | Yes | No |
| Sales Quotas | Yes | No |
| Email Integration | Yes | Yes |
| Email Templates | Yes | Yes |
| Website Call-To-Action | Yes | No |
| Bulk Data Import | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-sales Channel | Yes | Yes |
| In-Pipeline Management | Yes | Yes |
Sales |
||
| Quotations | Yes | Yes |
| Pricelists | Yes | Yes |
| Quotation Templates | Yes | Yes |
| eSignature | Yes | Yes |
| Online Payments | Yes | No |
| Sales Orders | Yes | Yes |
| Invoicing | Yes | Yes |
Marketing |
||
| Newsletters | Yes | Yes |
| Leads Tracking (Visited Pages) | Yes | No |
| Events | Yes | Yes |
| Surveys | Yes | Yes |
| Email Campaigns (Drip Emails) | No | Yes |
Reporting |
||
| Sales Analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Pipeline Analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Sales Forecasts | Yes | No |
| Customizable Dashboards | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Reports | Yes | Yes |
| Dynamic Pivot Table | Yes | No |
Inventory Module |
||
| Multi Warehouse | Yes | No |
| Storage Locations(Bins) | Yes | No |
| Stock Repleishment | Yes | Yes |
| Freight carrier integration | No | No |
| Stock Picking | No | No |
| Auto UOM Conversions | Yes | Yes |
| Up/Down Traceability | Yes | Yes |
| Batch Picking | No | Yes |
| Barcode Support | Yes | Yes |
| QR Code Support | Yes | No |
Manufacturing Module |
||
| Multi-level BOM | Yes | Yes |
| Make-to-Order | Yes | Yes |
| Material Request Planning | Yes | Yes |
| Multiple Scheduling Plans | No | Yes |
| Work Order Merging/Splitting | No | Yes |
| Finite/Infinite Capacity Planning | Yes | Yes |
| Backward Scheduling | No | Yes |
| Job Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Automated Time Tracking | Yes | No |
| Production Order Costing | Yes | Yes |
Supply Chain |
||
| Supplier Management | Yes | Yes |
| Supplier Pricelist Management | Yes | Yes |
| Inward Quality Inspection | Yes | Yes |
| Purchase Orders | Yes | Yes |
| Contracts/Purchase Agreements | No | Yes |
| Drop-Shipping | Yes | Yes |
| Purchases Requests | Yes | Yes |
| Supplier Self Service Portal | No | Yes |
You may also be interested in reading Enhance Workforce Productivity Using The Odoo Timesheet Module
Odoo vs ERPNext: The Final Verdict
All things considered, it seems quite obvious that Odoo Enterprise edition offers the best support for building custom enterprise applications. It offers vast integration support for a wide range of business applications in addition to a large number of proprietary modules, apps, and plugins. Odoo has its own app store with thousands of customizable apps and plugins that cater to diverse business needs. As of today, there are over 25,000 apps in the Odoo app store, with new apps being added every few weeks. To top it all, you get the best community support with Odoo owing to its extensive userbase and a large number of partner companies across the globe. Apparently, the Odoo community comprises 20,000+ members including Odoo partners, developers, and customer support executives.
The features and capabilities of ERPNext, on the other hand, are fairly limited as it lacks several crucial features. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that development using ERPNext is relatively cheaper and more cost-effective than Odoo Enterprise. The bottom line is that ERPNext is more suitable for developing and maintaining lightweight business modules with all basic features. Normally, it requires several additional modules to run perfectly and deliver the desired results. Odoo, on the other hand, is a holistic business solution is capable of supporting all types of business requirements with its powerful features and vast integration support.
Why Choose Oodles ERP For Custom ERP Application Development?
We are a 360-degree ERP development company that provides full-scale Odoo application development and ERPNext development services to overcome industry-specific business challenges. Our development team uses open-source ERP software platforms including Odoo, Apache OFBiz, ERPNext, and Opentaps. We use the latest tech stack and agile development methodologies to deliver maximum value to our customers through performance-driven ERP solutions. We have successfully completed several full-scale ERP software projects based on Odoo and ERPNext for our clients from across the globe. For project-related queries, reach out to our team at [email protected].
