There are three ways to run Odoo: Odoo Online (SaaS), Odoo.sh (PaaS) and self-hosted on your own infrastructure. All three run the same software — the difference lies in who manages the environment, how much freedom you have and where your data sits. You only find out you chose wrong when you want something your platform does not allow.
Odoo Online: live quickly, little freedom
Odoo Online is Odoo's own SaaS variant: sign up and you are up and running. Upgrades happen automatically, you are always on a recent version, and with a single app it is even free (One App Free).
And the limitations are in proportion. Custom modules are not supported — you only adapt Odoo with the standard apps and Studio. Access to the external API is only available on the Custom plan, so integrations with other systems are not a given either. And your data sits with Odoo S.A.; you choose a region, but that is where your influence ends.
Best for: start-ups and small teams that stay close to the standard and want results quickly.
Odoo.sh: Odoo's platform, with git
Odoo.sh is Odoo's development platform: you connect a git repository, every branch becomes an environment (development, staging, production) and custom modules are perfectly possible. For teams doing serious development on Odoo that workflow is a real advantage — test on staging with a copy of production, then merge.
You pay for it: Odoo.sh requires an Enterprise licence and charges per worker and per GB of storage. And although you have more freedom than with Online, the underlying infrastructure remains Odoo's — no access to the OS, no PostgreSQL tuning, no choice of where your data physically sits.
Best for: businesses with their own developers (or a partner) that run custom code but do not want to manage infrastructure.
Self-hosted: full control
Self-hosted means you run Odoo — Community or Enterprise — on infrastructure that you (or your IT partner) manage. Anything is possible: custom modules, any integration, performance tuning of PostgreSQL and workers, your own backup and testing policy, and full control over where your data sits.
The flip side is that everything is your responsibility: security updates, upgrades to new major versions, monitoring, backups and recovery. That is not a drawback — it is work. Work you need to have in house, or hand to a provider that does it day in, day out.
For organisations that take sovereignty seriously this is the only option that guarantees your data sits on Dutch soil, under Dutch and European law — for example in our racks at BIT in Ede.
Side by side
| Odoo Online | Odoo.sh | Self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom modules | no | yes | yes |
| Licence | Enterprise (subscription) | Enterprise | Community or Enterprise |
| Upgrades | automatic | yourself, with tooling | yourself (or your partner) |
| External API | Custom plan only | yes | yes |
| Access to OS/database | no | limited | full |
| Data residency | region selectable, at Odoo | at Odoo | wherever you want |
| Management burden | none | light | entirely yours |
What should you choose?
Rule of thumb: if you stick to the standard apps and do not want to worry about management, choose Odoo Online. If you develop customisations but do not want to manage servers, Odoo.sh is a logical middle ground. If you want full freedom, predictable costs as you grow, or your data has to be demonstrably in the Netherlands — then self-hosted is the mature choice.
We host and manage self-hosted Odoo environments on our own Dutch infrastructure: from server and PostgreSQL to upgrades and monitoring, with functional Odoo advice alongside if you want it. That gives you the freedom of self-hosted without the management burden — with a single point of contact, from rack to ERP.