Odoo vs Xero
We give Odoo a 3.2 GPA and Xero a 2.6, out of 4.0. Odoo grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Xero grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on features and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Odoo
Business app suite whose Accounting app is free when used on its own
Xero
Cloud accounting for small businesses, with unlimited users
How we grade them
| 3.2GPAOdooVery good | 2.6GPAXeroGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe Accounting app is free on its own, hosted by Odoo, for unlimited users and several companies. You pay only once you add a second app, and then it's per user: Standard is $24.90 a month for the first year, then $31.10, billed yearly. | CEarly is $27 a month, between this category's middle at $23 and its dearer quarter at $31.10, and it stops at 20 invoices and 5 bills. No limits means Growing at $59. Users are unlimited on every plan, though, which helps once a team is involved. |
| Free plan and trial | AOne App Free gives you Accounting for unlimited users with no time limit, so no normal business hits a cap. The limit is one app: adding Expenses, Inventory or anything else moves everyone to a paid plan. | COne month free on any plan, but you give up the 80%-off-for-3-months offer to take it. There's no free plan, and the listing doesn't say whether a card is needed for the trial. |
| Features | BBank sync with 28,000+ banks, AI matching, bill and receipt capture, invoices, late-payment follow-ups, deferrals, real-time reports and taxes and e-invoicing set up by country. That's the whole job, though bill scanning runs on credits bought separately. | BBank reconciliation, invoices and quotes, Tap to Pay, bill capture, free ACH bill payments, cash flow forecasts, Syft analytics, the JAX assistant and Gusto payroll. Multiple currencies need Established, but the whole job is here. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Charts of accounts and taxes come set up for your country, which helps, but it's a big system, and implementation help is sold separately. | B4.65 from 1,689 App Store ratings, just under the top band. Auto-reconcile, which takes away the most clicking, is part of Growing and Established and a $5 a month add-on on Early. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb, iPhone and Android, with Stripe, PayPal and Adyen, plus bank sync worldwide. There's no desktop app, and the API needs the Custom plan. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, plus an app store with Gusto, Stripe, Syft, Dext, A2X and Mercury. There's no desktop app, which is what keeps it off an A. |
| Best for | full accounting free for any number of users | small businesses that work with an accountant |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Odoo and Xero. How we grade
Price against what you get
Odoo starts at $2.07 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Xero starts at $27 a month and scores 3.0.
Xero scores higher, and starts $24.93 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other accounting and invoicing tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than Odoo for less, and 3 score higher than Xero for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Odoo starts at $31.10 per user / month, billed annually, after $24.90 for the first 12 months. Xero starts at $27 per month, billed monthly.
- Odoo has a free plan. Xero does not, though it has a free trial.
- Odoo is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Xero also covers payroll.
At a glance
| Odoo | Xero | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free trial |
| Starts at | $31.10 per user / month, billed annually, after $24.90 for the first 12 months | $27 per month, billed monthly |
| Free plan | One App Free: any one app, such as Accounting or Invoicing, plus the apps it depends on, for unlimited users on Odoo Online, free with no time limit. | None |
| Free trial | Free trial of the paid plans, no credit card required | One month free on any plan, taken instead of the 3-month discount |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Odoo | Xero Limited |
| Price read from | odoo.com | xero.com |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Odoo
- Businesses that want full double-entry accounting free for any number of users
- Companies that expect to add inventory, sales or HR apps on the same system
- Businesses that need their country's charts of accounts, taxes and e-invoicing
Xero
- Small businesses that want every staff member and adviser in the books at no extra cost
- Businesses that work with an accountant who already uses Xero
- Companies that bill or pay in several currencies, on Established
Worth knowing
Odoo
- Odoo is a wider suite: a second app moves you to a paid plan priced per user for every app, and on paid plans Studio or several companies mean Custom.
- The advertised prices are a 12-month discount for the users first ordered; plans then renew at $31.10 or $61 a user a month, billed yearly.
- Every backend user pays, including an outside accountant and staff who log expenses; limited-access employees can be $8.90 Light Users via an advisor.
- Not included: implementation services, Odoo.sh hosting, and in-app credits for text messages and AI bill scanning.
Xero
- The advertised prices are 80% off for the first 3 months; plans then renew at $27, $59 or $97 a month.
- Early stops at 20 invoices and 5 bills, and its graphs and cash flow forecast are the basic ones.
- US payroll costs $36 a month plus $6 per employee or contractor, and is not offered to Xero's US mobile-only subscribers.
- These are US prices; Xero sells in other countries, including New Zealand, Australia and the UK, on separate regional sites.
Key features
Odoo
- Bank synchronization
- Connects to more than 28,000 banks worldwide, and Odoo says AI matching reconciles about 95% of transactions automatically.
- Bill and receipt capture
- AI reads vendor bills and expense photos taken on the mobile app. The scanning uses in-app purchase credits sold apart from the plans.
- Invoices and follow-ups
- Unlimited invoices and bills, with scheduled reminders for late payers by email, post or text message.
- Country setups and e-invoicing
- Charts of accounts, taxes, reports and electronic invoicing formats such as Peppol are preconfigured by country.
- Reports and deferrals
- Real-time financial reports that can be annotated and exported, plus deferred revenue and expense entries.
- Rest of the suite
- Paid plans add every other Odoo app, including sales, purchase, expenses, inventory, CRM, HR and point of sale.
Xero
- Bank reconciliation
- Match bank transactions to invoices and bills. Auto-reconcile is part of Growing and Established, and a $5 a month add-on on Early.
- Invoices, quotes and online payments
- Send invoices and quotes with a payment service attached, and take card payments in person with Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android.
- Bills and Smart Document Capture
- Bills and receipts are pulled into Xero from documents, and standard ACH bill payments in US dollars are included on every plan.
- Cash flow forecasts and analytics
- Forecasts run 30, 60 or 180 days ahead depending on the plan, and Syft analytics, dashboards and health scorecards are built in.
- JAX assistant
- Xero's AI assistant answers questions about the business's numbers and handles routine bookkeeping tasks.
- Xero Payroll, powered by Gusto
- Full-service payroll that calculates, files and pays federal and state taxes across all 50 states, without leaving Xero.
Plans
Odoo
One App Free$0
One app, such as Accounting, for unlimited users and several companies, hosted on Odoo Online.
Odoo Community$0
The open-source edition, which you host yourself. It includes Invoicing and payments but not the full Accounting app.
Standard$31.10
per user / month, billed annually ($38.90 billed monthly)
Advertised at $24.90 a user a month billed yearly, or $31.10 monthly, for the first 12 months. Every Odoo app on Odoo Online.
Custom$61
per user / month, billed annually ($76.20 billed monthly)
Advertised at $49 billed yearly, or $61.10 monthly, for the first 12 months. Adds multi-company, Studio, agentic AI, the API and self-hosting.
Xero
Early$27
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $5.40 a month for the first 3 months. Quotes, 20 invoices, 5 bills, bank reconciliation, sales tax and a 30-day cash flow forecast.
Growing$59
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $11.80 a month for the first 3 months. No invoice or bill limits, auto-reconcile, dashboards, budgets and a 60-day forecast.
Established$97
per month, billed monthly
Advertised at $19.40 a month for the first 3 months. Adds multiple currencies, project time and costs, expense claims and a 180-day forecast.
Ways to pay less
Odoo
- Other savings
First-year discount on Standard and Custom
For 12 months, Standard costs $24.90 a user a month billed yearly ($31.10 monthly) and Custom $49 ($61.10 monthly), for the users first ordered.
- Annual discount
Save with yearly billing
Yearly billing lists Standard at $31.10 a user a month instead of $38.90, and Custom at $61 instead of $76.20.
Xero
- Other savings
80% off the first 3 months
New US customers buying their first organization pay 20% of the base plan price for 3 months, then the regular monthly price. Add-ons are not discounted.
- Other savings
Two months of Xero Payroll free
Xero's payroll page offers two months free to try Xero Payroll, which then costs $36 a month plus $6 per employee or contractor.
