Odoo alternatives
The 5 best Odoo alternatives in 2026
The short answer: people leaving Odoo are almost always looking for something simpler — away from configuration overhead, partner-led implementations and per-user prices that vary by country. For freelancers and small businesses whose core is hours, invoicing and dunning, Backbone (from €19/month incl. VAT) is our pick: ready without a setup project, an AI assistant for invoices from a sentence, dunning with interest, receipts. Backbone is our own product — where it does not win, we are transparent about it below.
Every alternative in this roundup is simpler than Odoo; we rank by fit for freelancers and small businesses. If you genuinely need ERP features like inventory and manufacturing, Odoo is strong in its class — then staying is the honest answer. All prices verified as of July 2026.
All alternatives at a glance
| Backbone | sevDesk | Lexware Office | easybill | FastBill | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Hours, invoices, dunning & receipts; your tax advisor does the books | Full bookkeeping (EÜR, VAT filing) with invoicing | Full bookkeeping with ELSTER, Germany only | Marketplace sellers (Amazon, eBay, Shopify) | VAT returns straight from the tool, deep template design |
| Document limit | Monthly allowance per plan; numbers not published yet | Free: 3 invoices/month; paid unlimited | No limit stated (fair use per T&Cs) | Free: 50/month; Starter: 250/month | No invoice limit stated |
| Price | from €19 / month incl. VAT (Solo) | Free (3 invoices/month); from €12.90 / month | from €12.90 / month (plan M) | Free (50 docs/month); from €9 / month | from €9 / month (Solo) |
| Invoice from AI prompt | Yesassistant Billy, asks before sending | No | No | No | No |
| All features via AI assistant | Yesnearly everything; also from Claude/ChatGPT (MCP) | Nosuggestions only (receipts, bookings) | Nosuggestions you must accept | NoAI drafts text, you decide | NoOCR; receipts checked manually |
| Professional templates | Partially2 templates (Basic, Minimal), logo + accent color | Yes11 layouts, 6 of them Premium | Partially5 base layouts | Partially2 base layouts you clone | Partiallyeditor with own fonts; Solo: 1 template |
| Live preview | Yesyou write on the page itself | – | Nopreview is a separate step | Nopreview on click | Yes |
| Recurring invoices | Yesevery plan | Yes | Yesseries invoices | PartiallyProfessional (€25) and up | PartiallyPro (€27) and up |
| Automatic email sending | Yesinvoices by email; reminders on schedule from Studio | Partiallyseries invoices optionally automatic; dunning manual | Partiallyseries invoices optionally automatic; no automatic dunning | Partiallyseries from Professional, dunning Premium only | Partiallydunning as a paid add-on |
| Bookkeeping | Nono EÜR/VAT filing; export for your tax advisor | Yesin the accounting plan | Yesplan L and up | No | PartiallyVAT filing yes, EÜR no |
| E-invoicing | PartiallyZUGFeRD; XRechnung coming soon | Yeseven in the free tier | Partiallysending from plan M | Yeseven in the free tier | Yesin every plan |
Competitor pricing and feature claims per the vendors, verified on August 2, 2026, prices net. Backbone details per back-bone.io as of October 9, 2026, prices incl. VAT. Subject to change.
Backbone
The back office with an AI assistantBackbone is the exact opposite of Odoo: no modules, no implementation, three clear plans (€19, €29, €49 incl. VAT). Time tracking, invoices with ZUGFeRD, dunning with statutory interest and receipts are ready from the start without configuring follow-up rules, and the AI assistant drafts invoices from one sentence — sent after your OK.
Full transparency, since Backbone is our product: it is deliberately NOT accounting or ERP software. If you need inventory, CRM or EÜR in the same tool, the alternatives below serve you better.
Strengths
- An AI assistant that drafts invoices from one sentence — none of the other tools here can (as of July 2026, per their own sites)
- Dunning with interest and the €40 fee, scheduled automatically from Studio
- Time tracking, receipts with AI matching and bank-statement upload in every plan
- Germany AND Austria in one interface (§14 UStG / §11 öUStG), ZUGFeRD e-invoices
- Ready without a setup project, three fixed plans instead of per-user, per-app pricing
Weaknesses
- No bookkeeping: EÜR, VAT filing and DATEV export are absent
- XRechnung for public-sector clients only coming soon (ZUGFeRD today)
- No free plan (7-day trial with a card on file)
- Web app rather than a native mobile app
sevDesk
The all-in-one accounting solutionsevDesk is the Odoo alternative for anyone coming from the accounting module: EÜR, VAT filing and receipt management in a ready-made tool instead of a configurable suite. Add 11 invoice layouts (6 of them Premium), native iOS and Android apps and e-invoicing even in the free tier. For Austria there is a separate offering (sevdesk.at).
Its weak spots are dunning — reminders are sent manually per invoice, with dunning levels only in the accounting plan — and design: colors from a palette only, with a custom layout available only as a paid service.
Strengths
- Mature bookkeeping: EÜR and VAT filing in the accounting plan
- E-invoicing (XRechnung/ZUGFeRD) even in the free tier
- 11 invoice layouts, 6 of them Premium
- Native iOS and Android apps
- Austria via a separate offering (sevdesk.at)
Weaknesses
- Dunning is manual per invoice; dunning levels need the accounting plan
- Free tier limited to 3 invoices/month
- Colors from a palette only; custom layout only as a paid service
- No AI that creates documents — receipt capture and a support chatbot only
Lexware Office
The accounting classic (formerly lexoffice)Lexware Office is the most established Odoo alternative for German bookkeeping without a setup project: EÜR, VAT filing via ELSTER and payroll add-ons in a very approachable interface, with over 230,000 customers. Note that the cheapest plan S cannot write invoices — realistically you start at €12.90 on plan M, and there is no annual discount.
Two things worth knowing: per its own help center it has no automatic dunning function (it points to a paid third-party extension), and it is suitable for Germany only — if, like with Odoo, you also need to cover Austria, it is out.
Strengths
- Mature bookkeeping: EÜR, VAT filing via ELSTER (from plan L)
- Over 230,000 customers, very approachable interface
- Native iOS and Android apps
- E-invoicing: receiving on all plans, sending from M
Weaknesses
- No automatic dunning — per the vendor itself
- Germany only; Austria explicitly not supported
- Plan S (€7.90) cannot write invoices
- Only 5 base layouts, no freely placed text fields
easybill
The e-commerce specialisteasybill is the best Odoo alternative for online sellers who do not want an ERP suite: orders from Amazon, eBay and your own shop are billed automatically, OSS and shipping labels included — no implementation project. Its permanently free plan (50 documents/month, e-invoicing included) is the most generous in the field.
The flip side is tier gating: recurring invoices need Professional (€25), and the automatic dunning that genuinely self-sends is Premium only (€37). Inventory and stock management like Odoo’s is not what easybill offers.
Strengths
- Permanently free plan: 50 docs/month incl. e-invoicing
- Strongest marketplace integrations (Amazon, eBay, Shopify, OSS)
- Automatic dunning that genuinely self-sends (Premium)
- Own fonts and colors, Liquid template language
Weaknesses
- Automatic dunning only in the Premium plan (€37)
- Recurring invoices only from Professional (€25)
- No native mobile app
- No Austrian version, no bookkeeping (EÜR)
FastBill
Invoicing plus VAT filingFastBill is the lean Odoo alternative for German solo businesses: the VAT pre-registration files via ELSTER in every plan — no accounting-module configuration required. An official EÜR is missing, though. For the design-minded: a real template editor with custom fonts and millimetre-precise positioning, plus a live preview while you type.
Its dunning does send automatically but is a paid add-on; recurring invoices need the Pro plan (€27), and the Solo plan allows just one template. Unlike Odoo, FastBill is built for Germany only.
Strengths
- VAT filing via ELSTER in every plan
- Template editor with custom fonts and mm-precise positioning
- Live preview while editing
- E-invoicing (XRechnung/ZUGFeRD) in all plans
Weaknesses
- Automatic dunning only as a paid add-on
- Recurring invoices only from Pro (€27)
- Solo plan: 1 template; the app only scans receipts
- Germany only, no official EÜR
How we evaluated
All pricing and feature claims come from the vendors’ own pricing and help pages, last verified on 31 July 2026 — including the inconvenient details like tier gating and dunning limitations. Where a vendor does not document something, we do not claim it. Backbone is our own product (details per back-bone.io as of 9 October 2026): we rank it #1 for the use case it is built for, and we state its weaknesses as plainly as everyone else’s.
Do not choose Backbone if …
Backbone is ranked first on this page, and this page belongs to Backbone (formerly Billy). So that you can weigh that: here are the cases where another tool is the better choice.
- You already invoice public-sector clients (XRechnung)Backbone produces ZUGFeRD e-invoices, but XRechnung (and Austria’s ebInterface) is only coming soon. sevDesk, easybill and FastBill ship XRechnung in their cheapest tier, and in Austria FreeFinance creates ebInterface and XRechnung. If you must bill public-sector clients today, choose one of those.
- You want to do your bookkeeping inside the toolBackbone collects receipts, matches them to payments and takes bank statements, but deliberately does no bookkeeping: no EÜR, no P&L, no VAT return via ELSTER or FinanzOnline. Your tax advisor does the books from the export. If you want everything from one tool, take sevDesk, Lexware Office, or FreeFinance in Austria.
- Your tax advisor insists on a DATEV or BMD exportBackbone has none. It delivers a named ZIP of receipts, sent invoices, bank statements and a CSV report — or a free bookkeeper login. Any accountant can open that, but it is not a DATEV interface. If your accountant insists on one, that rules Backbone out — sevDesk and Lexware Office are built for it.
- You want a native mobile appBackbone is a web app: it runs in your phone’s browser and you can upload receipt photos with it — but there is no native app in the store (a Mac app for the timer is coming soon). sevDesk, Lexware Office, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho and Square all ship one.
- You never want to payBackbone has no free plan: after a 7-day trial (card on file at Stripe, €0.00 due today) it costs from €19 a month incl. VAT. easybill (50 documents a month) and sevDesk (3 invoices a month) have permanently free tiers, and in the US so do Wave and Zoho Invoice.
- Your business is based in the USBackbone is built for Germany and Austria. It invoices in English and in USD, GBP or CHF too — for a German or Austrian business billing clients abroad. It does not handle US sales tax. For a US-based business, QuickBooks, FreshBooks, Wave, Zoho Invoice or Square are the better-fitting tools.