Odoo.sh vs Self-Hosted

Hosting is an operating decision, not a logo. The right choice is the one where someone is clearly responsible for backups, staging, and the night production stops.

What you are actually buying

Odoo.sh is Odoo’s platform for building, staging, and running a database with git-based deploys. A self-hosted server is a machine you, or your partner, patch, back up, and resize. Both can run Community or Enterprise. The licence choice is separate from the hosting choice.

Neither option removes the need for a staging copy. Test upgrades and custom modules there before they touch the company that is invoicing today.

Who applies updates

On a platform, the vendor’s tooling builds and promotes branches. On your own server, someone must schedule OS patches, PostgreSQL care, and Odoo updates. If that someone is “we will see”, self-hosting is the more expensive option even when the virtual machine looks cheap.

Ask for the backup restore drill, not only the backup setting. A backup that has never been restored is a hope. Our support work often starts by making that drill real.

Custom modules and performance

Custom code should deploy the same way on either host: a branch, a build, a staging test, then production. A module copied onto the server over SSH will be lost at the next rebuild.

Slow screens are usually queries, missing indexes, or a report that loads too much, not the brand of cloud. The performance service is the place to start when the database is already live and the forms are dragging.

How this shows up in the budget

Hosting is called out separately from partner implementation fees in the cost guide. Do not bury a server nobody monitors inside an implementation number and call it included.

If your team has no one who can restore a database, choose the option where that restore is a documented job with a name on it. That is the whole decision for most companies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Odoo.sh required for Enterprise?+

No. Enterprise can run on Odoo.sh or on infrastructure you operate. The edition and the host are separate choices.

Can we move later?+

Yes. Keep custom modules in git and take database backups you have restored at least once. Those two habits make a later move possible.

Which is cheaper?+

The virtual machine rate is not the cost. Include patches, backups, staging, and the person who answers when the site is down.