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An ERP costs an SME a licence per user per month plus an implementation, and in the first year the implementation is often the larger part. Among the established packages the licence runs from 19.90 to 95.30 euro per user per month before VAT. Implementation, the work of fitting the package to your business, moving your data across and training your people, ranges from a few thousand euro for a small team to tens of thousands for a company with several departments.
This guide sets the licences of Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Exact Online side by side, explains how implementation is charged, works through three companies over three years and says when a custom ERP is cheaper or simply better. If you are unsure whether you need an ERP or a CRM, read CRM vs ERP first.
The prices below are the euro prices these vendors show for Belgium. In the UK, the Nordics or Germany the list prices are similar, but partner rates for implementation differ more between countries than the licences do.
ERP cost per month: the licence
Prices per user per month, before VAT, on 24 October 2026:
| Package | Entry | Full | What you get | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odoo | 0 euro for one app | Standard 19.90 euro, Custom 35.90 euro, billed yearly | all apps, hosting on Odoo Online included | the discount lasts 12 months; then 24.90 and 44.90 euro |
| Business Central | Team Members 6.90 euro | Essentials 69.30 euro, Premium 95.30 euro, billed yearly | finance, inventory, purchasing and sales; Premium adds manufacturing and service | sold only through partners, who also implement |
| Exact Online (Belgian wholesale edition) | Essentials 269 euro a month | Plus 449, Professional 599, Premium 699 euro a month | one user and accounting included | extra users charged separately |
Three things stand out. Odoo is the cheapest per user, but that price is a first-year price: afterwards you pay 25 percent more. Business Central charges per full user, with a cheap Team Members licence for people who mostly read and do small tasks. Exact Online charges per package and is built around accounting, which suits companies that already work with an accountant on Exact. Odoo in detail is in Odoo pricing, and whether it can be free in is Odoo free.
Three companies, three years, where the money goes
Licence year 1Licence years 2 and 3ImplementationBusiness Central Essentials, licence only
10 people · 5 users
6,817 Three years
40 people · 20 users
21,403 Three years
100 people · 50 users
50,235 Three years
Implementation: the line the pricing page leaves out
Implementation is everything between signing and the day your team works in the system: mapping processes, configuring the package, moving customers, items and open balances, building integrations and training people. You pay for it in one of two ways.
A bundle of hours
For companies up to about 50 employees, Odoo sells Success Packs: a fixed number of hours with an Odoo consultant. Prices before VAT:
| Success Pack | Hours | Price | First pack as a new customer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | 4 | 587.06 euro | 499 euro |
| Basic | 25 | 3,100 euro | 2,635 euro |
| Standard | 50 | 5,500 euro | 4,675 euro |
| Custom | 100 | 9,900 euro | 8,415 euro |
| Pro | 200 | 19,800 euro | 16,830 euro |
Travel time and travel costs come on top. Above 50 employees you usually work with a partner, above 250 directly with Odoo.
By the day, through a partner
Business Central is bought through a Microsoft partner, and that partner implements. Odoo and Exact partners work the same way. A partner usually bills by the day, and that is where budgets slip: every question nobody answered up front becomes another day. So always ask for:
- A fixed price per phase, not just a day rate with an estimate.
- What is excluded: migrating old data, integrations, custom reports, training new staff later.
- Who maintains the custom parts, and what that costs every time the package releases an update.
How long such a project takes is covered in how long does ERP implementation take.
ERP costs for 10, 40 or 100 people over three years
Our own worked example on Odoo Standard, with half the people as users and a Success Pack as implementation. Licence at 19.90 euro in year one and 24.90 euro in years two and three, before VAT.
| Company | Users | Licence year 1 | Licence years 2 and 3 | Implementation | Three years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 people | 5 | 1,194 euro | 2,988 euro | Basic, 2,635 euro | 6,817 euro |
| 40 people | 20 | 4,776 euro | 11,952 euro | Standard, 4,675 euro | 21,403 euro |
| 100 people | 50 | 11,940 euro | 29,880 euro | Custom, 8,415 euro | 50,235 euro |
The same users on Business Central Essentials cost 12,474 euro in licences alone over three years for 5 users, 49,896 euro for 20 and 124,740 euro for 50, before any partner implementation.
What the sum leaves out: customisation in Odoo Studio (which moves you to Custom at 35.90 euro automatically), paid extras such as SMS or automatic invoice scanning, hosting on Odoo.sh instead of Odoo Online, and the time of your own people. That last one is often the biggest hidden cost: whoever helps configure the system is not doing their usual job meanwhile.
What comes on top of any ERP package
| Cost | How big | How to keep it down |
|---|---|---|
| Data migration | days of work with many items or a long history | move only open balances and active items |
| Integrations with your shop, bank, carriers | per integration, often an app or custom work | start with the integration that saves the most time |
| Custom reports | per report | start from the standard reports and see what is missing |
| Training | per session or per hour | train key users who then help the rest |
| E-invoicing | included in most packages | check sending and receiving both work for your country |
| Maintaining custom work | per month or per update | keep customisation small and documented |
E-invoicing is becoming mandatory across Europe: Belgium required structured B2B e-invoices from 1 January 2026, and other countries follow on their own timelines. Whatever ERP you pick should send and receive them for the countries you trade with; see Peppol registration. For the tax side, such as how to book licences and implementation, ask your accountant.
When a custom ERP is cheaper or better
A package is cheap as long as your process fits it. It gets expensive when you have to rebuild the package around your process: every change costs during implementation and again with each update. A custom ERP costs more up front, but there is no licence per user and it does exactly what your business does.
- Choose a package ifyour processes look like most companies in your sector: selling, buying, stock and accounting without exceptions. Start small, with the modules you need today.
- Choose a package with an integration ifalmost everything fits a package except one process. Run that process in its own tool and connect it; see Odoo or custom software.
- Choose custom ifyour core process fits no package, or you have many users who each do a small part. How that works is on custom ERP development.
An example from our own work: the Belgian haulier DA Logistics buys professional diesel under the Belgian Kader B excise scheme, with stock that has to reconcile by FIFO and a report for customs. No package did that. We built a platform with fuel to the litre, a weekly planning board, fleet records and a driver app for about thirty drivers, which the company uses every day. The same platform has run for a second haulier since September, with its own fuel model. The DA Logistics case shows how. What custom software costs and what drives the price is in custom software development cost; the build-or-buy question in build vs buy software.
How to read an ERP partner's quote
- Count your users yourself. Who logs in, who only reads, who only works through a portal or app. That decides which licence each needs.
- Ask for the price after year one. First-year discounts are common; budget on the normal price.
- Fix the implementation per phase, with exclusions in writing.
- Ask who owns the custom work and your data, and how you take it with you if you ever leave. Odoo lets you download a backup of your data.
- Ask about upgrades: what happens to your customisations when the package releases a new version?
If the real question is replacing spreadsheets rather than buying an ERP, read replace Excel with software. For a team that mainly follows up clients and quotes, a CRM is often enough; see CRM cost per month.
What we do for you
We do not sell ERP licences and we are no package's partner, so we can say plainly when Odoo or Business Central will do. We come in where a package stops: a custom module, an integration between your package and your own tools, or a full platform for a process that exists nowhere else. We work from Ghent, Belgium, for companies across Europe; see custom software.
ERP cost per month, per user and in year one
How much does an ERP cost per month?
A licence per user: 19.90 to 35.90 euro at Odoo in year one, 69.30 to 95.30 euro at Business Central, before VAT. For five users that is roughly 100 to 480 euro a month, plus implementation.
What does ERP implementation cost?
Odoo sells hours in Success Packs, from 587.06 euro for 4 hours to 19,800 euro for 200 hours. Partners for Odoo, Business Central and Exact usually bill by the day; ask for a price per phase.
Is Odoo cheaper than Business Central?
On the licence, yes: 19.90 to 24.90 euro per user against 69.30 euro for Essentials. What decides the total is implementation and how well your process fits the package.
When is a custom ERP cheaper than a package?
When you have many users who each do a small part, or your core process fits no package and you would have to rebuild it. Then there is no per-user licence and no customisation to redo at every update.
Is there an ERP cost calculator?
The table above works as one: count your users, multiply by the licence for year one and the normal price after, add the implementation. Then add integrations and data migration from your quote.