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Odoo's 2026 Price Change in Australia: The A$80 Custom Plan, Light Users and the Employee Record Catch

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On 24 September 2026, at the same event where Odoo 20 was launched, Odoo announced its first price change since 2022. Odoo said cumulative inflation since then was 26%, and pointed to rising AI, hosting and IT costs. Here is what changed for Australian customers, using the AUD prices on Odoo's pricing page as at October 2026, and what you should check before your next renewal.

What changed

  • One App Free stays free: one app, unlimited users, on Odoo Online.
  • Standard is unchanged.
  • Custom went up. Odoo described it as a 20% increase.
  • Light User is a new, cheaper user type, and its definition includes employee records that have no login.

Current Australian list prices

  • Standard: A$43.00 per user per month billed yearly, or A$54.00 billed monthly. All apps, hosted on Odoo Online only.
  • Custom: A$80.00 per user per month billed yearly, or A$100.00 billed monthly. All apps, plus Odoo Studio and agentic AI, multi-company, the external API, and hosting on Odoo Online, Odoo.sh or on-premise.
  • Light User: listed at A$12.90. Odoo quotes Light Users through an advisor, so confirm the exact figure on your own quote.
  • First-year discount: new subscriptions get 20% off for 12 months for the initial users ordered, which is why the pricing page shows A$34.40 and A$64.00 next to the yearly prices.
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Odoo.sh hosting is charged separately from the Custom plan licence. If you self-host, you still pay the Custom plan licence for Enterprise, plus your own server costs.

Do you need Standard or Custom?

With the gap between the plans now A$37 per user per month, the plan decision matters more than it used to. You need Custom if any of these apply:

  • You use custom modules or third-party apps (these need Odoo.sh or on-premise hosting).
  • You use Odoo Studio to add fields, change screens or build reports.
  • You run more than one company in the same database.
  • Anything connects to Odoo through the external API, such as a website, warehouse system, reporting tool or custom integration. Odoo's documentation says external API access is not available on One App Free or Standard.
  • You want to use agentic AI.

If none of these apply, Standard on Odoo Online is excellent value. If you are on Custom only because of one Studio field or a long-forgotten integration, it is worth checking whether you still need it.

The Light User catch: employee records now count

Odoo's new subscription agreement (version 13, dated 24 September 2026) defines a Light User as a user account marked as a Light User, or any active employee record in the Employees app that is not linked to an active, non-portal user account. The definition applies "where supported by the customer's version of the software", so expect it to matter when you move to a version with Light Users and when you renew under the new agreement.

Many Australian businesses keep every staff member in the Employees app for payroll, time off, rosters or attendance, but only give logins to a handful of office staff. Under the new definition, every one of those employee records without a login can become a billable Light User.

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Example: 12 office staff with full logins and 30 people in the Employees app. On the Custom plan billed yearly that is 12 x A$80 = A$960 a month for users. The 18 employee records without logins could add 18 Light Users. At A$12.90 per month each, that is about A$232 a month, or roughly A$2,790 a year, on top of the user licences.

Renewals: the 7% cap and the 25% old version fee

  • Renewal increases are capped. If you are paying less than the current list price, the agreement says your charges increase by up to 7% per year at renewal, rather than jumping straight to the new list price.
  • Old versions cost 25% more. If your database is older than the three most recent major versions (now 18, 19 and 20), Odoo can charge an extra fee of 25% of your annualised price. It can apply from six months after a new major version is released, so customers still on Odoo 17 or older should expect it from around March 2027.

If you are on Odoo 16 or 17, the cost of the 25% fee plus losing security updates usually makes upgrading the cheaper option over two or three years. See Odoo 16 and 17 are out of support.

AI is charged separately

In Odoo 20 all AI features run on IAP (in-app purchase) credits that you buy from Odoo on top of your subscription. Odoo has not published a simple price per task, and usage depends heavily on what you ask the AI to do. Budget a small amount, pilot one process and watch your credit balance before rolling AI out across the business.

What to do before your next renewal

  • Audit the Employees app. Archive former staff and anyone who no longer needs a record. Active employee records are what count.
  • Decide who needs a full login. Staff who only need time off, expenses or attendance may be cheaper as Light Users than as full users. Check Odoo's list of what a Light User can do first.
  • Check your plan. Go through the Custom plan triggers above. Downgrading from Custom to Standard saves A$37 per user per month, but only if nothing depends on Custom.
  • Check your version. If you are on 17 or older, plan your upgrade before the 25% fee applies.
  • Read your renewal quote line by line and compare the user and Light User counts against your actual staff.

Sources

Not sure what your next Odoo renewal will cost?

Send us your user list and current plan and we will work out which plan you actually need, which records count as Light Users and what you can tidy up before renewal.

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