Odoo 19 is the current long-term release of Odoo, published in September 2025 and under standard support until September 2028. For a business, the visible changes from Odoo 18 are the new AI agents and AI fields (Enterprise only), employee contracts folded into the Employees app, product packagings folded into units of measure, and a long list of smaller workflow improvements. Any new implementation today should start on 19, and most businesses on 16 or 17 should plan to move within the next year.
This is part 1 of our Odoo 19 guide. The series follows the order we would roll the apps out in a real project: setup first, then sales, operations, finance, HR and the extras.
What Odoo 19 is, in practical terms
Odoo is one database with many apps on top: CRM, Sales, Inventory, Invoicing, Employees and so on. You install only what you need, and every app you add reads and writes the same customers, products and accounts. That shared data is the whole point. A delivery validated in Inventory is what Invoicing bills, and the invoice is what Accounting reports on.
It comes in two editions. Community is open source (LGPL-3) and free to run. Enterprise is Community plus Odoo's proprietary modules (licence OEEL-1) on a paid subscription. In the 19.0 source we work from, 671 modules are LGPL and 709 are Enterprise. The split matters for app choice: Sales, CRM, Inventory, Purchase, Manufacturing, Point of Sale, Website, eCommerce, Project, Employees and Invoicing are Community. The full Accounting app, Payroll (including Indian Payroll), Helpdesk, Documents, Knowledge, Sign, Studio and all the AI features are Enterprise.
What changed from Odoo 18 that a business notices
Odoo's release notes run to hundreds of items. These are the ones that change how people work or how an implementation is planned.
- AI built in. A new AI app lets you create agents with their own instructions, sources (files, web pages, Knowledge articles) and tools. Any field can be made an AI field that fills itself from a prompt. Server actions gain an "Update with AI" option, Live Chat can hand visitors to an AI agent, and an Ask AI button turns plain questions into searches. All of this is Enterprise and needs an OpenAI or Google Gemini API key on a self-hosted server. Part 5 covers it properly.
- Contracts are gone as a separate app. In Odoo 18, contracts lived in their own module. In 19, wage, contract dates and working terms sit on dated versions of the employee record inside the Employees app. HR and payroll teams need a short walkthrough before go-live, and any custom code built on contracts needs rework.
- Packagings are units of measure now. The separate product packaging model has been removed. A "box of 12" is now a unit of measure on the product, listed in its Packagings field. Warehouses that sell by carton or case will see different screens, and imports from older templates need adjusting.
- Payroll batches are "Pay Runs". The menu and the flow around them have been reworked in the Enterprise Payroll app.
- Portal self-service. Portal users get an address book in the customer portal where they add, edit and archive their own billing and delivery addresses, instead of emailing your team to change them.
- Integration APIs are changing. The XML-RPC and JSON-RPC endpoints (
/xmlrpc,/xmlrpc/2,/jsonrpc) are deprecated in 19. Odoo's documentation schedules their removal for Odoo 22 (fall 2028), and the replacement is the JSON-2 API at/json/2. Integrations still work today, but new ones should be built on JSON-2.
Under the hood, the minimums have moved too: Python 3.10 or later and PostgreSQL 13 or later, with PostgreSQL 15 or later plus the pgvector extension if you want the AI features.
Which apps to start with
The mistake we see most is switching on eight apps in the first week because the licence allows it. Every app brings its own settings and its own training. Start with the apps that hold your master data and your money, then add the rest.
- Settings, company and users. Company details, GSTIN and fiscal localisation, currencies, users and access rights. Nothing else is safe until this is right.
- Contacts, products and Invoicing or Accounting. Customers, vendors, the product catalogue, taxes and the chart of accounts. For Indian companies, the Indian accounting localisation loads GST taxes and the chart of accounts.
- Sales or Point of Sale, and Purchase. Whichever side of the business earns the money first.
- Inventory, then Manufacturing if you make things. Stock only after products and units are clean.
- Employees, Time Off, Payroll, Project, Helpdesk, Website. Add these in waves once the core flows are stable.
Two apps can wait almost indefinitely: Studio and the AI features. Both are more useful once you know how your team actually uses the standard screens.
Configure the standard flow first and customise second. Most customisation requests go away once people have used the standard screens for a month.
Who should move to Odoo 19 now
| Your situation | Our advice |
|---|---|
| New to Odoo, starting a project | Start on 19. It has the longest support window of any version you can choose today. |
| On Odoo 16 | Plan the upgrade now. Standard support for 16 ended in September 2025. |
| On Odoo 17 | Plan it this year. Odoo lists the end of standard support for 17 as September 2026. |
| On Odoo 18, running well | No rush. Standard support runs to September 2027, so move when a 19 feature justifies the testing effort. |
| Heavy custom modules on any version | Budget for the code upgrade as a separate piece of work. See part 36. |
If you are still on Tally, spreadsheets or an older ERP, the question is not which Odoo version to use. It is how clean your opening balances, customer masters and item lists are. That work takes longer than installing Odoo, whichever version you pick.
How this guide is organised
Parts 2 and 3 cover installation and hosting: running Odoo 19 yourself from source, Docker or packages, and choosing between Odoo Online, Odoo.sh and your own servers. Part 4 sets up the company, users and access rights. Part 5 explains the AI modules. From part 6 onwards we go app by app, from CRM through to Studio, and part 36 covers upgrading from 16, 17 or 18.
If you are deciding where Odoo 19 will run, read part 3 on hosting next, since that choice limits what you can customise later. If you would like an implementer to sanity-check your app list and rollout order, that is what we do.
Questions we get asked
When was Odoo 19 released and how long is it supported?
Odoo 19.0 was released in September 2025. Odoo gives each major version three years of standard support, covering helpdesk support, bug fixes and security updates, so Odoo 19 is planned to be supported until September 2028. After that, extended support is available on Odoo.sh and on-premise for an additional fee, while Odoo Online moves databases forward on its own schedule.
Is Odoo 19 Community free?
Yes. Odoo 19 Community is licensed LGPL-3 and costs nothing to download and run on your own server. It includes CRM, Sales, Purchase, Inventory, Manufacturing, Point of Sale, Website, eCommerce, Project, Employees and Invoicing. Full Accounting, Payroll, Helpdesk, Studio, Documents, Knowledge, Sign and the AI features need an Enterprise subscription. For licence costs, check odoo.com/pricing.
Are the AI features available in Odoo 19 Community?
No. The base AI module in Odoo 19 is licensed OEEL-1, which means Enterprise only, and every other AI module depends on it, including AI fields and AI server actions. On a self-hosted Enterprise server you also need your own OpenAI or Google Gemini API key, and PostgreSQL 15 or later with the pgvector extension for document search.
Should I upgrade from Odoo 18 to Odoo 19 straight away?
Not necessarily. Odoo 18 has standard support until September 2027, so a stable Odoo 18 database can wait until a specific Odoo 19 feature, such as AI agents or the new employee versions, justifies the effort. Businesses on Odoo 16 or 17 have less time and should start planning, especially if they run custom modules that need rewriting.