While You Think Becoming An Odoo Partner Is Not Relevant In 2026, Odoo Continues to Grow!
Odoo has been around for over 20 years now and they have had implementation Partners for, pretty much, the same length of time (since 2010 more or less).
So, how do you know if now is the right time for you to become an Odoo Partner?
There are a few things to consider and I'll lay them all out for you here, if you are thinking on becoming a partner.
Over the last few years or so, the ERP market has grown quickly, and it only continues to do so, if not even faster, in 2026. The demand and need for ERP systems across every industry is becoming more and more vital for businesses to strive and even survive.
In 2026, things are a little different. Odoo is no longer an early product. The ecosystem is no longer sparse and the Partner model is no longer something you can approach without a clear point of view.
None of this means the opportunity to become an Odoo Partner has disappeared. I do believe it is still a strong opportunity for any company or individual that can do it right. It now all depends on how you position yourself within the Odoo ecosystem, rather than just simply being in the ecosystem.
Odoo has grown up, so to speak. From TinyERP to what it is today, it has expanded across geographies, industries and customer segments. The product has matured (and continues to do so).
At the same time, the number and quality of Partners has increased, which has created a different kind of environment. Certainly not worse, but more structured, more competitive and less forgiving.
I'm not here to tell you whether becoming an Odoo Partner is a good or bad idea. This is about understanding the kind of decision it has become.
There is no immediate yes or no answer. The window of opportunity hasn't closed, but it does look a little different. For a variety of reasons.
So, let's dive in, shall we?
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This Edition's Ingredients
Let's take a look at this article's ripe ingredients to see what's coming up.
- Odoo's Growth
- Pros and Cons of Being An Odoo Partner
- The Overlap
- How Odoo's Partner Model Creates Value
- Becoming an Odoo Partner
If you missed my last article, it's one you might want to take a look back on, after this.
I recently also explored how SPS Commerce approaches full-service EDI within Odoo, covering everything from trading partner management to real-world operational workflows. It's definitely worth a read.
Odoo's Ecosystem Has Grown. A Lot!
Over the last decade or so, Odoo has continued to make its mark on the ERP community, growing its own ecosystem.
And things look pretty different now compared to the early days.
This shift in the ecosystem is largely due to increases.
- An increase in customer adoption and awareness
- An increase in geographic reach
- An increase in product capability
Not only that, but the influx of Odoo Partners and how sophisticated they have become, also makes for a change in the ecosystem.
Today, Odoo is used by over 170,000 businesses worldwide across multiple industries and continents. And they have an impressive global presence on top of that, with 19 offices worldwide: USA, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Belgium (of course), Germany, Luxembourg, Kenya, Dubai, India, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Australia, with their 20th office opening in France in June this year.
Each month, over 11,000 new clients join Odoo, working out at around 170,000 customers worldwide and there are now more than 16 million users across the globe. That is some insanely impressive growth at a unique rate.
Continuing to scale faster than ever, Odoo has partnered with notable companies such as KPMG, Deloitte, PwC and many others.
With aspirations to reach €1 billion in billing revenue by 2027, the software unicorn giant plans to increase their employee numbers from 7,000 to 10,000 by the end of this year.
Early adopter Partners had the advantage of educating a curious market on Odoo.
Now, buyers are beginning to become more aware of Odoo and its capabilities and Partners can find themselves in competition to prove why they are the right choice for a client's implementation.
There was a reported total of around 10,000+ Odoo Partners in 2025, and this growth signals a 32% year on year increase, with around 600+ new Partners in one year.
It's important to note that what is great for Odoo - holistic growth - can prove to make things tricky for Partners.
The ecosystem has gone from greenfield to crowded in the last few years and, both, current and new Partners need to adapt to these changes to make sure they stand out in the market.
You can read more on Odoo's exciting growth in my previous article following OXP 25.
The Pros And Cons Of Being An Odoo Partner
If I am going to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision, this is the best place to start. I'd quite confidently say that everything in life comes with pros and cons, even if one side outweighs the other drastically.
In the context of Odoo, it's not necessarily good vs bad. It's more what being a Partner enables and what it requires in return.
Let's start with the good stuff and why you would want to become an Odoo Partner, no questions asked.
Odoo has many strengths, which is just one of the reasons why it has become such a successful product. Some of these strengths include:
There is also a vast amount of support available from Odoo for Partners, including a specifically appointed Odoo Partner Manager - we'll cover more on that later.
Here is my take on Odoo's benefits:
Global Demand
Odoo continues to expand across numerous countries, industries and companies of various sizes
Partner Program Revenue
Partners get commissions of up to 20% on sales (depending on their Partner tier) and ongoing revenue can come from providing support, enhancements and additional sales to clients
Service Model
It is very easy to have a clear path from a small team to a structured consultancy if approached correctly
Flexibility
Partners can build a position through industry focus, technical specialisation, add-ons or integrations and delivery methodology; you're not locked into a single way of going to market
Evolving Platform
Being an Odoo Partner gives you strong brand momentum, continuous product development, centralised marketing and ecosystem support; you don't need to build a product from scratch.
You can read all about the official benefits, as laid out by Odoo, on their "Become a Partner" page on their website below.
Being an Odoo Partner, especially for those just starting out, can come with some pain points. Life, and certainly business, can't always be looked at through rose coloured glasses.
From a general point of view, the most common problems Partners can face are:
- Intense Technical And Support Requirements
- Pressure To Sell Licenses To Maintain Status
- Potential Direct Competition From Odoo
- Need For Skilled Talent
Operating within a fast-growing ecosystem also comes with growing expectations. Partners are expected to keep up with rapid platform changes, deliver complex projects successfully and continue driving commercial growth at the same time. As more companies enter the ecosystem and buyers become increasingly informed, standing out requires far more than simply reselling software; it depends heavily on expertise, positioning, delivery quality and long-term trust.
In my opinion, none of these are absolute deal breakers. It is all about how you overcome them, and positioning yourself in the market correctly is crucial.
Now, I mentioned Partner tiers earlier. There are three levels (or tiers) of Odoo Partners: Ready, Silver and Gold. Your positioning in these tiers is based mainly on:
- New Odoo Enterprise users sold per year
- How many active Odoo-certified employees are in your company
- A minimum customer retention percentage
While the names of the tiers can often indicate the size of a Partner and their experience in the market, it does not automatically guarantee quality. The tier system doesn't necessarily correlate to 'high quality' service in the sense that you might think it does.
Just because a Partner is a Gold level partner, doesn't mean that they are instantly 'the best' in that region. It simply means they have met, at least, the minimum requirements to become a Gold partner.
I have previously written an article on how the Odoo tier system really works, so feel free to check that out for more information once you've finished here.
The Overlap with Odoo & Partners
Compared to other partner ecosystem models, Odoo takes a more hybrid approach.
On the surface, the model is similar: the vendor (Odoo) sells the product and the partner delivers the service. However, Odoo also runs a direct sales motion at scale. It generates leads, qualifies opportunities and, in many cases, they are the first point of of contact for the customer.
In some deals, Odoo hands the opportunity to a Partner - this is done through Odoo's Partner Managers. In others, they keep the client to themselves, which is where the direct sales aspect of Odoo's model comes into play: Success Packs.
Odoo is doing two things at once:
- Scaling a global software business
- Maintaining a partner-led delivery model
However, this "overlap" is quite a touchy subject with a lot of Odoo Partners.
There seems to be a general consensus that Partners would rather that Odoo stuck to SaaS (software as a service), providing the product, for Partners to then be the one(s) to service customers with it, whether that be implementation or ongoing support, or both.
It's important to note that none of this is necessarily a problem. In fact, it's part of how Odoo has scaled as quickly as it has. It does, however, change the nature of the opportunity.
You're not operating in a pure channel model, where all value flows through Partners. And you're not operating in a pure direct model either. You're operating in a hybrid.
That has implications. It means:
- You need your own pipeline
- You need to define your role clearly in each deal
- You can't rely solely on vendor-generated demand
The Partners who navigate this well tend to do one thing differently. They don't wait to be included in deals. They create their own. And, in doing so, they shift the dynamic. From being part of Odoo's sales motion, to running one alongside it.
How Odoo's Partner Model Creates Value
Being a successful Odoo Partner has shifted from just delivering initial client implementations to being a 'Business Optimiser' through ongoing support once implementation is complete. It comes down to the value a Partner can provide a client, especially in the long term.
All this said, this doesn't mean that the opportunity is disappearing or becoming less desirable; it just means the default approach is weakening. Being an Odoo Partner is no longer, in and of itself, a differentiator. It's the starting point. And the more the ecosystem grows, the more that becomes true.
Let me say this, the economics of being an Odoo Partner still work. The model hasn't fundamentally changed.
Partners can generate revenue from a combination of:
- Software subscriptions
- Implementation services
- Ongoing support and evolution
And for many Partners, that continues to be a strong foundation.
Implementation and support remain core to the Partner model. But the nature of that work is evolving.
- Greater focus on long-term customer value
- More emphasis on efficient, repeatable delivery
- A growing emphasis on balancing standardisation with necessary customisation
This changes how revenue scales. It becomes less about one large implementation and more about a combination of initial delivery, ongoing optimisation and expansion across modules and use cases
For the more visual learners, like myself, below is an example breakdown of the average ROI for a Ready partner offering different levels of services to their clients.
The "default" approach, where you enter the ecosystem, grow, and earn through general delivery, is harder to sustain without refinement.
Partners increasingly need to think about:
- How they deliver efficiently
- How they acquire customers
- How do they retain and expand accounts over time
The underlying model still works, but it rewards structure more than it used to.
The Partners who do well in this environment tend to approach it that way: not just as a services business built around a product, but as a business model that needs to be designed
Becoming an Odoo Partner
As an Odoo Partner, you must meet certain training, experience and performance criteria set by Odoo. You are then granted partner status to ensure consistent, high-quality service for customers adopting the Odoo platform, of course, based on their requirements.
The process of becoming an Odoo Partner is pretty simple. It includes training, marketing yourself as a partner (proper positioning and differentiation), generating sales and becoming Odoo certified. You can see a timeline of how this tends to pan out below.
Each Partner is assigned to a Partner Manager at Odoo, providing you with any support you need to fulfill your role and goals as an Odoo Partner. This can range from training and demos and coming up with strategies to assignment of leads and other business opportunities.
Your whole team will have access to training as well. Depending on the level of training each of your team members needs, there is a range of modules to choose from so all bases are covered. From e-learning (via Odoo Learn) to project leader on-boarding and even technical training.
All in all, as an Odoo Partner, you are there to ensure the client gets the most out of the platform, and the support from Odoo is there to ensure you can facilitate that.
Odoo is actually running a webinar to show how becoming an Odoo Partner will help you boost and unlock new business opportunities. This is your chance to ask the Odoo team questions directly.
In Summary
So, it is clear, the window of opportunity to become an Odoo Partner certainly has not closed. But it is no longer broad and forgiving, and it has definitely become more competitive. The ecosystem has massively grown and matured and therefore Partners (existing and new) need to mature with it.
Then, participation was enough. Now, positioning is everything. In today's world and in the coming years, becoming an Odoo Partner is about knowing exactly where and how you fit once you’re in.
In my opinion, thanks to Odoo's remarkable growth and expansion, becoming an Odoo Partner in 2026 (and beyond) is a very lucrative opportunity. But with how established Odoo now is and will continue to be, becoming a Partner in the current environment will take a certain type of company or individual.