Yes. You can move from Odoo Online to Odoo.sh or from Odoo.sh to a self-hosted setup. The process usually involves taking a recent backup, restoring it on the new environment and adjusting your domain and email settings. The earlier you decide on the long term model, the less migration work you will have to do.
Odoo Hosting Types
Guide comparing Odoo Online, Odoo.sh and self-hosted options.
Your Odoo hosting choice shapes how fast Odoo feels, how stable it stays, and how calm you feel on busy days. Get it wrong and you can end up with slow load times, surprise costs, or a migration project at the worst possible moment.
Most people only hear about Odoo Online and Odoo.sh. In reality, there are three main ways to run Odoo in production.
This guide explains each model in simple terms, with honest pros and cons, so you can choose a setup that works today and still scales with you.
Already know you want a managed setup? See Cloudpepper hosting plans.
What does Odoo hosting actually mean?
Odoo hosting is simply where your Odoo system and database lives and who looks after the servers behind it. It decides three things:
- How fast Odoo feels when your team works inside it
- How much freedom you have to customize Odoo
- Who is responsible when something goes wrong in the middle of a busy day
All hosting models below can run Odoo, but they give you very different levels of control, performance and responsibility for maintenance.
Quick comparison of the main Odoo hosting models
| Odoo Online (Odoo cloud) | Odoo.sh (Odoo cloud) | Cloudpepper platform (self-hosted) | Managed Odoo host (self-hosted) | DIY VPS or own server (self-hosted) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server ownership | Odoo | Odoo | You (your cloud account) | The provider | You |
| Server management | Odoo | Odoo | Cloudpepper platform | The provider | You |
| Odoo edition | Enterprise only | Enterprise only | Community or Enterprise | Often both, depends on provider | Community or Enterprise |
| Custom modules | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Typical setup effort | Very low | Low | Low to medium | Low | High |
| Performance | Shared | Shared (dedicated on higher tiers) | Dedicated (your own server) | Often shared or container based | Depends on how you size and tune your server |
| Data location choice | Limited to Odoo regions | Limited to Odoo regions | You choose cloud and region | Provider offers fixed regions | You choose |
| Backup storage | Daily, Odoo cloud | Daily, Odoo cloud | Flexible, any location (S3/SFTP) | Automatic, provider storage | Manual or custom |
| Root Access | ❌ No | ❌ Restricted | ✅ Full Root | ❌ No | ✅ Full Root |
| External DB access | ❌ No | ⚠️ Indirect only SSH tunnel; or full access on dedicated plans | ✅ Yes, controlled access | ❌ Often blocked | ✅ Yes, you control |
| Pricing model | Per User (Hosting Included) | Per Worker (Usage Based) | Flat Platform Fee ($29) + Server Cost (e.g. Hetzner, AWS) | Bundled plan Per worker or managed server | Server only You handle setup & maintenance |
| Best for | Simple standard use | Partner projects that stay on Odoo cloud | Growing projects that need control & performance | Teams that want “just manage it for me” | SysAdmins who want full control |
Odoo Online
Odoo Online is the fully hosted SaaS version of Odoo.
- Easiest way to start, you just create an account and use Odoo in the browser.
- Hosting, updates, and basic backups are handled for you.
- It only runs Odoo Enterprise, the paid edition of Odoo with extra apps and features on top of the open source core. Community edition is not available.
- You cannot install custom modules or make deep technical changes, so you will eventually outgrow it if your business depends on custom features.
- You cannot tune resources or add workers. Odoo Online runs on shared resources you do not control.
Best for: small teams using standard Odoo apps with no customisation needs.
Odoo.sh
Odoo.sh is the official cloud platform designed for development workflows.
- Lets you install and update custom modules while Odoo manages the platform.
- You get a Git based workflow, staging environments, and automated builds.
- You can increase capacity by adding more Odoo workers and storage. Resources are shared unless you choose dedicated.
- Like Odoo Online, it runs Odoo Enterprise only. Community edition is not available.
- The whole stack runs on Odoo controlled infrastructure with their rules on workers, storage and scaling, and no root access to the servers.
Best for: development teams and Odoo partners who want the official workflow for custom code and are comfortable hosting on Odoo infrastructure without strict data residency or deep infrastructure control requirements.
If you are considering moving away, see why Cloudpepper is the top Odoo.sh alternative for performance and control.
Odoo Self-Hosting (On-Premise)
“On-Premises” or “Self-Hosted” means Odoo runs on infrastructure that you control, instead of Odoo’s shared cloud.
This can be:
- A VPS or dedicated server (see set-up guide) that you manage yourself.
- A managed Odoo host that runs Odoo for you on their servers.
- A managed Odoo hosting platform that gives you automation on top of your own cloud account.
Odoo self-hosted setups can run both Odoo Community and Odoo Enterprise, as long as you have the right license for Enterprise if you choose it. This makes it the most flexible option long term, especially if you want full control over performance and data location.
Best for: businesses that want full control, custom modules, specific regions or dedicated performance.
If you want to use your own server with the same automation as Odoo.sh, see our Cloudpepper plans for our managed Odoo self-hosting platform. If you want a fully managed option on our infrastructure, see our managed Odoo hosting plans.
What Odoo hosting to choose?
If you’re still unsure after reading the breakdown above, it helps to think in simple scenarios instead of features.
✅Best for beginners:
Use Odoo Online if you want to start quickly with standard apps, don’t have custom modules yet, and are happy to let Odoo handle hosting, updates and basic backups. It’s the lowest friction way to get a first production system live.✅You want custom modules but to stay on Odoo’s cloud:
Use Odoo.sh if you already work with an Odoo partner or developer, need custom modules, and like the idea of keeping everything inside Odoo’s own platform with built in Git, staging and automated builds. You stay on Enterprise and accept their rules on workers, storage and regions.✅You care about control, performance and long term cost:
Use self hosted (on premises or your own cloud) if you want to choose the provider and region, run Community or Enterprise, and get dedicated resources you can size and tune for your workloads. This gives you the most flexibility over time. You can either run the servers yourself or let a managed platform handle that work for you.
For most businesses that rely on Odoo, especially those with custom modules, higher traffic or stricter compliance needs, the sweet spot is self-hosted with a managed platform:
- you own the servers and data, and can pick regions that match your compliance needs
- you get dedicated performance instead of sharing resources with other tenants
- you offload backups, updates, staging, deployments and day to day operations to a platform built for Odoo
If you want a fully managed option on our infrastructure, see our
managed Odoo hosting page.
If you prefer to use your own cloud infrastructure with the same level of automation, see our
Cloudpepper plans for the managed Odoo hosting platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
Odoo Hosting
Can I switch Odoo hosting later?
Which Odoo hosting is best for performance?
Performance mostly comes down to dedicated resources and good configuration. Self hosted setups on a well sized VPS or dedicated server usually give the fastest response times, especially when combined with proper Odoo and PostgreSQL tuning . Platforms like Cloudpepper help you get that performance without running the servers by hand.
Do I need hosting if I already use Odoo Online?
If you use Odoo Online, Odoo already hosts the software for you and you do not need a separate host. You only need your own Odoo hosting when you want more control over the servers, custom modules or to run Community edition instead of Enterprise.