Odoo Partner vs Freelancer vs In-House: Which Is Right for You?

When you decide to implement or extend Odoo, one of the first questions is who should do the work. The three main options are hiring an official Odoo partner, engaging a freelance consultant, or building an in-house team. Each model has real advantages and real downsides, and the right choice depends entirely on your situation.

This is not one of those articles that pretends to be neutral and then pushes you toward one option. Every approach works well in the right context and fails in the wrong one. Here is an honest breakdown to help you decide.

Option 1: Odoo partner

An Odoo partner is a company that has been certified by Odoo SA. They range from small agencies with a handful of consultants to large firms with hundreds of employees. Partners get access to Odoo training, partner tools, and can sell Odoo Enterprise licenses directly.

When a partner makes sense

Partners are often the best fit for large, complex implementations that require a team of specialists. If your project involves multiple modules, complex integrations, and needs to be delivered on a tight timeline, a partner can throw resources at the problem in ways a freelancer or small in-house team cannot.

They also make sense if you want a single point of accountability. With a partner, you sign one contract and they manage the entire delivery. If a consultant gets sick or leaves, the partner provides a replacement. That continuity has real value for mission-critical projects.

The downsides

• Cost is higher. Partners have offices, sales teams, and overhead. Hourly rates from Belgian Odoo partners typically range from 120 to 200 euros per hour.
• You often do not get to choose your consultant. The person in the sales meeting may not be the one doing the work. Junior consultants learning on your project is a common complaint.
• Long-term contracts and minimum commitments are standard. Switching partners mid-project is painful and expensive.
• Some partners push their own proprietary modules or workflows, creating vendor lock-in beyond the Odoo platform itself.

Option 2: Freelance consultant

Freelance Odoo consultants work independently. They are typically experienced professionals who have spent years at Odoo partners before going solo. Some specialize in specific modules or industries; others are generalists.

When a freelancer makes sense

Freelancers shine for small to mid-size projects where you want direct access to a senior person. There is no account manager layer between you and the person doing the work. You get their full attention, and their reputation depends on your satisfaction.

They are also excellent for specific tasks like optimizing an existing Odoo setup, building a custom module, or handling a migration. You pay for exactly the hours you need, with no minimum commitments.

Rates are generally lower than partners, typically between 70 and 130 euros per hour in Belgium, because there is less overhead. And because you are working directly with the person, communication tends to be faster and clearer.

The downsides

• Finding a good freelancer is hard. There is no central directory, and quality varies wildly. A bad hire costs you weeks.
• No backup. If your freelancer gets sick, goes on holiday, or takes on too much work, your project stalls.
• Limited capacity. A single person cannot handle a large multi-module rollout on a tight timeline.
• Vetting is your responsibility. Unlike a partner where Odoo SA provides some quality assurance, with a freelancer you have to assess technical skills yourself.

Option 3: In-house team

Some businesses hire Odoo developers and functional consultants as full-time employees. This typically makes sense only once Odoo is already implemented and you need ongoing development and support.

When in-house makes sense

If Odoo is central to your business and you need continuous development, having in-house expertise is powerful. Your team understands your business intimately, they are always available, and they build institutional knowledge that stays with the company.

In-house also makes sense if you have strict security or compliance requirements that make it difficult to give external parties access to your systems.

The downsides

• Recruitment is extremely difficult. Experienced Odoo developers are scarce, especially in Belgium. Expect to invest significant time and money in hiring.
• Full-time cost is high. A senior Odoo developer in Belgium costs 60,000 to 90,000 euros per year in salary alone, plus benefits, equipment, and management overhead. That is expensive if you do not need 40 hours per week of Odoo work.
• Knowledge isolation. In-house teams can become detached from Odoo best practices and community developments. They see only your implementation, not dozens of different setups.
• The initial implementation still needs external help in most cases. Building an in-house team to do a greenfield implementation from scratch is risky.

The hybrid approach

In practice, many successful businesses combine models. A common pattern is using external consultants for the initial implementation and then transitioning to a smaller in-house team for ongoing support and development, with occasional external help for major upgrades or new modules.

Another increasingly popular approach is using platforms like odoone to access vetted senior consultants on a flexible basis. This gives you the quality assurance of a partner (consultants are pre-screened) with the directness and flexibility of a freelancer model. You work directly with the consultant, scale hours up or down as needed, and there is no long-term lock-in. Starting at 80 euros per hour with a free approval cycle, it addresses several of the downsides of both the traditional partner and freelancer models.

Decision framework

Use this as a starting point for your decision. Consider where your project falls on each dimension.

• Project size and complexity: Large multi-module rollouts favor partners. Targeted projects favor freelancers or platforms. Ongoing maintenance favors in-house.
• Budget: Tight budgets favor freelancers and flexible platforms. Larger budgets open the door to partners. Consistent long-term Odoo work can justify in-house.
• Risk tolerance: Low risk tolerance favors partners with contractual guarantees. Higher risk tolerance allows you to benefit from the cost savings of freelancers.
• Speed: Need a team of five tomorrow? That is a partner. Need one great consultant next week? That is a freelancer or platform like odoone.
• Long-term plan: If you will need Odoo expertise continuously for years, start building in-house. If needs are project-based or fluctuating, keep it external.

What matters most

Regardless of the model you choose, the single most important factor is the quality of the individual people working on your project. A brilliant freelancer will outperform a mediocre partner team every time. An engaged in-house developer who keeps learning will outperform a disinterested external consultant.

The model is just the wrapper. Focus on getting great people, give them clear requirements and reasonable timelines, and stay involved in the process. The rest is logistics.

If you are still unsure, start small. Engage someone for a well-defined first phase, evaluate the results, and scale from there. The worst decision is a big upfront commitment based on sales presentations instead of proven results.