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It's a split decision.
Choose Clear Books if you need UK-focused accounting, VAT filing and MTD features, with free options and paid plans from £5 per month. Choose Odoo if you want accounting alongside CRM, inventory, sales and other business apps. Its One App Free plan supports unlimited users, but paid Standard and Custom pricing is per user, and Odoo’s broader scope may mean more implementation and customization work. Odoo’s prices are in euros; Clear Books’ are in pounds.
01Side by side
| Clear Books | Odoo | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Paid plans from £5/month; prices plus VAT | €11.90/user/month, billed yearly |
| Free plan | Several free plans; includes MTD options | One app, unlimited users, Odoo Online |
| Best for | UK sole traders, landlords and small companies | Teams wanting a broader business app platform |
| Core strength | UK accounting, VAT and MTD features | Accounting, CRM, inventory and sales apps |
| Learning curve | Ease-of-use review score: 6/10 | Ease-of-use review score: 5/10 |
| Integrations/data | Integrations and API listed on Small plan | External API listed on Custom plan |
| Team/seat costs | No per-user costs listed; some plans include unlimited users | Paid plans priced per user/month |
| Support | Support review score: 5/10 | Support review score: 7/10 |
Clear Books Choose Clear Books if
- Choose Clear Books if UK VAT filing and MTD are priorities.
- Choose Clear Books if you want accounting-focused free plans.
- Choose Clear Books if per-user pricing is a concern.
Odoo Choose Odoo if
- Choose Odoo if you want accounting alongside CRM and inventory.
- Choose Odoo if one free app with unlimited users fits.
- Choose Odoo if you need its Custom plan’s multi-company or API options.
02Pricing compared
Clear Books has free plans for sole traders and landlords, with paid plans starting at £5 per month. Its Sole Trader Plus plan is £15 per month; company plans range from £16 to £44 monthly, or £14.40 to £39.60 per month when billed yearly. The pricing page says Small, Medium and Large cost 10% less monthly on yearly billing, and prices are plus VAT. Some add-on prices, including payroll and Auto Bills for company plans, are not published.
Odoo’s One App Free plan includes one app and unlimited users. Paid Standard starts at €14.80 per user monthly, or €11.90 per user with yearly billing. Custom is €27.90 monthly or €22.90 yearly per user. Odoo’s pricing page says its discount is valid for 12 months for initial users ordered. These prices are in different currencies, so compare them against your user count and required features, not as direct equivalents.
03Features and depth
Clear Books is focused on accounting for UK small businesses, sole traders and landlords. Its listed features include branded and recurring invoices, payment reminders, financial reports, and direct VAT return submissions to HMRC. MTD for Income Tax includes quarterly updates and a year-end filing wizard. VAT features depend on the plan: Sole Trader Plus lists MTD VAT reporting, while Medium and Large include MTD VAT submissions. Clear Books also lists payroll, but its price is not published.
Odoo covers a wider set of business needs through apps for accounting, CRM, inventory, sales and HR. Its free Community edition is open source; the paid Enterprise plans add apps, hosting and other features. Standard includes all apps, while Custom adds options such as multi-company, an external API and Odoo Studio. Odoo says its native AI can automate work and tailor features. That breadth is useful if you want multiple functions in one platform, but it is not the same as a dedicated UK accounting focus.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Clear Books has a narrower job to do, which makes it the more direct fit if you mainly need UK bookkeeping, VAT and MTD workflows. Its feature list includes guided quarterly updates for MTD for Income Tax. Still, our review flags setup help as a weaker point, and the listed prices do not clarify the cost of every add-on.
Odoo puts many business apps under one roof, but a broader system can mean more decisions about configuration and customization. The comparison review flags implementation and customization as areas to keep in check. Odoo’s paid plans also charge per user, so the cost changes as your team grows. Choose based on the work you need the software to cover, not just the free entry point.
Questions people ask
Which is better for a UK sole trader?
Clear Books is the more directly targeted option: it has sole-trader plans, a free tier, and MTD features, with paid sole-trader options from £5 per month. Odoo offers a broader set of business apps, but the published information does not establish equivalent UK-specific sole-trader tax workflows.
Can Odoo file VAT returns with HMRC?
The published Odoo information lists an accounting app, but does not specify direct HMRC VAT filing or MTD support. Clear Books lists VAT return submission to HMRC and MTD VAT features on eligible plans. Confirm Odoo’s UK compliance capabilities before choosing it for VAT filing.
Is Odoo cheaper than Clear Books?
It depends on how many users and apps you need. Odoo’s free plan covers one app and unlimited users; paid Standard is priced per user. Clear Books has several free plans and paid plans from £5 per month. Prices are in euros and pounds respectively, so they are not direct like-for-like figures.
Does Clear Books include payroll in its plan price?
Clear Books lists payroll as an available add-on, with a 30-day free trial, but its payroll price is not published. The published pricing details do not say that payroll is included in a specific plan, so check the current terms before budgeting for it.