There are 2 editions you can make use of
| Type | Available on | Platform name | Paid for | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odoo Community | Selfhosted | Docker | No | On Premise - You install it on a server you own or rent |
| Odoo Community | Odoo hosting platform | Odoo.sh | No | it’s a SaaS on Odoo’s servers |
| Odoo Enterprise | Odoo hosting platform | Odoo Online | Yes | It’s a PaaS on Odoo’s servers |
These are the different module options:
| Type | Description | Available in | Paid for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official | aka Standard | All standard modules are covered for maintenance and upgrades by the Odoo Enterprise agreement. Some of them are available in Odoo Community edition; all of them are available in Odoo Enterprise edition | Mostly |
| Community | aka Third Party | Are available via the Odoo Apps Store and not covered by the Odoo Enterprise agreement | Sometimes |
| Type | Description | Available in | Paid for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | aka. freemium | Available only on Odoo Online hosting if you use 1 app only | Conditions apply |
| Standard plan | available only on Odoo Online hosting | ||
| Custom | available on all 3 hosting options |
Now that we have established this terminology, let’s address your questions:
Question:
I would like to know if I should pay per user via the official Odoo site or setup my own install on a hosted server.
Answer:
The moment you will pay for Odoo Enterprise, you will necessary pay per user, so there’s not really an alternative to pay based on a different metric than users. Hosting on your server (ie. On Premise hosting) doesn’t dictate if you pay or not. The edition you use dictates if you pay or not. You can use Odoo Community or Odoo Enterprise on Premise.
Question:
Do I get access to all the apps seen in the paid version on the self-hosted install
Answer:
Yes, all the standard apps. Not the third-party apps.
Question:
If so does this include the additional plugin apps?
Answer:
If what you mean by “additional plugin apps” is third-party modules, then the answer is no. There are 40,000+ third party apps on the Odoo Apps Store. Some are free and some are paid.
Question:
What are the pros to paying per user, seems like this will get wildly expensive once the business grows so starting with it being free just makes sense, no?
Answer:
Either you use Odoo Community for free, or you use Odoo Enterprise with the Free plan for free, or you use Odoo Enterprise and you pay for it per user. The pro of paying for Odoo Enterprise instead of keeping your Free plan is that the Free plan is limited to 1 app only. So, you can use your 1 app free plan with Odoo CRM with as many users for as long as you want for free, but the moment you will install a second app you will have to pay Odoo Enterprise for all your users.
Another pro of paying for Odoo Enterprise is the ability to use it On Premise, which seems to be what you want. The Free plan is only available on Odoo Online hosting.
Question:
Can you migrate data from the paid to a self hosted setup down the road?
Answer:
Odoo Community is the same product no matter where you host it, and Odoo Enterprise is the same product no matter where you host it. So if you are using Odoo Enterprise on a certain hosting type, you can back it up and restore it on any other hosting type. Keep in mind that it’s easier to go from Odoo Online to SH or On premise than the other way around because there are more constraints on Online than on SH and On Premise. To answer strictly to your question: yes you can go from Online hosting to On Premise hosting easily down the road.
https://www.odoo.com/page/hosting-types , https://www.odoo.com/blog/business-hacks-1/how-to-choose-your-hosting-type-560
https://www.odoo.com/documentation/latest/administration/maintain/hosting_changes.html