# Odoo 20 Light User: How It Is Charged and What to Check Before Upgrading > How Light Users are counted in Odoo 20, why an active employee record can be billed even without a login, and what to review before you upgrade. **Date:** 2026-10-06 **Source:** --- *Updated 6 October 2026.* Odoo 20 brings the Light User into Odoo Enterprise pricing. It is a user type for a limited set of needs: time off, expenses, attendance, and work at the point of sale, in the warehouse or on the shop floor. {{< img src="/images/insights/odoo-20-light-user/odoo-20-light-user-pricing.png" alt="Odoo pricing page for the Vietnamese market, showing the Light User line at US$ 2.90" >}} *Odoo pricing for the Vietnamese market, 6 October 2026.* At the time of writing, Odoo's pricing page for the Vietnamese market shows the Light User at **US$ 2.90 per user per month, billed annually**. That is well below the price of a full User. For a company with a large workforce, though, the unit price is not the whole question. Under Odoo's current *Enterprise Subscription Agreement*, an **active employee record** can also count as a Light User, even when that person has no Odoo login. So before upgrading to Odoo 20, work out both numbers: how many of your current Users could move to Light, and how many employee records now enter the count. ## Who Counts as a Light User? *Enterprise Subscription Agreement Version 13*, effective 24 September 2026, defines a Light User in two cases: 1. An active user account assigned the Light User role in Odoo. 2. An active employee record in the Employees app that is not linked to an active non-portal user account. The clause carries an important limit: *"where supported by the Customer's version of the Software"*. The Light User count applies only when the customer's Odoo version supports the mechanism. The classification works out like this: | Situation | Counted as | |---|---| | Active user account with the Light role | **Light User** | | Active internal account that is not a Light User, including User and Administrator | **Full User** | | Active employee record with no account | **Light User** | | Employee record linked to a portal user | **Light User** | | Customer or vendor with portal access only, and no employee record | **Not an internal user** | An employee already linked to an active full User is counted through that account, not as an extra Light User. The point worth noting: whether someone logs into Odoo no longer decides, on its own, whether they add to the user count. If a person has an active employee record and no active non-portal user, that record falls under the Light User definition. ## What Can a Light User Do? Odoo's current pricing page lists a set of features for personal needs and operational work. | Need | Light User scope | |---|---| | **Personal HR** | Time off, expenses, appraisals, attendance, employee referrals | | **Planning** | The Planning features available to Light Users | | **Field Service** | The Field Service features available to Light Users | | **Warehouse** | Inventory Barcode Operator | | **Knowledge** | Read-only access | | **As an employee** | Receive payslips, use Point of Sale and Manufacturing Shop Floor | A Light User does not replace a full User in every case. - **Warehouse work:** Inventory Barcode Operator sits within the Light User scope. If a worker needs inventory management rights beyond that scope, review the access rights, as a full User may be required. - **Office work:** Someone who only requests time off or submits expenses may fit the Light User. If the job also involves creating sales orders, running projects, accounting or anything else outside the Light scope, that person needs a full User. When classifying users, then, start from the work each group actually does rather than from job titles. ## How Is the Light Role Set Up in Odoo 20? {{< img src="/images/insights/odoo-20-light-user/odoo-20-light-user-role.png" alt="Odoo 20 user Access Rights screen with the Role options Light, User and Administrator" >}} *The Light role option on the user access rights screen in Odoo 20.* Odoo 20 lets you assign the Light role to a user account. But choosing Light is not simply switching an account type for billing. The access rights still have to match the scope Odoo allows for Light Users. Granting groups beyond that scope can cause the account to be reclassified as a full User. Reviewing Light Users therefore belongs together with a review of access rights and job responsibilities. ## How Does This Work Out for a Company With 1,000 Employees? Take a company running Odoo 20 Enterprise with 1,000 active employee records: - **30 people** need full User accounts; - **200 people** have Light accounts; - **770 people** have no Odoo login at all. Assuming the accounts are correctly linked to their employee records, the budget has to cover: **30 full Users + 970 Light Users.** The 970 Light Users break down as: - 200 Light accounts; - 770 active employee records with no matching active non-portal user. Counting only the 230 people who log in would leave 770 employee records out of the new calculation. At **US$ 2.90 per Light User per month, billed annually**, as shown for the Vietnamese market at the time of writing, the 970 Light Users alone come to: > **970 × US$ 2.90 = US$ 2,813 per month**, or **US$ 33,756 per year**. That figure excludes the 30 full Users. The example shows that the financial impact of the Light User lies less in the US$ 2.90 price than in how many active employee records sit in Odoo. ## Does the Light User Reduce Costs? **It can, but not for every company.** If you currently pay for full Users who only take time off, file expenses, clock in, work the point of sale or use other features inside the Light scope, moving them to Light Users can bring the bill down. A company with few full Users but its entire workforce in the Employees app may find the opposite. The savings from moving some Users down to Light may not cover the Light Users created by employee records that previously needed no account at all. Before concluding that Odoo 20 will be cheaper or more expensive, then, recalculate the whole structure of users and employee records rather than comparing the full User price with the Light User price. The US$ 2.90 figure in this article is the price shown on Odoo's pricing page for the Vietnamese market on 6 October 2026, with annual billing. Prices and commercial terms can change, so check the quote that applies to your own contract when you build the budget. ## On Odoo 18 or 19: Do You Need to Upgrade to Odoo 20 Now? For systems running on **Odoo.sh or on-premise**, there is no need to upgrade simply because Odoo 20 has been released. Odoo's current support schedule: | Version | End of Standard Support | |---|---| | **Odoo 20** | September 2029, expected | | **Odoo 19** | September 2028, expected | | **Odoo 18** | September 2027, expected | | **Odoo 17** | September 2026 | Odoo provides Standard Support for about three years per major version. After that, Odoo.sh and on-premise may continue under Extended Support for certain versions, at an additional fee; Odoo Online does not use Extended Support in this way. A company on Odoo 18 or Odoo 19 with Odoo.sh or on-premise therefore has time to assess the impact of the Light User before deciding to upgrade. That is not an argument for delaying an upgrade just to avoid Light Users. A new version also brings functional, security and maintainability changes. But for a company with hundreds or thousands of employee records, the subscription impact belongs in the upgrade decision. ## What About Odoo Online? Odoo Online needs to be looked at separately. Unlike Odoo.sh and on-premise, Odoo Online does not let a company stay on one major version indefinitely. According to Odoo's current documentation, an Online database running a major version must be upgraded every two years; if the deadline passes without the customer acting, Odoo may trigger the upgrade. Staying on the current version for a few more years is therefore an option to weigh for Odoo.sh or on-premise, and should not be applied as-is to Odoo Online. ## Does Staying on an Older Version Mean Paying 25% More Right Away? **No.** The 25% fee for older versions and the Light User count are two separate mechanisms. The *Enterprise Subscription Agreement* defines **Covered Versions** as the three most recently released major versions, and Odoo releases one major version per year. Odoo 20 was released on 24 September 2026. Since that release, the three Covered Versions are: - Odoo 20; - Odoo 19; - Odoo 18. Under the *Enterprise Subscription Agreement*, if a database runs a version older than the Covered Versions, Odoo may charge an additional fee of **25% of the annualized subscription price**, based on the current number of Users and Light Users. The clause also states that this charge: - may be applied at most once a year; - may not be applied earlier than six months after a new major version is released. So Odoo 18 and Odoo 19 do not attract the 25% fee simply because Odoo 20 has arrived: both remain among the three Covered Versions. Odoo 17 dropped out of the Covered Versions when Odoo 20 was released, and its Standard Support ended in September 2026. Under the six-month condition in the Agreement, **the earliest possible date is 24 March 2027**. When Odoo actually applies the charge depends on each customer's contract. For a company on Odoo 18 or 19, the question today is therefore not: > *"Upgrade to Odoo 20 and pay for Light Users, or stay put and pay 25% more immediately."* Odoo 18 and Odoo 19 are both still Covered Versions and still within Standard Support on Odoo's schedule. ## Can a Separate App Avoid the Light User? A mobile app, kiosk or custom frontend should not be treated as a way around the Light User mechanism. The definition in the *Enterprise Subscription Agreement* rests on active accounts and active employee records, not on whether a person opens the Odoo backend. If someone still has an active employee record that meets the Light User definition, working only through another application does not automatically take that record out of the count. For unusual integration architectures, check the specific case with Odoo and confirm against your quote before budgeting. ## What to Check Before Upgrading to Odoo 20 For companies on Odoo Enterprise, especially those with many employees, four things are worth reviewing before deciding to upgrade: 1. **Current users:** how many accounts are active, and how many people genuinely need the full rights of a full User. 2. **Employee records:** how many active employee records are not linked to an active non-portal user, and whether records of people who have left are still unarchived. 3. **Work requirements:** which Users could move to Light and still have the rights they need to do their job. 4. **Version and deployment model:** which version the database runs, whether it is on Odoo Online, Odoo.sh or on-premise, how long Standard Support lasts, and whether delaying the upgrade makes sense. From there, a company can compare at least two options: staying on the current version for a reasonable period, or upgrading to Odoo 20 with the new User and Light User structure. For a heavily customized system, the decision also has to account for the cost of upgrading modules, integrations, testing and user training, alongside what Odoo 20 brings. ## Before You Upgrade, Recalculate on Real Data The Light User can lower costs for a company that pays full User prices for people who need only a limited set of features. For a company with thousands of employee records in Odoo, the new count can raise the total subscription cost considerably, even when most of those employees never log in. Before upgrading, then, the question to answer is not only *"What does a Light User cost?"* but: > **Given our current users, employee records and access rights, how will our total Odoo cost change after moving to Odoo 20?** As an Odoo partner in Vietnam, Trobz can help review your users, employee records and current access needs, model the resulting User and Light User structure, and compare upgrade scenarios before you decide. ### Sources - [Odoo Enterprise Subscription Agreement – Version 13, 24 September 2026](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/legal/terms/enterprise.html) - [Odoo Pricing – Vietnam](https://www.odoo.com/vi_VN/pricing) - [Standard and Extended Support – Odoo Documentation](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/administration/standard_extended_support.html) - [Upgrade – Odoo Documentation](https://www.odoo.com/documentation/master/administration/upgrade.html) - [Odoo Forum: Is every Employee in Odoo 20 a Light User?](https://www.odoo.com/vi_VN/forum/ho-tro-1/is-every-employee-in-odoo-20-a-light-user-330604)