Odoo Experience 2026 opens at Brussels Expo from 24 to 26 September 2026, with more than 45,000 attendees expected from 150 countries. Founder and CEO Fabien Pinckaers will present Odoo 20 as a world premiere during the opening keynote on 24 September at 8:30 am — several weeks before general availability (Odoo.com, official event page).
Context: Brussels as the Global Hub for Open-Source ERP
Odoo Experience has become, in just a few years, the largest global gathering around an independent ERP vendor. The 2026 edition brings together 400 exhibitors and 400 sessions over three days, with seven dedicated technical masterclasses. The Brussels venue is no coincidence: Odoo is a Belgian company founded in Louvain-la-Neuve, and Belgium remains its fastest-growing market — up 70% in Q1 2026 according to figures published by the vendor. The company recorded €619 million in revenue in 2025, with a growing share coming from the Benelux region. Early in the year, Odoo signed its largest contract ever with Partena Professional for HR and payroll management, further cementing its position across the region.
Business Impact: Odoo 20 and Your Migration Decisions
The 24 September keynote will be the defining moment for CIOs and CFOs still weighing whether to stay on Odoo 17, move to version 18 (released in late 2024), or plan ahead for version 20. The preview covers module evolutions across Accounting, Website, Inventory, HR, MRP, eCommerce, CRM, and Sales (Odoo.com).
What this means for your roadmap: Odoo releases a new major version every autumn, with long-term support (LTS) on even-numbered versions. Odoo 20 will therefore be an LTS release, making it the right target for organisations planning a stable migration over three to five years. Staying on Odoo 17 or 18 without an upgrade plan creates growing exposure to security patch gaps and new regulatory features — including e-invoicing mandates and e-reporting obligations now rolling out across the EU.
For finance teams: Accounting module updates announced at the keynote are likely to include adjustments tied to Peppol-based e-invoicing frameworks active across Belgium, France, and Germany since early 2026. Organisations that have not yet activated the e-invoicing chain in their Odoo instance should pay close attention to the announcements.
For operations teams: MRP and Inventory modules receive their most significant improvements on even-numbered releases. Production managers running Odoo 16 or 17 for manufacturing planning will likely find concrete arguments to schedule an upgrade in 2027.
What to Watch For
The 24 September date marks the world preview, not general availability. The official Odoo 20 release timeline will be clarified during the keynote. The 400+ integration partners at the event — including Dynapps, the top global gold partner — will be the first to receive migration timelines. If you are planning an upgrade for 2027, engage your integration partner in October to get a budget estimate and a project schedule that accounts for testing and cutover delays.
For organisations not attending in Brussels, session replays will be available free of charge on the Odoo platform within a few days of the event.
