Best for
Best for small companies and freelancers that want to own their ERP and CRM data and can run or rent a server for it.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
ERP Comparison
Dolibarr vs. Exact Online
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for small and mid-sized companies that want accounting and ERP in one cloud platform, chosen by business type rather than by tier.
- Small and mid-sized
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | Dolibarr | Exact Online |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free to self-host; DoliCloud from €14 / user / month The software itself is a free download under GPL-3+ and you provide the hosting. On the official DoliCloud service, Dolibarr Basic is 14 euro per user and month and Dolibarr Premium starts at 45 euro per month. | From $25 / month US price list, excluding VAT. The ERP packages are priced separately: Time & Billing $158, Project Management from $316, Wholesale Distribution from $237 and Manufacturing from $422 per month. |
| Free trial | Free to download and self-host; DoliCloud offers a 30-day trial without a credit card | Yes, a free trial is offered on every package |
| Team size | Freelancers, small, medium and large companies, foundations and associations | Not stated |
| Users | Not stated | More than 675,000 companies use Exact software |
| API | Yes, an optional REST API module with key-based authentication and a built-in API explorer | Yes, the Exact Online REST API |
| Hosting | Self-hosted on Windows, Linux or macOS, via Docker, or hosted on DoliCloud | Cloud; Exact for Manufacturing can also run on-premise or in a customer cloud |
| Project costing | Yes, projects as a hierarchy of tasks with a budget field and time recorded per task and user, and invoices generated from time spent; proposals, orders, supplier invoices and expense reports link to the project | Yes, via Exact for Project Management, with budget, cost and margin tracking per project |
| Invoicing | Yes, customer and supplier invoices, template invoices, payments and bank reconciliation, plus a point-of-sale module | Yes, including converting recorded hours into project invoices, with reminders for outstanding items |
| Digital receipt capture | Scans can be attached to expense reports and other records; the module documentation describes no OCR capture | Yes, via the Scan & Recognise add-on, which reads paperwork photographed with a smartphone or tablet |
| Reporting and controlling | Double-entry accounting with transactions grouped in journals, and general ledger exports in CSV, the French FEC format and formats for Sage, Cegid, EBP, Ciel, Quadratus and Cogilog | Yes, dashboards across the process from sales to invoicing, plus business analytics and the Exact Insights add-on |
| Time tracking | Yes, timesheets in the HR module and time spent per task and user in the project module | Yes, time registration with a planning board that assigns staff by skill and capacity |
| Integrations and API | Yes, an optional REST API module authenticated by an API key, with a built-in explorer, plus import and export tools, the Module Builder and the DoliStore add-on marketplace | Yes, a REST API with webhooks, plus more than 220 add-ons in the Add-on Center |
| AI features | No | stated Yes |
| Deployment | more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise | Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based |
| Support | Community forum | more entries Email helpdesk, Phone, Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials | Documentation and knowledge base, Video tutorials |
| Company size | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise | Small and mid-sized |
| Integrations | more entries LDAP, Stripe, PayPal, Paybox, PrestaShop, Magento, WooCommerce, OpenCart, osCommerce, Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Google Maps | Shopify, WooCommerce, HubSpot, Salesforce, Stripe, Mollie |
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Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price Dolibarr Free to self-host; DoliCloud from €14 / user / month Exact Online From $25 / month
- Free trial Dolibarr Free to download and self-host; DoliCloud offers a 30-day trial without a credit card Exact Online Yes, a free trial is offered on every package
- Deployment Dolibarr Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise Exact Online Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based
- Company size Dolibarr Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Exact Online Small and mid-sized
- Hosting Dolibarr Self-hosted on Windows, Linux or macOS, via Docker, or hosted on DoliCloud Exact Online Cloud; Exact for Manufacturing can also run on-premise or in a customer cloud
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
Dolibarr
Strengths
- Free and open source under GPL-3+, with no per-seat cost when self-hosted
- Modular: each area is switched on separately, so unused parts stay out of the interface
- Runs from packaged installers, a plain PHP stack or Docker, and moves between self-hosting and DoliCloud
- Module Builder and the DoliStore marketplace for extensions
- Accounting exports in the FEC format and in formats for several accounting packages
Limitations
- Self-hosting means running and patching a PHP and database stack yourself
- Project planning has no capacity-based scheduling and no critical path
- No OCR receipt capture documented; scans are attached by hand
Exact Online
Strengths
- Package prices are published, which is uncommon for an ERP of this size
- Separate packages for accounting, wholesale distribution, manufacturing, projects and time and billing
- Documented REST API with webhooks and an Add-on Center with 220+ add-ons
- Scan & Recognise automates entry of invoices and receipts from a phone photo
Limitations
- Scope is tied to the package you buy, so growing into another one is a commercial step
- Warehouse management is an add-on rather than part of the manufacturing package
- Published prices exclude VAT and vary by region
Plans
Pricing
Dolibarr
- Self-hosted €0 The software is a free download under GPL-3+; you provide the server and the maintenance.
- Dolibarr Basic €14 Per user and month on DoliCloud, the official hosted service, with a 30-day trial and no credit card required.
- Dolibarr Premium €45 From, per month on DoliCloud.
Exact Online
- Exact for Accounting $25 Per month, excluding VAT. $25 to $38 depending on the edition.
- Exact for Accountancy $131 Per month, excluding VAT. For accountancy practices.
- Exact for Time & Billing $158 Per month, excluding VAT.
- Exact for Wholesale Distribution $237 Per month, excluding VAT. $237 to $554 depending on the edition.
- Exact for Project Management $316 Per month, excluding VAT. $316 to $369 depending on the edition.
- Exact for Manufacturing $422 Per month, excluding VAT. $422 to $739 depending on the edition.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
Dolibarr
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
Exact Online
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Nothing has been published here yet, and no score is shown. How a review is checked before it appears is described below.
How we check reviews
Reviews are not published yet. The form on a tool's page works and reaches us, but nothing from it appears on this site, so no score here is based on a review. The rules below are the ones that will apply once reviews go live.
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Where this comes from
Where this comes from
Dolibarr https://www.dolibarr.org · checked against the official source on 2026-09-10
Exact Online https://www.exact.com · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.