Comparing Odoo and Salesforce is, in an important sense, comparing two different kinds of thing. Understanding that difference is most of what a business needs to make the decision well.
What each one is
Salesforce is, at its heart, a CRM, a customer relationship management platform, and one of the best known and most powerful in the world. It has grown into a wider platform, but its centre of gravity and its reputation are in CRM and sales.
Odoo is a full business suite. CRM is one of its applications, but Odoo also covers sales, inventory, manufacturing, accounting, projects, HR, website, and more, as one connected system.
The comparison is really about scope
This is the crux. Salesforce is a deep, powerful platform centred on CRM and customer-facing processes. Odoo is a broad suite that runs a whole business, of which CRM is one part. So the comparison is not "which CRM is better" in a simple sense; it is "do you want a powerful, focused CRM platform, or a connected system that runs the whole business and includes CRM".
Where Salesforce is stronger
Within its domain, customer relationship management, sales processes, and the customer-facing world, Salesforce offers great depth, a vast ecosystem, and immense configurability. A business whose central need is a deep, sophisticated CRM, and which is prepared for the cost and the configuration that come with the platform, will find Salesforce extremely capable in that domain.
Where Odoo is stronger
Odoo's strength is breadth as one connected system. With Odoo, the CRM is not a separate platform that then has to be connected to the systems that run inventory, manufacturing, and accounting; it is part of the same system. A lead becomes an opportunity becomes a quotation becomes an order becomes a delivery and an invoice, all in one place. Odoo is also generally more affordable, and being open-source at its core, more flexible. For a business that wants its customer-facing work joined to the rest of its operation, Odoo's integration is a real advantage. Its CRM is capable for the needs of most small and mid-sized businesses, even if it is not as deep as Salesforce in the CRM domain specifically.
The honest trade-off
The trade-off is depth-in-CRM against breadth-as-one-system. Salesforce gives the deepest, most powerful CRM, at a cost, and as a platform separate from whatever runs the rest of the business. Odoo gives a capable CRM that is genuinely part of the whole connected operation, at a lower cost. Which is right depends on whether CRM is the business's central, sophisticated need, or one part of an operation it wants connected.
Which suits which business
Salesforce suits a business whose central, defining need is a powerful, sophisticated CRM, often a sales-led organisation prepared to invest in depth and configuration in that domain.
Odoo suits a business that wants its sales and customer work connected to the rest of its operation in one system, that values affordability and flexibility, and whose CRM needs are well served by a capable, integrated CRM rather than requiring the maximum depth of a dedicated platform. For most small and mid-sized businesses, that describes them.
The honest verdict
Odoo and Salesforce are different kinds of thing: a whole-business suite and a CRM-centred platform. If your defining need is the deepest possible CRM and you will resource it, Salesforce is formidable in that domain. If you want a capable CRM connected to the whole operation in one affordable, flexible system, Odoo is the stronger fit. For how we approach Odoo, see our ERP practice.