# Dashboard Builder compared with the alternatives

*Checked on 2026-10-15. Prices are the Odoo Apps Store's prices in euros on
that day (visitors outside the euro area see them converted); features are
as each vendor's own public page describes them. If something here is out of
date, write to support@bambooforge.dev and we will correct it.*

## At a glance

|  | BambooForge Dashboard Builder | OCA spreadsheet_oca and kpi (free) | Odoo's spreadsheet dashboards | Ksolves Dashboard Ninja with AI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | EUR 129, once per Odoo series | Free (AGPL-3) | Pre-built dashboards come with Community; building your own needs Enterprise | EUR 518.62, once per series; Advanced Dashboard Ninja EUR 667.62, which includes it |
| Odoo series | 17.0, 18.0, 19.0, 20.0 | `spreadsheet_oca` 16.0 to 19.0; `kpi` 17.0 to 19.0 | 16.0 to 20.0 | 10.0 to 20.0 |
| Building a board | No code: each item takes a model, a measure (count, sum, average or "Python Code") and a group-by, and sits on a drag-and-drop grid; Dashboard Managers build, everyone else views | In OCA's spreadsheet editor (`spreadsheet_oca`, with `spreadsheet_dashboard_oca` for dashboards), which its README offers as an alternative to Enterprise's `spreadsheet_edition` | In a spreadsheet; from scratch it needs "Dashboards / Admin and, at minimum for the Documents app, Documents / User" (20.0), and Documents is Enterprise | Dashboards and items can be generated by AI, with an "AI API Key" requested by email from Settings; dashboards export and import |
| On a board | Tiles, lists, partner maps, KPIs against a target or the previous period, and bar, horizontal bar, line, area, pie, doughnut, polar area, radial bar, scatter, radar, flower and funnel charts; click-through to the records | A spreadsheet; `kpi` adds KPIs on local and remote sources, updated by an hourly scheduler | Pre-built dashboards in 13 Community modules on 16.0 and 17.0, 12 from 18.0 (accounting, sales, purchase and stock, timesheets, POS, eCommerce and more); "My Dashboard" is based on Odoo views | Drill down and up; 5 predefined dashboards (Sales, CRM, Account, Inventory, POS) under "Paid Predefined Dashboards". Advanced adds TV mode, list-view layouts, a "Custom SQL Query" across models and external PostgreSQL or MySQL sources |
| Targets and alerts | Targets, dated target lines included, on bar, horizontal-bar, line and area charts and KPIs; a mail when a KPI falls below or rises above a threshold, checked hourly, with a cooldown | `kpi`: KPIs with thresholds (fixed, SQL or Python) | Not described | Targets |
| Sharing and sending | Email, PDF or image; PDF or inline-HTML snapshots mailed daily, weekly or monthly, once per period | Share links | Frozen snapshots can be shared | Items download as Excel, CSV, PDF or PNG. Advanced adds printing a dashboard and emailing its PDF |
| Access and data | A board can be limited to chosen groups, enforced by record rules; "Network: none" | Not described | Each viewer sees what their access rights and record rules allow | For the AI features, "Only the table structure is securely sent to the Ksolves AI Server" |
| Left out, as each page says | Each chart is "capped at 500 group-by buckets"; the map plots only geolocated partners; targets draw only on bar, horizontal-bar, line and area charts and KPIs | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Needs | Spreadsheet Dashboard and Geolocalization, plus Sales and CRM | `kpi` needs `base_external_dbsource` (OCA/server-backend) | `spreadsheet_dashboard` in Community; Enterprise's `spreadsheet_edition` and Documents to build your own | Discuss only; Advanced needs Dashboard Ninja, included in its price |

## Choose which, and when

- **Choose OCA's spreadsheet modules** if you run 16.0 to 19.0 and want a
  free (AGPL-3) spreadsheet editor for dashboards on Community, with share
  links; OCA's `kpi` (17.0 to 19.0) adds KPIs with thresholds on local and
  remote sources. They are marked Beta, and neither is on 20.0 today.
- **Choose Odoo's own dashboards** if the pre-built spreadsheet dashboards
  that come with Community answer your questions, or if you are on
  Enterprise and want to build your own in a spreadsheet, with Documents.
- **Choose Ksolves Dashboard Ninja** if you want dashboards and items
  generated by AI (at no additional charge; its page says only the table
  structure is sent to the Ksolves AI server), predefined dashboards,
  dashboards you can export and import, and a series as old as 10.0.
- **Choose Advanced Dashboard Ninja** if you need SQL across several
  models, external PostgreSQL or MySQL sources, TV mode, or dashboards
  printed and emailed as PDF. Its price includes Dashboard Ninja.
- **Choose ours** if you are on 17.0 to 20.0 and want KPI boards built
  without code, with targets, alerts on thresholds and PDF or HTML
  snapshots mailed on a schedule, and nothing sent outside your Odoo
  server - and you can accept that it installs Sales and CRM, that a chart
  stops at 500 group-by buckets and that only Dashboard Managers build.
  There is no build for 16.0.

## Sources

Read on 2026-10-15.

- Our manual: https://docs.bambooforge.dev/bambooforge_dashboard/
- OCA spreadsheet: https://github.com/OCA/spreadsheet (branches 16.0 to
  20.0; nothing on 20.0 yet) and the READMEs at
  https://github.com/OCA/spreadsheet/blob/19.0/spreadsheet_oca/README.rst and
  https://github.com/OCA/spreadsheet/blob/19.0/spreadsheet_dashboard_oca/README.rst
- OCA reporting-engine: https://github.com/OCA/reporting-engine (branches
  16.0 to 20.0) and the README at
  https://github.com/OCA/reporting-engine/blob/19.0/kpi/README.rst
- Odoo's source code: https://github.com/odoo/odoo (branches 16.0 to 20.0)
- Odoo's documentation:
  https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/applications/productivity/dashboards.html
- Ksolves: https://apps.odoo.com/apps/modules/20.0/ks_dashboard_ninja and
  https://apps.odoo.com/apps/modules/20.0/ks_dn_advance