# Report 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 If something here is out of
date, write to support@bambooforge.dev and we will correct it.*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 Report Builder | OCA mis_builder (free) | OCA bi_sql_editor (free) | Odoo's spreadsheets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | EUR 129, once per Odoo series | Free (AGPL-3) | Free (AGPL-3) | Part of Odoo; editing spreadsheets needs Enterprise |
| Odoo series | 16.0, 17.0, 18.0, 19.0, 20.0 | 16.0 to 19.0; not installable on 20.0 yet | 16.0 to 19.0 | 16.0 to 20.0 |
| What a report is | A cross-tab on one model and the records its links reach, up to two hops away: up to five row and two column levels, with true averages and distinct counts at every level; about 40 ready reports | "KPI in rows and time periods in columns", with data "mainly from account moves, but can also combine data coming from arbitrary Odoo models" | An SQL view or materialized view, turned into a model; the README says it "requires the user to know SQL syntax and Odoo models" | A spreadsheet, saved in the Documents app |
| Working with it | Computed columns (`total()`, `parent()`, `row()`, `prev()`), parsed rather than executed; comparison with an earlier period; highlights; questions put to the reader; drill-down from any cell; per-user variants; a chart view; a nightly history of totals | Cell annotations; a report can be added to Odoo's dashboards | A menu, an action and a graph view on the new model | On 20.0, spreadsheets are "the foundation for dashboards" |
| Excel, PDF, email | Excel with outline levels, and PDF; scheduled emails, sent once per period; share links that expire | PDF and Excel | Not described | Frozen snapshots of a dashboard can be shared (20.0) |
| Who sees what | Each reader counts only what their own access allows | Not described | Not described | Each viewer of a dashboard sees what their access rights and record rules allow (20.0) |
| Left out, as each page says | A report "does not join two unrelated models"; measures must be stored fields, and amounts are added as stored; more than 20,000 combinations are cut; reports are not placed on Odoo's own spreadsheets; a share link shows what its creator can see; the chart draws the first row level only | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Needs | `web` and `mail` only | `account` and `board`, plus OCA's `report_xlsx` and `date_range` | `spreadsheet_dashboard`, plus OCA's `sql_request_abstract` | Enterprise's `spreadsheet_edition` and the Documents app |

## Choose which, and when

- **Choose OCA's mis_builder** if your reports are KPIs over periods,
  mostly from accounting entries, and you want free AGPL-3 code marked
  Production/Stable, with PDF and Excel export and a place on Odoo's
  dashboards. It runs on 16.0 to 19.0; its 20.0 copy is not installable
  yet.
- **Choose OCA's bi_sql_editor** if you know SQL and Odoo's models and want
  a query turned into a model with its own menu and graph view, at no
  licence cost, on 16.0 to 19.0. Its maturity is marked Beta.
- **Choose Odoo's spreadsheets** if you are on Enterprise and your team
  works in spreadsheets kept in Documents, which on 20.0 also serve as your
  dashboards.
- **Choose ours** if you are on any of Odoo 16.0 to 20.0 and want nested
  cross-tabs with computed columns, per-user variants, Excel with outline
  levels, scheduled emails and a daily history of totals, with nothing to
  install beyond `web` and `mail` - and one model per report, with the
  records its links reach, is enough: a report does not join two unrelated
  models, sums stored fields only and cuts a layout past 20,000
  combinations.

## Sources

Read on 2026-10-15.

- Our manual: https://docs.bambooforge.dev/bambooforge_report_builder/
- OCA mis-builder: https://github.com/OCA/mis-builder (branches 16.0 to
  20.0; marked "(unported)" on 20.0) and the README at
  https://github.com/OCA/mis-builder/blob/19.0/mis_builder/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/bi_sql_editor/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/16.0/applications/productivity/spreadsheet/insert.html
  and
  https://www.odoo.com/documentation/20.0/applications/productivity/dashboards.html