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Ellucian vs Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Ellucian
Ranking in ERP
29th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Student Information System (SIS) (1st)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Ranking in ERP
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
67
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the ERP category, the mindshare of Ellucian is 1.0%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 4.4%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central4.4%
Ellucian1.0%
Other94.6%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

reviewer1308615 - PeerSpot reviewer
Associate Dean at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Presents all information in one place and automates some of our manual processes
This product is used by more than 50 colleges in our state and it is purchased by the government. The system office does the testing and pushes out the patches to us, so everything has been testing. Even if there is any customization that needs to be done, it happens before it comes to us. As such, I haven't had to contact technical support myself.
reviewer2746122 - PeerSpot reviewer
Automation Engineer
Integrations Help Bring Efficiency while Documentation Needs Improvement
When I started working with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, I was new and didn't know what ERP was or its purpose, but I was eager to learn more each day. The system can become overwhelmed because you cannot control the number of integrations, and our team struggled to manage the numerous integrations we had. More documentation is needed on how to use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and its capabilities. From a technical perspective, it was challenging because understanding the system requires familiarity with financial sectors. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could benefit from more AI integration. Learning the application was challenging as there was much to understand about accounts payable, receivable, accounting, and general ledger.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I like that all of the student information is in one place."
"We are getting more features after switching to Microsoft 365."
"We like the manufacturing and case management modules."
"All of the features are valuable, depending on where you implement them. I've done implementations in 60 countries, across 86 different companies and groups, and each company has a different reason for why they want to use it. Every single feature that I've implemented has been successful, and for some companies, where they didn't use the functionality, they have moved to external products or they've integrated into other applications."
"Its most valuable feature is the user interface."
"The solution can scale."
"NAV covers everything from purchasing and selling items to invoicing. Everything is within NAV, so it's all very neat."
"Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is extremely stable as it does not rely on our in-house servers."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is its ease of use, data customization, and smooth integration."
 

Cons

"The functionality for monitoring satisfactory academic progress has room for improvement."
"The Power BI integration could be more seamless."
"I am hoping there is more integration with other platforms, more features, and customization in the next release."
"The product should improve work optimization."
"We need to customize more often than we would like."
"In Thailand, the support here could be better. The process to get an answer is too long."
"I would like to have more frequent updates."
"The performance and virtual machine backup is not good with this solution and need improvements."
"The stability could always be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The cost is one of the benefits. If you don't want to go for the full-blown finance and operations, the pricing model is a lot cheaper and has now switched to being based on a per-user subscription. So, if it's on cloud, you now have an expense instead of a large CapEx. If it's on-prem, you obviously still have to continue with the licensing model that they have, but if you compare the features and functionality, in terms of the price that you pay, I find it's better than other products. My answer on the pricing would be slightly different, depending on the country you're in and the return on investment, based on the size of the company. It's well-priced internationally. I think the new model is priced even better because it's now subscription-based and, if you go for cloud, the return on investment is a lot quicker and if it's expense, you can cap it. If you do take the on-prem version, the licensing is still priced as what it used to be, so that would depend on what country you are in."
"$80-$100 per license, per month."
"NAV might be a little pricey for a small or medium-sized company, but all the solutions out there are."
"In my opinion, the fees are reasonable."
"Currently, the product offers a starting price of $70 per user per month, which provides access to the complete ERP engine. It is highly reasonable."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable."
"We have a perpetual license to use Microsoft Dynamics NAV."
"Its licensing is yearly. In addition to the licensing cost, there is the cost of hosting on Azure."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
41%
Educational Organization
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
4%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business40
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The platform offers a robust and comprehensive cycle for supply chain and inventory management, with features like minimum and maximum settings, dynamic monitoring of inventory levels, and integrat...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
I don't have specific information about the pricing of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. However, it was very costly due to the numerous integrations we had.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
A point of sale solution is still lacking in the retail industry. A basic point of sale would help a great deal because there are certain requirements where Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central ...
 

Also Known As

Datatel
Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Oklahoma Christian University
Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
Find out what your peers are saying about Ellucian vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,114 professionals have used our research since 2012.