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ERPNext 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

ERPNext
Ranking in ERP
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Ranking in ERP
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the ERP category, the mindshare of ERPNext is 1.3%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 6.5%, up 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 Central6.5%
ERPNext1.3%
Other92.2%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

NagendraCh - PeerSpot reviewer
Installation and integration are areas that are quite easy to manage
With ERPNext, some business challenges will definitely be there. So far, my company has seen that it cannot go for bigger enterprise models, like SAP. With SAP, it is a completely different game, whereas for the SMEs having almost 100 to 500 users, ERPNext can be a good tool. With ERPNext, there can be some challenges in the case of business or routing. The tool is suitable if you have a multi-cloud environment in your company or if there is some company that prefers to be branded as an enterprise business. As there are so many third-party integrations, depending on third-party applications, all those. You know? I mean, you have so many CRM models, but the thing is that with the ERP ERPNext CRM, you can't compare it with Salesforce. For the SME sector, the tool is good. The tool's features are developed for a bigger network. It will take a little bit of time, but as of now, we can see that the tool is good for the SME sector. The tool has not come up with anything for some specific domains, like construction domains. Right now, it is a big challenge to use the tool in the education domain, but right now, the product has resolved it. Many people use the tool since it has a larger network. The tool keeps developing, and it will take time to develop. For the education domain, the tool will have to come up with LMS features and transportation, which make up for small challenges.
StefaanVandesompele - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides end-to-end accounting and finance module at reasonable pricing
365 Business Central integrates with Office 365 to streamline the invoice approval process. This allows businesses to manage and approve invoices efficiently within a unified system. Our organization plans to transition to the Dynamics 365 environment, where various functions will be centralized. We will consolidate everything into one system instead of maintaining multiple databases for each country with local data. Dynamics 365 is fully integrated, which should address many of our challenges when we migrate to this new environment. We look forward to seeing how it performs in practice. The project is progressing well overall, though integrating it with other tools and ensuring Dynamics 365 operates smoothly can be challenging. Dynamics 365 is user-friendly and effective. However, a deeper understanding of its technical capabilities and architecture might be necessary to optimize its use fully. The software landscape is evolving, and achieving the best reporting and functionality with just a click can be complex. A clear vision of what you want to achieve with Dynamics 365 is essential. Proper preparation and configuration are crucial to achieving the desired outcomes. This principle applies not only to Dynamics 365 but to all software packages. Understanding the system's flexibility and adaptability based on your specific business needs is key to its successful implementation. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...I rate the product's initial setup a nine on a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a very user-friendly tool that is customizable based on the business environment."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV is good for smaller-sized companies."
"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."
"One of the most valuable features of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is its ease of installation and user-friendly interface."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV is brilliant and it's a different segment when comparing it with Dynamics AX. Dynamics AX is a larger product with much more features and it's aimed at a different segment of the market."
"The solution is easy to use, flexible, and customizable."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the Teams application. I use Teams to share documents amongst my team members, have meetings, and talk to them."
"The most valuable feature of Microsoft Dynamics NAV is its simplicity of accounting and receiving reports. The solution is similar to Microsoft Excel, and that similarity is good. All the functions of Microsoft Dynamics are user-friendly."
"The solution's integrations and interface are very good."
 

Cons

"The look, feel, and color are areas in ERPNext that can be improved."
"The tool has not come up with anything for some specific domains, like construction domains."
"The solution can improve by having better integration with Microsoft PowerBI and reporting."
"Its task scheduling and manufacturing models need improvement."
"There is a lot of improvement needed in the top model, such as better integration with logistics, quality management, and data modeling for all revenue types."
"Some of the control aspects such as auditing can definitely be improved. For example, auditing is not very easy, and the user permissions are complicated."
"It could be more stable."
"The solution is not best suited for larger-scale businesses."
"It would be nice if the integration process was easier."
"Any request that had come from the website had to go through an e-form which was then plugged into Microsoft Dynamics NAV. There was no direct data capture. That was the pain point, where clients had to build e-forms, and that caused delays in transactions and getting information."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as a three."
"Price-wise, ERPNext is a cheap product. There are no licensing costs attached to ERPNext since it is an open-source product. You have to pay for the solution's hosting and implementation process."
"The deployment cost us $70,000 and we pay around $18,000 annually for support, which we find to be expensive."
"There are two types of licenses. One is the essential license in which everything is covered, and the next is the premium. If your company is a manufacturing or service management company, then you can go for the premium license because those two modules are the premium ones. You can manage your manufacturing activities and your service activities."
"In my opinion, the fees are reasonable."
"I give the solution a seven out of ten for pricing."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The license changes every year. Sometimes it's for fixed users, and sometimes it's for concurrent users."
"We have an agreement with Microsoft and pricing is okay for us."
"The on-premises model of Dynamics NAV is very expensive, hence our plan to migrate to Dynamics 365 Business Central, which appears to fit our needs better in terms of pricing. Compared to competitors, the cloud version of Dynamics is in the middle; not too high and not too low."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Healthcare Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Computer Software Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business39
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ERPNext?
It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten...I rate the product's initial setup a nine on a scale from one to ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ERPNext?
It is an open-source tool. Some kinds of plug-ins for the tool are available in the marketplace. ERPNext was developed using Python. Plug-ins are available in the marketplace, and users need to buy...
What needs improvement with ERPNext?
With ERPNext, some business challenges will definitely be there. So far, my company has seen that it cannot go for bigger enterprise models, like SAP. With SAP, it is a completely different game, w...
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?
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...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
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 ERPNext vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.