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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Microsoft Dynamics SL 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

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Ranking in ERP
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
Microsoft Dynamics SL
Ranking in ERP
30th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the ERP category, the mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 3.0%, down from 6.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics SL is 1.2%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central3.0%
Microsoft Dynamics SL1.2%
Other95.8%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Jacinta Chanda - PeerSpot reviewer
Examinations Manager at Northrise University
Integrated academic workflows have transformed how our institution manages courses and results
For Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, every time we need to make an adjustment, we must make a payment, which is slightly expensive for us as an organization. There are certain modifications we'd like to make, and those come with a cost. The licensing is also very expensive, so if the prices could be revisited, especially for educational institutions, that would be really helpful. Otherwise, it has proven to be a very good tool for us as an organization. I chose a rating of nine for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central because it has been very useful for us as an organization, but there are still a few improvements that need to be made. Sometimes we experience glitches when generating certain reports, and every time we need to make a modification, we have to pay for that. Thus, I will not give it a ten because there are a few areas needing improvement.
Cirvesh-Daga - PeerSpot reviewer
Director at T-Systems International GmbH
Simplify and streamline complex business processes, and good integration capabilities but lacks predictive capabilities
An area of improvement could be around automation and predictability. However, I'm sure Microsoft is already thinking about incorporating AI co-pilot features, which should be coming soon. The end person who will be looking at the report is the CFO, and CFO isn't just interested in static reports but in predictive information. Ideally, SL could use data from ERP, and CRM to provide some level of prediction. CoPilot is plugged into Dynamics, it'll be a plus and even a huge selling point over other solutions that are there in the market because now we have a component of AI. We can also give you some level of prediction. Even if it starts with a 15% confidence level, a CFO will take that because it still allows them to increase their bets to a certain extent. So, that's something that I I will look forward to whenever Microsoft introduces it.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Dynamics NAV can be customized to suit the client’s requirements, whether it be functionality, integrations, or interfaces."
"Has good integration with Power BI."
"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."
"This is a robust solution, and I like the integration with Power BI wherein we are able to deploy multiple reports along with Power BI and have access to all the reports we need in one dashboard, which is very useful for us and for the sales department in particular."
"The initial setup is easy."
"Our data is much more manageable than before."
"Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is a good platform that has many integrations, and you can use it for multiple things, having all functionality in one place."
"Microsoft Dynamic 365 has everything we need, like Teams, Outlook, Excel, etc. I do a lot of data visualization, so I work a lot with Power BI. I bring in tables from Oracle and use Power Bi to manipulate and visualize the data. I handle all the stats and track everything that goes in and out of the company. We use all the modules, but I work primarily with Power BI, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams. They are all equally important and work together."
"It's pretty easy to set up."
"The solution has provided a good return on investment by ensuring our financial and operational information is accurate and timely."
"If I put myself in the customer's shoes, it's easier to use. Reporting would be a very valuable feature."
"The solution has many helpful features, the stability is very good, its performance is reliable, the solution is extremely useful for e-commerce companies, the compliance has been very useful, the solution is quite stable, the scalability is good, and it is pretty easy to set up."
 

Cons

"In Thailand, the support here could be better. The process to get an answer is too long."
"We need to customize more often than we would like."
"The security and user levels fields can be improved further so that it is not too tedious for end-user to map and set up."
"The solution is not best suited for larger-scale businesses."
"The formulas in Power BI could be simpler. Sometimes, it's difficult to figure them out, but I am part of a lot of communities that work with us, so we help each other."
"The human resources module could be improved."
"The Power BI integration could be more seamless."
"An improvement would be the customizations that we do tend to limit by adapting our processes to the software."
"The product's primary improvement area would be its batch processing system."
"The licensing of the solution should be adjusted; the policies aren't ideal and they should make it easier to understand because right now it's too confusing."
"An area of improvement could be around automation and predictability."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The deployment cost us $70,000 and we pay around $18,000 annually for support, which we find to be expensive."
"There is an annual cost of using Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The cost is approximately 140,000 INR."
"Business Central charges a monthly fee of $70 to $100 per user."
"Its licensing is yearly. In addition to the licensing cost, there is the cost of hosting on Azure."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"The price of the solution is reasonable."
"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."
"The price of the solution could be reduced to improve their offering."
"The licensing costs were reasonable."
"If the value proposition is clear for the customer, they won't see it as an expensive solution. A solution becomes expensive when it doesn't do what it promises."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business43
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise19
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Is it advisable to purchase Dynamics CRM in addition to NAV 2016?
Short answer: depends on your sales needs. NAV 2016’s built-in CRM is very basic. It’s fine for simple contact management and basic sales tracking, but it lacks: Proper pipeline management Adva...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
Microsoft Dynamics NAV pricing can vary significantly depending on the number of users, deployment model, customizations, and implementation scope. In my experience, the software license is only pa...
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The only thing that could be improved is integration with WhatsApp, which I can see for Microsoft that it has to be available, and that becomes a challenge sometimes. Everything else is perfect.
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Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
Dynamics SL, MS Dynamics SL
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
ASAP, Espartec, S.A de C.V., TGLT, Calder‹n Autopartes El_ctricas, GGS Systems, CLEAResult, Shared Spectrum Company, Scope Global Pty Ltd
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs. Microsoft Dynamics SL and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.