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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
68
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 June 2026, in the ERP category, the mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is 3.1%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Dynamics SL is 1.1%, 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 Central3.1%
Microsoft Dynamics SL1.1%
Other95.8%
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

BN
VP Sales at Zelite Solution
Streamlined sales pipeline has improved daily task tracking and clarified client follow-ups
The best features Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers for me is that this software makes my life very easy, as I have a complete snapshot of my pipeline and a complete snapshot of my daily activities, where I can see what the status of my leads is, where I am standing in terms of closure, and the aging of my opportunities, which tells me how much time there is in the opportunity. Out of all those things I mentioned, the pipeline view and day-to-day activities feel the most valuable to me in my day-to-day work. There are AI-driven insights through Copilot, which is worth mentioning. Email communication and everything I receive is tracked with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, and the best feature is that I can access everything on my mobile, so I do not have to open my laptop and the application every time. It helps me with my sales forecasting also, and predictive analysis is one of the best features for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. We have more insights and more clarity about our sales, our pipeline, where we are standing, and we have more clarity on our leads. Becoming a process-centric organization helps us a lot to keep us accountable, so Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central has made our life easy in terms of sales.
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

"By centralizing the main data, each employee has the necessary information in real time."
"For people who want to start using Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, it's a far easier system to use than any other competing ERPs in the segments because it's very easy to configure."
"We are very dependent on this solution, we manage almost all of our business processes, and it has helped us a lot."
"The audit trails, which include any IP system, are very useful."
"Microsoft products are very good in general. This product is flexible, easy to use, intuitive, and has good capabilities."
"Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central fulfills the requirements we were facing."
"The solution's integrations and interface are very good."
"I have found the flexibility to be very valuable. It's highly flexible, and at least for us, it has been effective. It is also highly functional."
"It's pretty easy to set up."
"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."
"If I put myself in the customer's shoes, it's easier to use. Reporting would be a very valuable feature."
"The solution has provided a good return on investment by ensuring our financial and operational information is accurate and timely."
 

Cons

"Microsoft Dynamics NAV could be improved in terms of exporting income statements and balance sheets. Currently, there is a feature, but you can only have the last three years."
"Batch Processing Function should be developed to schedule running in the background at nighttime for posting a Purchase Receipt/Invoice, Sales Order/Invoice, Day End Statement or Item Journal Adjustment to minimize the Classic NAV table locking."
"It would be nice if the integration process was much easier."
"The tool needs to work on reporting issues and user interface."
"We need to customize more often than we would like."
"In the next release, I would like to see a quality check module - Navision doesn't have one, and the industry very much requires it."
"The stability could always be improved."
"If Microsoft made some of the security setups a little easier to work with, that would be a significant improvement. The warehouse management features could also use some work. We had to buy third-party software to make NAV's warehouse management and security more usable and functional."
"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 price of the solution is reasonable."
"I would rate the pricing of this solution at three out of five."
"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."
"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."
"The solution's license is costly compared to other CRM tools."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable. We pay monthly for the use of the solution."
"The solution's cost is 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."
"The licensing costs were reasonable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
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: June 2026.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.