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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
64
Ranking in other categories
ERP (3rd), Activity Based Costing Software (2nd)
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
52
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 6.5%, up 6.6% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA Cloud, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 18.9% mindshare, up 12.5% since last year.
ERP
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Sajid Farooq - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides seamless integration of different modules in one place
Certain add-ons like quality control, payroll, and HRMS are not part of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud. SAP S/4HANA Cloud doesn't provide a quality control module. SAP S/4HANA Cloud does not have its own payroll and HRMS system. The partners develop their own cloud and integrate with the solution. There are certain modules specific to some industries, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud doesn't deal with those modules. Every partner of SAP S/4HANA Cloud has to develop its own and then integrate and certify with that solution. We can't say that these modules are part of SAP S/4HANA Cloud. There is a little area of improvement that SAP has to opt for particular types of solutions like QC, payroll, and HRMS. The graphics of SAP S/4HANA Cloud are not user-friendly. They don't look like they belong to a branded solution that costs too much. The solution's user interface is not appealing or user-friendly. On a scale from one to ten, where one is bad and ten is good, I rate the solution's user interface a five out of ten. SAP S/4HANA Cloud has built-in reports that are hard-coated. We have to alter or modify built-in reports in different marking segments, but there are no options for that. We have to build complete reports from scratch, and SAP-developed reports are not used in the market. SAP should provide a tool for customizing its developed reports so that there should not be a process of reengineering or reinventing the process.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"For me, the main strengths of Microsoft Dynamics NAV are that it's user-friendly and light. These are its major wins. I have used other ERPs and their architecture were a little more complex when compared to the Microsoft Dynamics NAV architecture."
"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."
"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 using the Excel sheets on Chrome and other applications."
"The value for money is very high as it fits the business well."
"The initial setup is easy."
"The solution can scale."
"I like Microsoft Dynamics' simplicity. The interface is excellent, and it's a highly mature product. You can hardly find any bugs in the product."
"Since SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a SaaS application, it is already providing a lot of standard out-of-the-box features."
"The integration between SAP EWM and S4HANA Cloud is seamless."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"SAP S/4HANA Cloud provides easy database access."
"The most valuable features of SAP S/4HANA Cloud are the ease of use from the cloud, CapEx analysis report, and everything being connected together well."
"The ability to access and analyze data in real-time has significantly improved our reporting efficiency."
"I'd rate the solution nine out of ten."
"S4HANA Cloud is reliable and accurate. Our existing team also has expertise in SAP, so it was simple to migrate to the cloud solution. S4HANA Cloud has advantages because we don't need to maintain the infrastructure, and there aren't any huge upfront costs."
 

Cons

"There is a book for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central explaining how to use it. But it is not easy to use, and it is not easy to learn."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV could improve the reporting."
"I am hoping there is more integration with other platforms, more features, and customization in the next release."
"There is room for improvement in terms of compatibility."
"For a big company like us with millions of transactions, the scalability isn't enough."
"One aspect that could be improved in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is the visibility and accessibility of communication-related features, such as email integration."
"The performance and virtual machine backup is not good with this solution and need improvements."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could be reduced."
"It is a complicated solution. So it should be easier to use."
"Difficult to install and difficult to test. Testing needs to be improved. Scalability of this solution also needs improvement."
"The pricing is high."
"The implementation time for S/4HANA Cloud could be reduced."
"When it comes to the SAP PM material's module, it would be nice to see the inclusion of predictive analytics."
"There have been some pain points in moving from SAP to S/4HANA, but the company seems to be staying on top of those issues."
"The product could be improved by enhancing its user interface to make it more intuitive and by increasing the customization options for tracking and reporting, which would better align with our specific needs."
"Variant configuration is needed."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The per user price of $100 a month is better than competitors."
"Business Central charges a monthly fee of $70 to $100 per user."
"I think the pricing is the best; it's cost effective for sure."
"The deployment cost us $70,000 and we pay around $18,000 annually for support, which we find to be expensive."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable."
"We have an agreement with Microsoft and pricing is okay for us."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could improve. It is costly. We are paying for the solution on a monthly basis."
"You have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"Its pricing is way over any of the other ERPs. I'd rate it one out of ten in terms of pricing."
"The solution’s pricing is very high."
"The tool's pricing is reasonable."
"This is a pricey solution that best serves large enterprises. Be sure to ensure that your company's requirements need to be fulfilled by SAP. There are many other ERP's that are cheaper yet highly functional. However, it is still cheaper than some of the competition (i.e. Oracle, ESD, etc.)"
"I feel the solution is expensive when it comes to what can be obtained with open source software."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten."
"I don't remember the specifics about the licensing, but it's scaled and modular. You pay for what you use. It's not a one-size-fits-all license. You have a license for every single module. It's similar to Oracle."
"The pricing of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is on the higher side."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Retailer
7%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Educational Organization
6%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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?
The pricing for Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable. The value for money is very high.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
There is a need for improvement in consolidation and multi-country master data management.
What do you like most about SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
The manufacturing area is a good feature.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is very expensive, both to purchase and maintain. It's important to evaluate the costs of recruiting and maintaining trained personnel as it's not just a one-time payment yet requ...
What needs improvement with SAP S/4HANA Cloud?
The system is very heavy and requires a lot of resources and a dedicated team. It is costly to maintain, demanding trained professionals, which adds to the expenses. This makes the overall cost ver...
 

Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

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
La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP, Microsoft, Oracle and others in ERP. Updated: April 2025.
849,686 professionals have used our research since 2012.