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NetSuite ERP vs SAP Business ByDesign comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 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

NetSuite ERP
Ranking in Cloud ERP
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
38
Ranking in other categories
ERP (10th), Activity Based Costing Software (6th), Billing Software (4th)
SAP Business ByDesign
Ranking in Cloud ERP
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Cloud ERP category, the mindshare of NetSuite ERP is 18.5%, up from 17.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Business ByDesign is 3.8%, down from 8.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NetSuite ERP18.5%
SAP Business ByDesign3.8%
Other77.7%
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

SM
Sr Analyst at Freelance
Integration tools streamline financial operations and enhance data management
The most beneficial feature in Workato is its accessibility. The interface is easily understandable even for a common user, unlike the NetSuite ERP direct website which requires more technical knowledge. In Workato, NetSuite ERP provides options for new employee records, invoice reports, and batch files processing. The batch processing capability allows handling up to 10,000 records simultaneously, which reduces tasks and processing time significantly. Regarding scalability, NetSuite ERP offers excellent options and reduces manual interventions through automation. In the past three months, I have observed improvements in their options and data storage capabilities, showing enhanced scalability compared to previous versions.
MS
Divisional Manager IT at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Valuable features enhance sales and service capabilities while performance improvements are needed
We received a few complaints about the slowness in SAP Business ByDesign last year, so I think SAP can focus on improving performance, particularly when it becomes slow during data saving and handling. My feedback about the modular architecture and customized features of SAP Business ByDesign is that it is only good, but we have not explored much on this one. The initial setup for SAP Business ByDesign was complex. One disadvantage was that we had the legacy system, SAP Business One, and we could not migrate our data to SAP Business ByDesign. They should have provided a migration path.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I am impressed with the product's ease of use. It also helps us reduce the techstack."
"NetSuite ERP is good for a trading company that involves buying and selling."
"NetSuite ERP is a user-friendly cloud-based solution that posts into the GL in real time. You can see your profitability at the order level."
"The inventory feature in NetSuite ERP is very valuable to me because it provides clear estimates about the depreciation of details and includes useful mobile modules."
"We were able to implement NetSuite and the apps and the integrations for under $500,000 for the entire new system, achieving a net savings of $500,000 a year with more modern technology that worked better for them and without needing a team of three tier-one experts on staff to manage the system."
"The most valuable aspect of NetSuite ERP is the multi-subsidiary portion, it is the strongest across all the other ERPs. If you want to do consolidations, it works a lot better than other tools."
"The solution is pretty easy to use and navigate, and it's more of a lightweight software."
"The project management aspect and the timesheets are valuable, especially for ensuring that our milestone billings are automated properly. From a manufacturing perspective, it is more to do with the entire management of the inventory, the overall finance, consolidation of books of accounts, and managing the profit and loss in a more effective manner."
"I have found the consolidation of the business and group reports very useful, there are plenty of features, and the manufacturing and finance aspect of the solution are strong."
"The most valuable features of SAP Business ByDesign are customer invoicing and cost and revenue, from which I get the data for my project reports."
"It could be used for any financial use case; production companies can use it, wholesale distributors can use it, and any professional services company can use it."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"I like its modern approach. It is very modern and new technology."
"ByDesign's best features are its speed, real-time data, and reporting."
"The most helpful feature is the integrations. Integrating the tool with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is easy, facilitating implementation and deployment. The runtime analysis checks for real-time analytics to see if the software works properly. This is a powerful feature."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
 

Cons

"The solution could be more stable."
"The solution is not user-friendly and it is complex to use."
"An area for improvement in NetSuite ERP is its accounting functionality because it has certain limitations. You can't maintain sub-ledgers or post accrued expenses in sub-ledger forms, so you'll need to post in journals. The pricing is another area that can be improved in NetSuite ERP because the pricing was lower when it wasn't part of Oracle, but after Oracle acquired Netsuite and NetSuite ERP was offered as a cloud service, the price went up."
"Additionally, adding advanced modules such as AI components or customer service modules could help the system become more scalable."
"The user interface could be improved. The latest technology can be used to improve the list view of records and load pages faster on a browser."
"I have faced OPI issues during peak times when pushing and pulling data becomes very slow due to API limitations."
"Additionally, difficulties for end user to select proper modules from cloud ERP were addressed."
"Many features such as local taxation and fund management are not there yet."
"The solution does not support customization for forms and reports. It's not flexible in case you need some enhancements in business processes."
"There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth."
"The Arabic localization is neglected. It should have an Arabic interface. It lacks Arabic translation or support from right to left."
"The Purchase to Pay process could benefit from further sophistication and additional functionality. It would be helpful for the user community to receive clearer information about the future roadmap of the business. Unfortunately, there were some confusing articles in the German press towards the end of last year about the future of SAP Business ByDesign. Therefore, more clarity is needed in the support function to address this."
"Scalability is difficult."
"The payroll module of the solution could improve."
"I would like the tool’s interface to be better. Currently, we use a client application to access the product. I want that to be replaced with a web version. I would like to improve the tool’s internet availability. I also want the product’s setup to be easier."
"With SAP S/4HANA, you can design your release strategy and modify it to include as many people as possible, which is missing in SAP Business ByDesign."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."
"It is completely on a subscription basis. We pay yearly and, and you do not have to do anything on a monthly basis. Prices depend on the organization's scale and all those things, but they are doing a good job with the pricing."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
"Pricing for NetSuite ERP is okay, but it could be better. The licensing model for NetSuite ERP is based on the number of modules and users. The standard license covers up to twenty-five users. If you have more than twenty-five users, you'll have to buy the premium license, which would double the price. For one module with five user licenses, the cost is between $40,000 to $50,000."
"The price is less than the cost of daily hours."
"NetSuite ERP has a cost per module you want to use, and then you have the license per user."
"Regarding costs, it's not just about licensing. Customization recurring costs can become expensive over five to eight years, especially with new releases. However, NetSuite ERP integrates well with third-party applications, so it can still be used for finance while another ERP is used for localized production."
"It's very competitively priced due to it being a subscription model. So, clients are quite happy with the pricing. I would rate it an eight out of ten in terms of pricing."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"The tool’s subscription is yearly. There is no flat pricing involved and everything has a range. Pricing depends on the functionality that you would use. You need to also pay for the additional hosting and maintenance costs."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"The price of SAP Business ByDesign is less expensive than SAP S/4HANA. However, the price is on par with other similar competitors, such as Microsoft."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"We have to pay yearly."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
7%
Healthcare Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise8
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetSuite ERP?
The initial cost for NetSuite ERP depends on the business size. My IT managers say that some of their features are quite expensive.
What needs improvement with NetSuite ERP?
Regarding room for improvement, I would single out the user interface. The company needs to spend fifty percent of research and development on improving the user interface. The user interface is qu...
What is your primary use case for NetSuite ERP?
The primary use cases are general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, project management, project accounting, and timesheets. I use NetSuite ERP. I have been working with NetSuite ERP, C...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Business ByDesign?
The price is high, as every year SAP increases the price by 3.5%.
What needs improvement with SAP Business ByDesign?
We received a few complaints about the slowness in SAP Business ByDesign last year, so I think SAP can focus on improving performance, particularly when it becomes slow during data saving and handl...
What is your primary use case for SAP Business ByDesign?
Our use case for SAP Business ByDesign is our dealer team accessing their system to perform sales and service; these two functionalities are done through SAP Business ByDesign. SAP Business ByDesig...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

2Pure, Accuvant, Actian, Adtegrity, Advantage Sign Supply, All-Safe Pool Safety Products, Alton Lane, AMC Liquidators
Standard Bank of South Africa, AOK Bundesverband, PT XL Axiata Tbk, Tvoy Dom, Schaidt Innovations GmbH & Co. KG, DeLaval International AB, EMC Corporation, Lenovo, Castle Importing Inc., Unilever, Rifle Paper Co., RAK Ceramics, Rough Country, B&G Manufacturing, Life is good Inc., Joy Global Inc., City of Cape Town
Find out what your peers are saying about NetSuite ERP vs. SAP Business ByDesign and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
899,283 professionals have used our research since 2012.