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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
2nd
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 August 2026, in the Cloud ERP category, the mindshare of NetSuite ERP is 20.6%, up from 15.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Business ByDesign is 3.6%, down from 7.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud ERP Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
NetSuite ERP20.6%
SAP Business ByDesign3.6%
Other75.8%
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

"A single suite of applications (like NetSuite) is a far better solution than running multiple systems."
"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."
"In summary, NetSuite is the future and can help small/medium-sized companies to grow in automation."
"First of all, it's really easy to use."
"You should go for it. You won't regret it! This is the best solution."
"NetSuite ERP is good for a trading company that involves buying and selling."
"It offers reporting flexibilities that were previously unavailable to us."
"The product is very flexible and can adjust to the customer's needs."
"When we were using it, we did see an immediate benefit, especially in the inventory on consignment issue. We were a biotech pre-revenue company and most of our manufacturing was outsourced. So being able to track inventory within the system without creating a financial impact was very key for us."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"The standard system is stable."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
"ByDesign's best features are its speed, real-time data, and reporting."
"The stability has been great, and compared to other products that I have used before, they have been doing really well with stability."
"When comparing SAP Business ByDesign to much larger ERP solutions, such as SAP ECC 6.0 or SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business ByDesign is more user-friendly and easier to implement."
"The most valuable feature is the feature called Financial Closing Cockpit. This feature allows us to monitor our accounting and processing closely."
 

Cons

"If you do go through an implementor, you need to be careful that they are actual implementors and not just resellers."
"Technical support is very weak. That's because, once again, they've hired a bunch of kids."
"Additionally, adding advanced modules such as AI components or customer service modules could help the system become more scalable."
"An area for improvement in NetSuite ERP is its accounting functionality because it has certain limitations."
"NetSuite is still made for small/medium enterprises and needs to focus on bigger organizations, i.e., the Enterprise Edition."
"The system is quite slow overall; sometimes I wait thirty, forty, or fifty seconds for a screen to refresh."
"NetSuite ERP's UI could be improved. There are some features that are very complex that do not have to be. There are some aspects of the solution that could be simplified and this can include the documentation. Since it's a very complex tool, you expect to have great detailed documentation to help you implement it."
"If some company already has a very large presence, in terms of employees or in terms of their products, and they are fully matured, they have a lot of different complex processes in their business, then NetSuite might not be the right choice for that stage of the business."
"Scalability is difficult."
"Scalability can be an issue. That is why SAP Business ByDesign needs to be more customizable and more flexible."
"The database needs to be more customizable."
"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."
"The Arabic localization is neglected. It should have an Arabic interface. It lacks Arabic translation or support from right to left."
"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."
"There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth."
"The solution does not support customization for forms and reports. It's not flexible in case you need some enhancements in business processes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When people buy ERP, it's a competitive situation and the pricing is paramount."
"I would advise that you first meet with and scope out your project with a NetSuite VAR (Value Added Reseller)."
"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."
"The price of the solution is quite high."
"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."
"It is expensive."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
"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."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"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 tool’s pricing is expensive."
"We have to pay yearly."
"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."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
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Top Industries

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

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: June 2026.
908,834 professionals have used our research since 2012.