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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
6.5
Number of Reviews
36
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (7th), Billing Software (3rd)
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 2025, in the Cloud ERP category, the mindshare of NetSuite ERP is 17.1%, down from 35.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Business ByDesign is 8.3%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Haggit Russo - PeerSpot reviewer
Effective financial management with real-time analytics and a straightforward setup
Reports are good but not perfect. The custom reports could be improved. The initial setup process for reports can be a bit complicated and may require more user-friendly options. My previous company faced difficulty with reporting when it was too complicated to find proper reports. Overall, improving the reporting feature would be beneficial.
Majid-Mustafa - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides custom versions of reports personalized for users
For AI initiatives, you need to purchase a separate AI license to integrate with SAP Business ByDesign. I'd recommend SAP Business ByDesign for large companies that want to check data graphically, especially for monthly income, expenses, and taxes in the millions or trillions. Overall, for large-scale companies, I'd rate it ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"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 user interface is very good."
"It offers reporting flexibilities that were previously unavailable to us."
"The initial setup is easy."
"NetSuite is significantly more affordable than Oracle EBS and offers a wider range of features than other OEMs."
"Every year, they release a new version."
"NetSuite ERP has dramatically improved our organization. We went from QuickBooks to NetSuite. You can compare this transition to changing from tennis shoes to a flying car."
"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."
"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 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 standard system is stable."
"ByDesign's best features are its speed, real-time data, and reporting."
"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."
"It has a quick implementation and onboarding of users. It is flexible with reports and powerful."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
 

Cons

"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. 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."
"The custom reports could be improved."
"The pricing is high."
"Some of the features around the payroll and payroll taxes and management of that are lacking. We had to outsource some of that because we found that the functionality isn't there."
"What needs to be improved is the development in the other areas and other businesses that can use NetSuite."
"The product should improve its warehouse management solution."
"The manufacturing and planning side could be improved. That part isn't up to date. NetSuite could be easier to integrate in general."
"The Arabic localization is neglected. It should have an Arabic interface. It lacks Arabic translation or support from right to left."
"The database needs to be more customizable."
"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."
"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."
"SAP Business ByDesign can improve the flexibility and user-friendliness of the reporting during the implementations. Customizing the reports inside the device requires a lot of knowledge and most of the time a developer level is needed. For example, if you want to have a more specific reporting layout."
"SAP Business ByDesign is a very vast product, but it has to be a bit more centralized. All the models need to be more centralized for a better experience."
"The payroll module of the solution could improve."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is expensive."
"I would advise that you first meet with and scope out your project with a NetSuite VAR (Value Added Reseller)."
"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."
"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."
"NetSuite ERP has a cost per module you want to use, and then you have the license per user."
"The price is less than the cost of daily hours."
"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 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 SAP Business ByDesign is less expensive than SAP S/4HANA. However, the price is on par with other similar competitors, such as Microsoft."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"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 cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"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
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
6%
Computer Software Company
23%
Healthcare Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Real Estate/Law Firm
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about NetSuite ERP?
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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for NetSuite ERP?
If you buy it through Europe or North America, it is quite expensive. However, if you can buy it from developing markets according to NetSuite, you can get significant discounts, up to 70%.
What needs improvement with NetSuite ERP?
Reports are good but not perfect. The custom reports could be improved. The initial setup process for reports can be a bit complicated and may require more user-friendly options. My previous compan...
What do you like most about SAP Business ByDesign?
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.
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...
 

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: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.