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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

"As NetSuite ERP is a cloud product, a valuable feature I found in it is the very friendly user interface. You can set up shortcuts within the applications for frequently used reports or navigation. You can also customize dashboards in NetSuite ERP. Another feature I found valuable in the solution is good reporting. It has many industry-standard reports focused on finance and inventory. I also like the seamless switching between production and test environments and that you can customize the environments within NetSuite ERP. For example, you can put banners on your test and production environments to differentiate or segregate the logins to prevent mistakes. The solution is pretty easy to use and navigate, and it's more of a lightweight software. I like that it's a cloud product, so work is done on the front end rather than the back end. There's also a community for NetSuite ERP where you can raise your queries and issues. You'll find other people sharing experiences about common issues so you can get quick fixes from the community."
"NetSuite's architecture is so phenomenal that you can almost not even imagine."
"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."
"I became a real fan of NetSuite due to the fact that it's very easy to use and it's very easy to configure from the implementer side."
"It is a cloud-based ERP tool with minimal downtime and it can be accessed from anywhere in the world."
"I am impressed with the product's ease of use. It also helps us reduce the techstack."
"Technical support is excellent."
"We use it for the projects we do in the telecom industry."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"It has a quick implementation and onboarding of users. It is flexible with reports and powerful."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
"The standard system is stable."
"ByDesign's best features are its speed, real-time data, and reporting."
"The most valuable feature is the feature called Financial Closing Cockpit. This feature allows us to monitor our accounting and processing closely."
"SAP Business ByDesign is connected to our S/4 HANA system, and we have developed some APIs which help us integrate the system with S/4 HANA."
"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."
 

Cons

"The system is quite slow overall; sometimes I wait thirty, forty, or fifty seconds for a screen to refresh."
"The areas that this product needs to improve on is the implementation and inventory processes."
"The product should improve its warehouse management solution."
"The NetSuite fixed asset module needs to be worked on."
"The manufacturing aspect needs to improve."
"As with any system offering large volumes of data, there are limitations on processing large volumes of data in custom ways."
"NetSuite is good for data management, but it's missing payroll features."
"In NetSuite ERP, they should focus on offering better customization options."
"Scalability can be an issue. That is why SAP Business ByDesign needs to be more customizable and more flexible."
"The solution does not support customization for forms and reports. It's not flexible in case you need some enhancements in business processes."
"The payroll module of the solution could improve."
"ByDesign could be improved by making screen modifications easier."
"The database needs to be more customizable."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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 price of the solution is quite high."
"NetSuite ERP has a cost per module you want to use, and then you have the license per user."
"When people buy ERP, it's a competitive situation and the pricing is paramount."
"It is expensive."
"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."
"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."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
"Everything is included in the licensing cost of the solution. However, they use a per-user model for additional charges."
"We have to pay yearly."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"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 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."
"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
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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: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.