Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

SAP Business ByDesign vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud 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

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
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
Ranking in Cloud ERP
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Cloud ERP category, the mindshare of SAP Business ByDesign is 8.3%, down from 8.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is 16.4%, up from 11.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Ramesh Pampana - PeerSpot reviewer
Extensive real-time analytics and superior support enhance decision making but continued product evolution impacts existing investments
Improvement is needed, and they need to slow down. When I say slow down, they need to do more validation. Things are going rapidly and changing fast. For example, they moved from SAP SRM product to SAP CLM. They bought IBM CLM and marketed it as SAP CLM. Shortly after, they bought SAP Ariba and discontinued the SAP CLM product. Now they state that SAP SRM is outdated and has reached sunset. The challenge is that if a customer has already deployed the entire solution on-premises, it becomes difficult to immediately convert to the new product and manage new license costs. From a consulting perspective, it appears that SAP's biggest competitor is itself, as they sometimes discontinue their own products to promote new ones.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
"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."
"I like its modern approach. It is very modern and new technology."
"The standard system is stable."
"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."
"I find the tool’s every feature valuable."
"I like the tool’s customization."
"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."
"We were migrating from our in-house ERP solution to the solution, which was a more corporate-centralized solution. My role was to lead the team in mapping our processes with the central team. We aimed to find synergies and learn how to handle processes that weren't directly covered."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The ability to access and analyze data in real-time has significantly improved our reporting efficiency."
"I have found the financial and production modules to be the most valuable features."
"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 implementation time was approximately 155 to 160 days, which is faster than Oracle implementation."
"SAP S4HANA Cloud has improved the efficiency and visibility of business operations, leading to potential cost and time savings."
 

Cons

"Scalability is difficult."
"The Arabic localization is neglected. It should have an Arabic interface. It lacks Arabic translation or support from right to left."
"There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth."
"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."
"ByDesign could be improved by making screen modifications easier."
"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."
"I would say budget controlling needs improvement. I mention this because it does not have all the functionalities that we need in terms of managing the budget."
"It can be done within a few hours, but it also depends on the customer's requirements. If they want some changes, it may be done within one hour. But if there are large-scale changes, it may take one week or one month."
"There is room for improvement in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, particularly in enhancing the application's response time."
"Their revolving AI should should be better improved."
"Certain add-ons like quality control, payroll, and HRMS are not part of the SAP S/4HANA Cloud."
"We have encountered challenges with integration projects, particularly between SAP and non-SAP systems, which have caused delays."
"I would like to see a feature where it allows integration with more platforms."
"The implementation time for S/4HANA Cloud could be reduced."
"It is a complicated solution. So it should be easier to use."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"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 pricing is expensive."
"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."
"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."
"We have to pay yearly."
"The pricing of SAP S/4HANA Cloud is on the higher side."
"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.)"
"The tool's pricing is reasonable."
"I feel the solution is expensive when it comes to what can be obtained with open source software."
"It's very expensive."
"The solution's costs have significantly increased, and we have not seen any anticipated cost savings."
"Its pricing is way over any of the other ERPs. I'd rate it one out of ten in terms of pricing."
"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."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Cloud ERP solutions are best for your needs.
865,576 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Answers from the Community

RB
Jun 30, 2021
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud. So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per us...
See 2 answers
EB
Jun 28, 2021
Hello @Terry Jones ​, @Sanath Premachandra ​, @Ben Melchionno ​and @ASalman. Can you please assist in answering this question?
PB
Jun 30, 2021
The main difference is RISE is associated with S/4 Product Range on Cloud while By Design is modeled after SAP Business One also on Cloud.  So both are SaaS but the difference is in enterprise size and also application complexities. Also, RISE offers a bundle of pre-configured modules while By Design is similar to B1 with a lot more flexibility and high scalability. License wise both are per user on the cloud.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Healthcare Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Real Estate/Law Firm
6%
Computer Software Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
13%
University
5%
Financial Services Firm
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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...
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?
While SAP S/4HANA Cloud offers numerous functional benefits and powerful integration capabilities, there remain certain usability and operational challenges—particularly within the Fiori applicatio...
 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP S4HANA Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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
La Trobe University, Carrefour Comércio e Indústria Ltda, Delaware Consulting and Corning Inc.
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Business ByDesign vs. SAP S/4HANA Cloud and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,576 professionals have used our research since 2012.