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Anaplan vs SAP S/4HANA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Anaplan
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
Business Performance Management (1st), Production Planning (5th), Predictive Analytics (4th)
SAP S/4HANA
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
119
Ranking in other categories
ERP (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Anaplan and SAP S/4HANA aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Anaplan is designed for Business Performance Management and holds a mindshare of 13.3%, down 15.5% compared to last year.
SAP S/4HANA, on the other hand, focuses on ERP, holds 12.9% mindshare, down 16.1% since last year.
Business Performance Management
ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Antonio Flor - PeerSpot reviewer
Real-time data integration enhances operational efficiency and flexibility
As a client developer and solutions architect, I use Anaplan for building modules and deploying logic end-to-end. I work closely with the business in an agile manner to ensure the model aligns with business needs Anaplan offers flexibility in building different options within the platform. The…
Deepak Madhavan - PeerSpot reviewer
Implementation simplifies ERP management with comprehensive data integration and visibility
A lot of people would say the pricing. SAP is seen as quite expensive even now. It doesn't work for smaller or medium optimizations. The licensing and pricing could be looked at. In Brownfield migration, the trade-off between greenfield and brownfield means you either keep it clean or match the business requirements. Sometimes, it's not possible to do both. While ValixAPI provides significant support in making those decisions and the SAP consultant is very useful, we are still dependent on past history and how it was originally set up. I wouldn't call that a real disadvantage, yet more accessible consulting would be beneficial. Incorporating all other cloud products, like APO or IPP, into the S/4 house might also help.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It's simple to use with a lot of functions."
"Anaplan offers flexibility in building different options within the platform."
"I believe Anaplan is a new cloud tool, and from time to time, there's a lot of improvement that the Anaplan company deploys with the system. So, with that improvement, we need to really adapt and know the new system trends."
"Where we're seeing the opportunity in the market is at the Fortune 100 companies that have far more complex modeling type scenarios where you need to be able to have a lot of people collaborating together, and you need a lot of information all at everyone's fingertips. This is where you see the big advantage of a solution like Anaplan."
"Anaplan's most valuable features are that it's a no-coding platform, everything can be scaled to your other functions, and it's easy to learn and use (especially because Anaplan provides excellent interactive training)."
"You don't need to have a programming language to use Anaplan."
"This product has a very good modeling feature, and its graphical representation of visualizations has also been valuable."
"The features that I have found most valuable are that it is web-based and easy to use."
"The key modules that I find most valuable are material management (MM), financial accounting and controlling (FICO), and human resources (HR)."
"The insights given help us make strategic decisions."
"I have found SAP S4HANA to be scalable."
"Our customers use the solution mainly for their business uses like HR operations."
"I strongly recommend SAP S/4HANA for any industry with companies having more than one hundred employees."
"S/4HANA falls under a single terminal. We can easily access the data, and the performance is good."
"The user experience is quite attractive, and maybe the efficiency around the consolidation part as well."
"The ability to access real-time data analytics is crucial, as it supports events or calls that require immediate attention and decision-making."
 

Cons

"It would be nice if the solution offered better extensions."
"One key area of improvement is pricing."
"Automation needs to be built into this solution."
"The price of the solution can improve."
"The dashboard could be better. Because within a dashboard or report, you have to do a lot of scrolling. You need to scroll down because the table doesn't fit in a single view. That's why even the users aren't happy with that kind of user experience. They need to scroll to see all the data, and it could be better if it fits in just one page. That way, you can see everything. In the next release, I want automation that's connected to Anaplan. For example, to load master data from SAP to Anaplan. I don't know if this already exists, but a log where you can see the progress and see if there's an error will also help. It would be better to give you the error message, for example, if there is an error within the automated process importing to Anaplan."
"There are so many business rules to set up in the system that as a business user it's hard to gauge what they're doing and it's possible to get lost."
"Anaplan could enhance its user interface by including a more user-friendly API."
"The integration technique should be a little bit easier."
"I'm not a big fan of SAP S/4HANA because it needs a lot of hardware. It is really fast, but it needs a lot of hardware. The hardware for S/4HANA is too expensive."
"Planned Order List needs a change of screen."
"I think anything related to manufacturing public clouds could be improved."
"More integration is necessary."
"SAP S/4HANA is a robust front-end solution compared to other web technologies available. However, screen design in SAP EFI might not be as extensive."
"Every year, when a new version is released, it comes with a very thick booklet of 300 or 400 pages and it is a little difficult to comprehend."
"S/4HANA is like a ready-made suit, but it could be improved by adding more customization options, such as different colors and attractive themes in Fiori. From a functionality standpoint, there's always a workaround solution, and we've been working on SAP for the last 18 years."
"The theory-side of the solution needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The license is a yearly subscription. There are three licensing tiers: the model builder, planner, and the reporting."
"This is an expensive product and if the price were reduced then it would attract more customers."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"We are currently using a free workspace license for 90 days. We are satisfied with the price of the solution. There are additional costs if you want more storage, the default limit is 250 GB."
"This is a yearly subscription. So a customer initially buys a workspace and specifies how much GB they want. The minimum starts at around 30 GB. You can buy multiple workspaces."
"Anaplan is a bit pricier compared to its competitors - the license costs about $4,000 per user annually."
"The tool’s pricing is reasonable and competitive with other solutions."
"A value-for-money product and a very reasonable price compared to competitors like SAP or IBM."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and we are on a monthly subscription. The cost of the solution is expensive compared to other solutions."
"The price of SAP S4HANA is reasonable."
"The price of the solution is expensive."
"The solution's license cost is on the higher side."
"This is not the cheapest solution on the market, so you need to invest seriously in it. As a solid product, it has a solid price. It's definitely one of the more expensive tools on the market, but it's also one of the best products on the market."
"The product is expensive"
"There is a license to use this solution."
"The price of the solution is reasonable but some modules can be expensive. When comparing SAP S4HANA to other solutions, such as Oracle, it is not expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
30%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
39%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
University
4%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What are your main use cases for Anaplan?
Anaplan is an industry-leading cloud-based corporate performance management (CPM) platform that combines business planning and analytics in a single solution. It is designed to assist organizations...
Is Board better than Anaplan as a Business Intelligence (BI) solution?
We've had several FP&A departments include Anaplan in their analytics discussions, and while BI information IS generated, the focus is generally on compiling input from various sources and simu...
Is Anaplan better than SAP ERP?
There are different aspects of both Anaplan and SAP ERP that I like and dislike. Anaplan improves forecast accuracy and drives up the quality of analytics. Rather than spending all of their time co...
Are there any advantages of SAP S4 HANA over SAP Business One (SAP B1) apart from the cost?
SaP Business One is a complete solution for business management. The software applications are broad, ranging from accounting to project management and human resources. It is very versatile and com...
What needs improvement with SAP S4HANA?
There could be a bit more competitiveness in their licensing and pricing.
What is your primary use case for SAP S4HANA?
It is a great product to be implemented for different industries for my customers. Can it be used globally?
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
SAP S4HANA
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

HP, ForeScout, DocuSign, EAT, Pandora, Aviva, Intel Security, Zalora
Nestle, O.C. Tanner, Sabre, New York Life Insurance Co., MEMEBOX, Siemens AG.
Find out what your peers are saying about Anaplan, Oracle, IBM and others in Business Performance Management. Updated: March 2025.
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