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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central vs SAP Business ByDesign 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

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Busi...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
ERP (3rd), Activity Based Costing Software (1st)
SAP Business ByDesign
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
16
Ranking in other categories
Cloud ERP (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Resource Planning solutions, they serve different purposes. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is designed for ERP and holds a mindshare of 6.7%, up 6.3% compared to last year.
SAP Business ByDesign, on the other hand, focuses on Cloud ERP, holds 8.3% mindshare, down 8.9% since last year.
ERP
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

StefaanVandesompele - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides end-to-end accounting and finance module at reasonable pricing
365 Business Central integrates with Office 365 to streamline the invoice approval process. This allows businesses to manage and approve invoices efficiently within a unified system. Our organization plans to transition to the Dynamics 365 environment, where various functions will be centralized. We will consolidate everything into one system instead of maintaining multiple databases for each country with local data. Dynamics 365 is fully integrated, which should address many of our challenges when we migrate to this new environment. We look forward to seeing how it performs in practice. The project is progressing well overall, though integrating it with other tools and ensuring Dynamics 365 operates smoothly can be challenging. Dynamics 365 is user-friendly and effective. However, a deeper understanding of its technical capabilities and architecture might be necessary to optimize its use fully. The software landscape is evolving, and achieving the best reporting and functionality with just a click can be complex. A clear vision of what you want to achieve with Dynamics 365 is essential. Proper preparation and configuration are crucial to achieving the desired outcomes. This principle applies not only to Dynamics 365 but to all software packages. Understanding the system's flexibility and adaptability based on your specific business needs is key to its successful implementation. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
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

"The solution has good dashboard functionalities and export functionalities."
"The product is customizable so we can tune it according to our requirements."
"Microsoft Dynamics NAV's most valuable feature is the integration with other Microsoft solutions."
"The value for money is very high as it fits the business well."
"It is a stable solution."
"I like Microsoft Dynamics' simplicity. The interface is excellent, and it's a highly mature product. You can hardly find any bugs in the product."
"Dynamics 365 Business Central is mostly used for financial management."
"This is readily available and affordable, as well as user-friendly and simple to use in my opinion."
"The most valuable feature is the feature called Financial Closing Cockpit. This feature allows us to monitor our accounting and processing closely."
"I have found the consolidation of the business and group reports very useful. There is plenty of features and the manufacturing and finance aspect of the solution are strong."
"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."
"I like the tool’s customization."
"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."
"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."
 

Cons

"In Thailand, the support here could be better. The process to get an answer is too long."
"Customization and costs could be improved."
"There is a need for improvement in consolidation and multi-country master data management."
"It could be more stable."
"There is some network issue."
"It would be nice if the integration process was easier."
"I would like to have more frequent updates."
"The product should improve work optimization."
"The database needs to be more customizable."
"The solution does not support customization for forms and reports. It's not flexible in case you need some enhancements in business processes."
"There is room for improvement in the reporting capability. To use it properly, you need intensive IT support. You cannot write your own reports."
"Scalability is difficult."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the pricing of this solution at three out of five."
"Business Central charges a monthly fee of $70 to $100 per user."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable."
"The price of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable. We pay monthly for the use of the solution."
"I give the solution a seven out of ten for pricing."
"There is an annual cost of using Microsoft Dynamics NAV. The cost is approximately 140,000 INR."
"The cost is one of the benefits. If you don't want to go for the full-blown finance and operations, the pricing model is a lot cheaper and has now switched to being based on a per-user subscription. So, if it's on cloud, you now have an expense instead of a large CapEx. If it's on-prem, you obviously still have to continue with the licensing model that they have, but if you compare the features and functionality, in terms of the price that you pay, I find it's better than other products. My answer on the pricing would be slightly different, depending on the country you're in and the return on investment, based on the size of the company. It's well-priced internationally. I think the new model is priced even better because it's now subscription-based and, if you go for cloud, the return on investment is a lot quicker and if it's expense, you can cap it. If you do take the on-prem version, the licensing is still priced as what it used to be, so that would depend on what country you are in."
"You have to pay a yearly licensing fee for the solution."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"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."
"We have to pay yearly."
"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."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Retailer
7%
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 Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The platform offers a robust and comprehensive cycle for supply chain and inventory management, with features like minimum and maximum settings, dynamic monitoring of inventory levels, and integrat...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The pricing for Dynamics 365 Business Central is reasonable. The value for money is very high.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Dynamics NAV?
The advanced warehouse functionalities are not available and should be improved. The purchase requisition process is also lacking, and more advanced functionalities for intercompany consolidations ...
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...
 

Also Known As

Dynamics NAV, MS Dynamics NAV
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Harris Farm Markets, Mister Spex GmbH, Bounce Foods, Eurofin Services SA, Medica Medizintechnik, Associated Gaskets, Onduline, Sitka Surfboard Corporation, World Animal Protection
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 SAP, Microsoft, Infor and others in ERP. Updated: July 2025.
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