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NetSuite ERP vs PeopleSoft 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

NetSuite ERP
Ranking in Activity Based Costing Software
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Billing Software (2nd), Cloud ERP (2nd)
PeopleSoft
Ranking in Activity Based Costing Software
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
ERP (7th), Benefits Administration (4th), Talent Management (5th), Demand Management (1st), Talent Acquisition (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Activity Based Costing Software category, the mindshare of NetSuite ERP is 6.8%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PeopleSoft is 9.8%, up from 9.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Activity Based Costing Software
 

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sudni - PeerSpot reviewer
It's a user-friendly cloud-based solution that startups and small businesses can afford
Setting up NetSuite ERP is pretty straightforward. It's a plug-and-play solution that comes with the default bundle. We uploaded our GLs and charter accounts and added our company code to the architecture. It can be up and running in under a month. It takes at least five people to deploy NetSuite.
UshaKatyal - PeerSpot reviewer
A mature solution that needs right implementation
I think PeopleSoft HR is pretty good and very mature. The people who built PeopleSoft now work on Workday. Workday has asked me to join them as an employee a few times, but I don't take anyone's employment because Workday isn't very user-friendly. With PeopleSoft, you can do a lot. Oracle now bundles PeopleSoft and calls it Oracle Cloud, but the programs are the same. Recruiters often don't know this and say you're not qualified if you don't have Oracle Cloud experience. However, Oracle has just put PeopleSoft in the cloud and packaged it as Oracle Cloud. Overall, if the solution is implemented correctly, it runs very smoothly. I think people shouldn't customize it. They should use it as is and try to adapt to it. Many people didn't understand PeopleSoft at first. For example, during COVID, some companies hired offshore people who didn't know what they were doing and messed everything up. You need to know the rules and regulations of the country where you're implementing the tool because every country has different rules for HR, benefits, and payroll. Canadian payroll differs from US payroll, but they're on the same platform in the solution. It's a very mature system, but people prefer newer options like Oracle Cloud. I was also involved with SAP S/4HANA. I don't think it's good for the government sector because government workers are a bit lazy about technical things. I understand S/4HANA because I have a technical background. It has a different structure, while PeopleSoft has more of a file and table structure, which is easier. If the tables are set up wrong, things go wrong. But if you know how to set it up correctly, it runs smoothly, and you can adjust it if needed. The problem is that companies are hiring big consulting firms that want money. They hire offshore people who don't know the country's rules and do programming. If you buy a package and still have to do custom programming, why buy the package at all? These days, I'm doing a lot of business process reengineering for people because they don't know how to implement it correctly. If you implement it right, you can reduce manual work. However, it depends on change management and how senior management handles it. It works fine if you implement the tool on-site or hybrid, not cloud and do it correctly. But in a cloud situation, there are problems. Many countries change their payroll and benefits rules often. With the cloud, you can't easily change things. You have to ask the company to make changes, which costs much money. People who don't want an IT department go for the cloud. But I've seen many companies fail with the cloud. The cloud is just everything packaged together. Your data sits in someone else's cloud, and you must accept whatever they do. Payroll is very sensitive. If payroll is wrong, the whole company suffers. I've worked on the financial and school sides, too. I'm comfortable with the tool if it's implemented correctly. But many companies don't implement it right, which is why they might say it is too much. I did a big project for an oil and gas company. I was a program control manager with 51 people under me. We used Oracle, but Oracle isn't as good as PeopleSoft for payroll. If the solution is implemented correctly, it's fine. But you need the right implementer. Big consulting firms often give wrong information and use inexperienced people. For maintenance, PeopleSoft sends updated rules to new tables at year-end. You compile the new tables and start the new year. But you need to know which changes apply to your country. I talk to many senior PeopleSoft people and always get LinkedIn messages about business opportunities. I now help about 50 clients when they have problems, but I'm not traveling. If you know the HR and payroll business well, you can implement anything - PeopleSoft, Oracle, or S/4HANA. I've done all of these. S/4HANA is more complicated and technical. It's similar to an old software called IDMS. You have to be very technical, and if you don't do it right, it won't work. I rate the overall solution a seven 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

"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."
"We leverage the core platform but are able to add additional functionality for ease of use, tailored processes, and industry related reporting."
"It offers reporting flexibilities that were previously unavailable to us."
"The features that have been most effective in improving the financial management perspective include the budgeting, revenue recognition, and accounting perspectives."
"The most valuable feature in NetSuite ERP is the user interface."
"I have found there to be many features, such as manufacturing, accounting, financials, inventory, and purchasing."
"We can install the bundles based on our needs."
"NetSuite is significantly more affordable than Oracle EBS and offers a wider range of features than other OEMs."
"The customization and catering to our specific needs have helped."
"I would rate scalability a nine out of ten."
"PeopleSoft is mostly used for payroll and core HR functionality. Some customers use it for its finance module."
"The most valuable feature of PeopleSoft is the functionality that allows the ability to find all the data about employees that are needed."
"It's a mature product."
"The most valuable feature is the module integration, which saves time through transclusion - using a single record across multiple modules."
"Very stable in terms of performance and scalability."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is having the sources so that you're able to adapt the product to your needs. That was a big benefit."
 

Cons

"The communication has been peculiar, and the overall commercial process has been less than satisfactory."
"Additionally, adding advanced modules such as AI components or customer service modules could help the system become more scalable."
"The main implementation challenge is finding experienced consultants to translate customer needs into NetSuite ERP's standard functionality. The second challenge is getting enough time from customers for proper implementation."
"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 pricing is high."
"In terms of the main improvement to NetSuite is the talent itself. It's grown so fast and there are about 25,000 companies running on it, and it's a relatively newer system compared to other competitors. It's growing so fast that the talent base in the partner organization (there's about 200 of them), is pretty thin."
"NetSuite ERP's UI could be improved. There are some features that are very complex that do not have to be. There are some aspects of the solution that could be simplified and this can include the documentation. Since it's a very complex tool, you expect to have great detailed documentation to help you implement it."
"What needs to be improved is the development in the other areas and other businesses that can use NetSuite."
"Agile system configurations to accommodate business dynamics."
"Response time takes very long and requires a person to be awake night and day to benefit from it."
"One aspect where PeopleSoft could see improvement is in its level of customization."
"PeopleSoft can improve by having proper connectors. It's very difficult to change some interfaces with the other systems."
"PeopleSoft lacks integration capabilities."
"PeopleSoft should be more flexible with the configuration. There should be less coding and more configuration."
"Areas for improvement include implementing/upgrading tools and documentation. The Oracle support website can be difficult to navigate."
"My developers want to use more HTML instead of the specialized tool, PeopleTools because, they say, it's better from a user perspective."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"It is expensive."
"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."
"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."
"I would advise that you first meet with and scope out your project with a NetSuite VAR (Value Added Reseller)."
"The price of the solution is quite high."
"Yearly payments are to be made toward the licensing costs of PeopleSoft. PeopleSoft is not very expensive, so I feel it is an affordable product."
"The solution is priced per module."
"We are a University and the cost and license are negotiated privately."
"The expenses related to the solution are nominal."
"The licensing cost for PeopleSoft is 3,500 per course and the annual subscription fee is 6,500."
"There are no additional costs for licensing."
"PeopleSoft has a yearly maintenance fee."
"I don't know if they are still providing licenses or if they have suspending licenses."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
40%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
5%
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
9%
 

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 are the differences between Oracle HCM Cloud and PeopleSoft?
Although both are solutions to manage HR, their differences make each one suitable for different companies. Oracle Cloud HCM is a platform for connecting all human resource processes in your organ...
What do you like most about PeopleSoft?
I use the reporting feature occasionally to check for potential improvements in timesheets. We have integrated it with Power BI.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

2Pure, Accuvant, Actian, Adtegrity, Advantage Sign Supply, All-Safe Pool Safety Products, Alton Lane, AMC Liquidators
BMI Healthcare, Lone Star College System, Jefferson County Public Schools, Griffith University, Los Rios Community College District, Tervita Corporation, INFRA S.A. de C.V., ICF Habitat, Central Washington University, Tech Mahindra Limited, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Stanford Childrens Health
Find out what your peers are saying about NetSuite ERP vs. PeopleSoft and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,671 professionals have used our research since 2012.