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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
2nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
37
Ranking in other categories
Activity Based Costing Software (6th), Billing Software (3rd)
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 September 2025, in the Cloud ERP category, the mindshare of NetSuite ERP is 18.6%, down from 35.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP Business ByDesign is 7.5%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Cloud ERP Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
NetSuite ERP18.6%
SAP Business ByDesign7.5%
Other73.9%
Cloud ERP
 

Featured Reviews

Suryansh Kaushal - PeerSpot reviewer
Has improved access to transactional data and supported return on investment
Some clients in my past complained about the accounting setup, as it requires people who already have knowledge about NetSuite ERP. They don't appreciate having to pay for consultants or specialists to work with it. It's not easier for them to understand. But every other feature that NetSuite ERP has is pretty decent. They're even introducing new features such as Bill Capture which was introduced last year. My sales and warehouse managers don't find the demand planning feature effective. They say it's quite buggy.
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

"NetSuite ERP has dramatically improved our organization. We went from QuickBooks to NetSuite. You can compare this transition to changing from tennis shoes to a flying car."
"The project management aspect and the timesheets are valuable, especially for ensuring that our milestone billings are automated properly. From a manufacturing perspective, it is more to do with the entire management of the inventory, the overall finance, consolidation of books of accounts, and managing the profit and loss in a more effective manner."
"I have found there to be many features, such as manufacturing, accounting, financials, inventory, and purchasing."
"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."
"Every year, they release a new version."
"I would say that the solution is highly configurable."
"I recommend this product to professional services companies and those with complex international financial requirements. NetSuite ERP has strong capabilities in the finance domain that other ERPs may lack."
"NetSuite ERP is a user-friendly cloud-based solution that posts into the GL in real time. You can see your profitability at the order level."
"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."
"The standard system is stable."
"The most valuable features of Business ByDesign are the integration of its modules, analytics, and dashboards."
"I like the tool’s customization."
"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."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of SAP Business ByDesign is it has a streamlined design."
 

Cons

"Improvement-wise, it should be more customizable. Currently, you can't enhance the product yourself in terms of development for any applications unless you've got a very strong and big development team. Those are the skills that are in very short supply."
"The solution is not user-friendly and it is complex to use."
"The product should improve its warehouse management solution."
"In NetSuite ERP, they should focus on offering better customization options."
"What needs to be improved is the development in the other areas and other businesses that can use NetSuite."
"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."
"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."
"If they could provide more integration options to connect with different products, that would be ideal."
"The solution does not support customization for forms and reports. It's not flexible in case you need some enhancements in business processes."
"ByDesign could be improved by making screen modifications easier."
"There might be some hurdles when integrating with SAP ECC, but integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud is smooth."
"I would like the tool’s interface to be better. Currently, we use a client application to access the product. I want that to be replaced with a web version. I would like to improve the tool’s internet availability. I also want the product’s setup to be 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."
"The database needs to be more customizable."
"Scalability is difficult."
"With SAP S/4HANA, you can design your release strategy and modify it to include as many people as possible, which is missing in SAP Business ByDesign."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is less than the cost of daily hours."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
"I would advise that you first meet with and scope out your project with a NetSuite VAR (Value Added Reseller)."
"When people buy ERP, it's a competitive situation and the pricing is paramount."
"It is expensive."
"NetSuite ERP has a cost per module you want to use, and then you have the license per user."
"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."
"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."
"The tool’s pricing is expensive."
"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 SAP Business ByDesign is less expensive than SAP S/4HANA. However, the price is on par with other similar competitors, such as Microsoft."
"The pricing depends on company size. It's cheaper for small companies and more expensive for large ones."
"The cost starts anywhere between fifty thousand dollars and up depending on the number of licenses."
"The price of the solution could be better. They have to come up with a new strategy."
"We have to pay yearly."
"I rate the price of SAP Business ByDesign a seven out of ten."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business7
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise5
 

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?
While I cannot make extensive suggestions for NetSuite ERP, I can say that AI features are notably absent, unlike in Salesforce. The addition of AI features in NetSuite ERP would enable automatic t...
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...
 

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: July 2025.
867,783 professionals have used our research since 2012.