We recently published an article on the 5 Best Cloud ERP for Manufacturing, and as a result we also decided to dig into and research the products that appeared beside Business Central.
In this article we’ll be taking a look at NetSuite and providing a comparison of Business Central vs NetSuite for manufacturers.
We’ll explore what each system offers, how they differ, and which one might be the best fit for your needs. To be completely transparent, we sell Business Central to manufacturing customers, and we all love it. That might introduce some bias, however, we will try our best to avoid too much of my opinion and present only the facts.
At the end of the day, we believe in making sure businesses choose the ERP that makes the most sense for them, whether that’s Business Central or NetSuite. So, let’s dive in and see which solution—Business Central vs NetSuite—is right for your business.
If you enjoy this article and would like to talk to Sabre Limited’s president Robert Jolliffe to chat about these concepts, you can book a one-on-one 30-minute call with Robert him at https://calendly.com/robert-jolliffe/30min
Introduction to NetSuite
Oracle NetSuite is an all-in-one system that manages finances, CRM, eCommerce, and more. Launched in 1998 as NetLedger, and renamed NetSuite in 2003, it was the first mainstream company to offer cloud-based ERP solutions. It was then purchased by Oracle in 2016. Over the years, it has grown into a leading platform for businesses of all sizes—from startups to large global companies.
NetSuite may be more complex and often more expensive than other options. Its wide range of features and ability to unify all business operations make it a strong choice for companies that need a complete business management system.
Benefits of NetSuite
- Cloud Native ERP
- Comprehensive feature set with investments towards the higher end of SMB
- Accessible on any device or platform
- Highly customizable
- Widespread usage makes it easier to find experienced talent
- Offers discounts for “quick start” packages
- Stronger than Business Central with some accounting features
- NetSuite offers implementation services directly
- Over 700 apps in SuiteApp
Challenges of NetSuite
- Lack of transparency in pricing
- Hidden upgrade costs and unclear pricing tiers
- Discounts lock customers into long term agreements
- User feedback that “the interface feels somewhat outdated”
- First fully cloud-based ERP solution (being first means it was the first to make mistakes)
Introduction to Business Central
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, part of the Microsoft business apps family, helps SMBs manage finances, operations, sales, and customer service. Microsoft acquired Navision in 2002 and rebranded it as Dynamics NAV in 2005. In 2018, Microsoft rebranded the Dynamics NAV product to Dynamics 365 Business Central. The last version of NAV was called NAV 2018 and was version 11. The Fist version of Business Central was version 12, and early versions still said “Dynamics NAV 12.0” on the About screen.
Business Central integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft cloud products such as Office 365, Azure, Power BI, and Copilot, offering a comprehensive business management platform for modern organizations.
What makes Business Central special is how easy it is to use, how flexible it is, and how affordable it can be—especially for businesses that already use other Microsoft tools. It’s a great fit for companies in manufacturing, distribution, and project-based industries that need an ERP system that can grow with them.
Benefits of Business Central
- Cloud Native ERP
- Later to the cloud market and learned from Microsoft’s previous mistakes
- Includes all core ERP modules, with manufacturing features in Premium
- More budget-friendly than many top ERP systems
- $70 or $100 per user, with no hidden costs (includes hosting services in price)
- Hosted in top-tier Microsoft Azure data centers
- Open-source tools allow easy customization without special hosting
- Over 5,500 apps in AppSource for added functionality
- Familiar Microsoft interface reduces training time
Challenges of Business Central
- Often requires additional apps for full manufacturing support
- Over-customization can drive up costs
- Advanced features may need customization or add-ons
- Product design focused on mid to smaller SMB
- Quality of implementation services vary widely
Key Differences Between Business Central vs NetSuite
When comparing any ERP system there are six factors I like to mention to highlight the main differences.
The top six differences between Business Central vs NetSuite include:
- Customization
- Pricing
- Interface
- Addons
- Reporting
- Implementation
Below, we’ll explore these differences in depth to help guide your decision-making process.
- Customization: Both ERPs are similar when it comes to customization.
- Pricing: Business Central pricing is publicly documented and flexible. Businesses pay for only what they need, typically with lower upfront costs. NetSuite offers discounts on multi-year contracts, but pricing is very opaque, with potential hidden fees and fluctuating costs.
- Interface: Business Central’s interface is familiar for Microsoft users, easing adoption. There are also native apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, and many other devices. NetSuite’s interface, though functional, is older and less modern (being the first cloud ERP, the system suffers from an older user-interface design).
- Addons: In terms of add-ons, Business Central integrates seamlessly with Microsoft products and thousands of third-party apps available in Microsoft AppSource. NetSuite has its SuiteApps marketplace (with over 700 apps) which works essentially the same way.
- Reporting: Business Central excels with Power BI integration for real-time, customizable reports. NetSuite’s reporting capabilities are equally good through Tableau integration (one of the most popular BI and analytics apps).
- Implementation: Implementation tends to be quicker with Business Central as the partners implement all the features with a single team. (Unfortunately, there are some bad Business Central implementation partners who are hard to spot and can give the product a bad reputation).
NetSuite implementations can be disjointed as they are done by product teams focused on each module. Scheduling the NetSuite teams can be difficult and lead to long project durations as they don’t work as a group. Anecdotally, we have been told that NetSuite implementations are for larger companies and at a higher cost than Business Central.
Manufacturing Product Features
Let’s take a minute to compare the manufacturing product features in Business Central and the NetSuite Manufacturing ERP.
| Feature | Business Central Essentials | Business Central Premium | NetSuite Manufacturing Edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unlimited Users | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Customization | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Multiple Environments | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Multiple Companies | ✔ | ✔ | NetSuite OneWorld Module Needed |
| Finance Management | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Sales & Marketing | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Fulfillment & Delivery | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Purchasing & Payables | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Reconciliations | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Inventory Tracking | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Supply Planning & Availability (Assembly management) | ✔ | ✔ | NetSuite Supply Chain Module Needed |
| Project Management | ✔ | ✔ | NetSuite Project Management Module Needed |
| Warehouse Management | ✔ | ✔ | NetSuite Warehouse Management System (WMS) Module Needed |
| Service Management | X | ✔ | NetSuite Field Service Management Module Needed |
| Manufacturing (Standard cost worksheet, production bill of materials, basic capacity planning, machine centers, version management, production orders, and finite loading) | X | ✔ | ✔ |
Business Central Premium Licenses come with everything included. No additional modules are required. NetSuite, on the other hand, may require additional modules that increase the monthly subscription cost and extend the time to implement.
The real issue with having additional modules is that they add training time and inefficiency to the implementation. Each module is implemented by a different team, the teams work in series so as one team finishes their task the next team can be scheduled to start. Teams are often very busy and it is hard to schedule them to start on their module.
Another drawback with NetSuite is that although they offer discounts (for a minimum of three-year terms), you are required to purchase all the licenses upfront. For instance, if you expect to need 50 full users after going live with the ERP, you must buy all those licenses before starting training and implementation. If your training and implementation take two years, you’ll be paying for licenses for users who aren’t yet trained or using the system.
Business Central is available month to month (with a 20% premium) or on one-year contracts. There are no minimum 3-year terms. There also are rarely any discounts.
With Business Central as training begins you only pay for the licenses required. You can scale up (or down) as you get closer to your go-live. This can save a substantial amount as most manufacturing projects take approximately one year (or more) to complete.
The graph below gives an example of an 18-month project. A Business Central customer would purchase 10 Premium Licenses for training, gradually scaling up to 50 licenses (with an 18-month training and implementation period). A NetSuite customer would purchase all 50 licenses at the beginning with a 50% discount applied for the first three years. In this scenario, the NetSuite customer is paying for 50 licenses for 36 months but only using them for 18. At the end of the three-year term their discount ends (shown as a higher price in year 4 and 5).
NOTE: We used $100,000 estimated NetSuite licenses (discounted 50%) and $60,000 annual Business Central licensing for our calculation.
Pricing Comparison: NetSuite vs Business Central
When comparing the pricing of NetSuite vs Business Central, things can get complex. Business Central offers two main licenses: Essentials at $70/month per user and Premium at $100/month per user.
NetSuite’s pricing structure is more layered, with a base license fee of $999 per instance per month plus $99 per user per month. Costs can quickly escalate as modules or service tiers are added. It is very difficult to get clear pricing breakdowns.
We went to their website and spoke with one of their sales reps. When we asked for pricing on their modules and tiers, their sales rep replied with, “Sorry but I don’t have that information.”
Read our in-depth guide: Microsoft Business Central Pricing.
| Feature | Business Central (per user/month) | NetSuite (per user/month) |
|---|---|---|
| Essential License | $70 | N/A |
| Premium/ Standard License | $100 | $99 (Additional base license fee of $999 per instance per month) |
| Implementation Costs | Varies based on partner; generally lower for SMBs | Higher initial fees due to customization |
| Cloud Hosting Feeds | Included in the subscription | Included, but fees may vary based on storage needs |
| Maintenance and Updates | Included in the subscription | Additional fees for updates and premium support |
Keep in mind that this pricing is just for licenses. Implementation is completely separate, and can fluctuate depending on factors like deployment method, support options, number of users, and any addons that you need to suit your specific business needs. ERP system pricing is often complex, but our detailed article breaks down how to achieve an affordable Business Central implementation.
User Reviews and Customer Base (Business Central vs NetSuite)
Both Business Central and NetSuite have a large and similar customer base. At the time of writing this, Business Central boasts over 40,000 customers and NetSuite has more than 38,000. With all those customers, there have been thousands of reviews.
Let’s see how the user reviews shape up in the table below.
| Website | Business Central | NetSuite |
|---|---|---|
| Gartner | 4.2/5 ⭐ | 4.1/5 ⭐ |
| G2 | 3.9/5 ⭐ | 4.0/5 ⭐ |
| Capterra | 4.0/5 ⭐ | 4.2/5 ⭐ |
| Forbes | 5.0/5 ⭐ | 4.2/5 ⭐ |
| TrustRadius | 3.8/5 ⭐ | 4.0/5 ⭐ |
To keep things fair and unbiased, I only included the sites that had reviewed both ERPs. Interestingly, when it comes to NetSuite vs Business Central, they both have great user reviews. Business Central has an average rating of 4.18 and NetSuite follows closely behind with an average rating of 4.1 out of 5.
Some of the low scores for Business Central were related to the implementation, not the product. This is a symptom of the low quality standards for Business Central implementers.
Recommendation
We recommend looking at NetSuite if your manufacturing business is larger (250 or more employees), needs more complex capabilities, and/or you have staff with NetSuite experience and want to leverage that. We recommend Business Central for customers with smaller SMB manufacturing (250 or fewer total employees) or those running the Microsoft technical stack who want to maximize their investment in Microsoft technology.
Customers between 100 employees and 500 employees should really look at both products and do a side-by-side comparison.
Assuming you are able to identify a good implementation partner for Business Central, overall it is a more modern and “Microsoft-friendly” product and is a better choice for the average small and medium manufacturing company.
If you’re still researching ERP systems, be sure to read our other comparison articles:
Closing Thoughts
By now I hope you know the differences when comparing Business Central vs NetSuite and have a better understanding as to which ERP would work best for your business.
At Sabre Limited, we are experts in manufacturing. We stand among the best Microsoft Dynamics manufacturing partners in North America. What sets us apart from our competitors is that we use fixed fees instead of time and material billing and we always put our customers first. Learn more about streamlining your operations with Microsoft Dynamics manufacturing and Sabre.
If you’re interested in learning more about what Sabre Limited can offer, we’ve been dedicated to helping small to medium-sized manufacturers learn and adopt Business Central. Reach out, and let’s explore how we can contribute to the success of your manufacturing journey. Contact us today. We look forward to hearing from you.
