Back in the 1990s, enterprise resource planning software was a real game-changer. Before that, top businesses around the world were struggling to manage their business process alongside inventory and manufacturing. Then the ERP system came. It combined every management aspect of a business under one single system.

The first generation of ERP users were mainly larger companies. They used to build their very own software. But gradually, this technology becomes more open and broader in scope. There are on-premise ERPs. With time, cloud computing and open-source revolutionized the world, and cloud-based or open-source ERP surpasses on-premise solutions.

However, the latter options allow mid-range and SMEs to implement enterprise resource planning software with ease. And, if you are an SME owner, this blog is especially for you. There are tons of solutions you can find on the market. Hence, plenty of options always harden the selection process.

So, here we will show you some of the best enterprise resource planning software on the market right now. Then we will compare their features so that you can find the best fit for your business.

Things to consider before choosing an ERP system

An enterprise resource planning software helps you to control the HR process of your company, client resource management, projects, accounting, and many more things. So it’s not an easy task to find a solution that can fulfill all of your major needs as a business manager.

Hence, there are certain considerations for implementing an ERP system. Some of the common scenarios are like – if you find an ERP software very good at managing the HR process, it may lack in CRM. In a different case, one may feel very happy with all the features, but pricing could make the decision harder.

So keeping all that and other aspects of an ERP in mind, we’ve sorted out some of the major things that you should care about. They are –

• Learn all the types of ERP in the market. As we’ve already mentioned, there are on-premise, cloud-based, or open-source ERP solution.
• You need to define your business process and make a decision on which types of ERP software you need.
• What are the goals that you want to achieve by implementing an ERP?
• How many users and employees do you have?
• Do you think you are able to manage the technical difficulties and requirements of an ERP?
• Understand how the pricing works and know your limits and how much you are willing to spend.

Well, let’s take a look at some of the most remarkable ERP statistics right now.

Top enterprise resource planning software compared- features, drawbacks, pricing

Well, there are hundreds of ERP tools out there in the market. In the following ERP comparison, we have chosen mainly those ERPs which are great for SMEs (small or medium-sized businesses) as their main focus, therefore some of them are quite capable of handling larger organizations too.

1. SAP business one

A German-based multi-dimensional enterprise resource planning software for SMEs. You can get an on-premise version or a cloud solution both here. The main reason that makes SAP Business One a good choice is its bigger scope. The company is reliable, and if you check the user reviews throughout the internet, you only hear good things surrounding it.

Top features

• Accounting and Financial Management: It helps to plan and analyze the financial process of your business. Hence, SAP Business One is capable to handle simple to complex accounting and financial closes. Treasury management is available. Accounts receivable, revenue, and billing management features are quite good.
• Supply Chain Management: You can control and manage your supply chain all the way from planning, logistics, manufacturing, life-cycle, and asset management.
• CRM: Have all the major features of client resource management. You can create a dynamic database, and run your CRM process at ease.
• HRM: Employee experience and Payroll management. Manage all the HR tasks like talent hunt and curating, evaluation, business-flow, and reporting.
• Network and Spend Management: Manage all of your expenditures, track them, and monitor suppliers, strategic sourcing, procurement. Furthermore, after you sell a product, your business manager can manage post selling service and feedback also.

Drawbacks

• Reporting is somewhat getting mixed reviews.
• Learning to use this ERP software is not easy, & resources are hard to find.
• The UI need improvements

Pricing

Pricing is a big matter here because it’s considerably high. To learn about exact pricing, you need to send a query to customer support.

2. Microsoft Dynamics 360

Microsoft is a big name, but its Dynamics ERP and CRM solution is a popular choice amongst the small and medium-sized companies. Therefore, it offers on-premise and cloud-based packages based on your needs. The selling point of this reliable tool is the CRM application which has the most wider range of facilities.

Top features

• A CRM with Bigger Scope: Dynamics 360 comes with a CRM solution that will help you to manage your sales, marketings, and customers simultaneously.
• Managing Finance and Accounting: Automate your total financial management process. Therefore, you can enhance your efficiency in handling budget and increase profitability.
• Supply Chain Management: Give you a clean and simple supply chain control, inventory management, and most of the business operational ease. So it will maximize the life of your assets.
• Human Resource: Turn your HR department into a faster and goal-oriented part of your organization. Good workforce administration leads to more productivity.

Drawbacks

• The product learning phase can be hectic for new user
• Entering new information in the database take too much time and the process is a bit complex
• Have a little security issues
• The UI should be more user-friendly

Pricing

Pricing could be listed as a drawback though.

3. Odoo

The main specialty of Odoo is its ease of use. You just create an account to its website, input information to create a database. Then start managing your CRM process, accounting, supply chain management, and what not? A wide range of powerful ERP tools will strengthen your business and beyond.

Odoo offers three types of service, two of them are local ERP systems, and the one we are talking about is open-source. Odoo categorized their service into four types, they are – website and business builder (however, it’s an extra service as you are only looking for ERP solutions), sales, operation, and productivity tools. You can call it a complete enterprise resource planning software suite.

Top features

• Client Resource Management: Have major CTM features like complete lead management, activity manager, and meeting scheduler, log calls, 360-degree visibility. Therefore, it has a customer database system, and strong reporting system, etc.
• POS: Point of Sales system is one of the big catch of Odoo. You can track your sales and monitor them at ease.
• Invoicing System: Create and send invoices over the internet by following a simple process. The setup and processing are quite manageable.
• Subscription Manager: Manage your paid and free subscriber both, and turn them into a recurring customer.
• Accounting: Manage all the majors with accounting assistance. The finance manager of your business will be more productive with the accounting tool. It offers accounts receivable and payable service, financial statement builder, and other features along with performance reports.

Drawbacks

• Hard to manage all the modules
• Some issues with customer support
• Minor technical glitch may occur sometimes
• Performance tuning is not that simple, have complexities

Pricing

Free trial available. You can go for app-based pricing. Each app will cost you differently. However, the overall pricing plan is complex.

4. WP ERP

WP ERP is one of the most reliable open-source enterprise resource planning software in the market. It is the very first full-fledged WordPress ERP system. And, day by day it becomes more full-filling in regard to simple but robust ERP modules.

The main selling point of WP ERP is you can turn your whole website into a customizable ERP system, build an impeccable database, and initiate self-services to manage clients, HR processes, and financial activities. Right now it has four ERP modules, they are – CRM, HR Management, Accounting, and Project Management.

Top features

• Human Resource Management: HR module will give you almost all the HR features like recruitment assistant, employee self-service and dashboard, and workflow manager. Besides that, you will get leave management, employee evaluation process, and many more.
• Client Resource Management: You can easily track & follow up queries with your leads, subscribers & clients alike. You can also schedule meetings, and deals with post selling activities.
• Accounting: Streamlined your accounts and financial sections. Highlighted features includes – invoice and payments receivable, sales tax management, purchase transaction, journals for double-entry system, and intuitive user dashboard.
• Smart Project Manager: Create projects, set milestones, and generate reports. Therefore it has task calendars, activity logs, private messaging, and discussion features.

Drawbacks

• Available only for WordPress platforms
• Don’t have employee on-boarding service

Pricing

Free version available in the WordPress repository, which is good to go. The premium plan starts from $10 a month for the core ERP pro. Moreover, you can also purchase single modules.

5. Bitrix24

It is mainly a workflow collaboration tool for companies and small businesses. Available both cloud-based and on-premise. Bitrix24 offers a platform where you can discuss, share, and manage your day to day tasks in a more collaborative way with your employees and customers. So, if you need an enterprise resource planning software that emphasizes remote working, Bitrix fits for a reliable and simple solution.

Top features

• Communication Manager: Chat and video interaction in-between, different type of calendar, social intranet, document manager, and HR process management.
• Task and Project Management: Gantt chart for visual project manifestations, workload manager, kanban, time-tracking, project workgroup, etc.
• CRM Solution: Pipeline and lead manager, provide query quotations, invoices, sales automation, email marketing support, and product catalog.
• Contact Centre: Inbound and outbound cloud call centre, social network manager, live-chat, and contact form.

Drawbacks

• UI should be improved
• Lack of complete HR and accounting support
• Support service is a bit slow

Pricing

You can start for free. Pro pricing depends on the size of your user list, ranging from $19 to $159 per month.

6. SYSPRO

Established in 1978, SYSPRO ERP is a product of SYSPRO software developers, one of the oldest ERP companies in the world. This enterprise resource planning software offers a web-based UI for universal access. You can use it and manage it across all the devices with industry-specific ERP functionalities. It has both business-wise and industry-wise solution.

Top features

• Supply Chain Optimization: Sourcing strategy management, requisition and tender process automation, supplier performance evaluation, risk, management, etc.
• Financial Management: It has bigger perspective. The tool is tailored for a dynamic financial manager. Core features include – general ledger, digital tax tool, asset register, and executive dashboard.
• Inventory Management: Inventory forecast analysis, order fulfilment performance, SYSPRO inventory optimization support.
• Lean Manufacturing: Sales and service process automation, product research and development, business analytics reporting.

Drawbacks

• Take time to learn the complex software management
• Issues with customization
• The user feels hesitated to see different options to accomplish a single task

Pricing

The basic plan starts per month for a single month. Pricing is a way high compared to other ERP solutions.

7. Priority Pro

Priority is a big company that offers a wide range of business process management solutions. Amongst all of the tools come from this company, priority pro is a balanced ERP solution. It’s the cloud-based ERP system from Priority, and very good for mid-range and larger companies alike. It offers all the core ERP elements, with cross-functional features like graphical BPM, Mobile Application Generator, Web SDK, etc.

Top features

• HRM: Recruitment and job manager, employee training capabilities, performance evaluation, employee benefits program, and succession planning.
• CRM and Sales: Lead and opportunity management, client account manager, Target sales, and order. You can analyze your marketing campaigns. Furthermore, reporting and charting tools are quite essential.
• Supply Chain: MRP and purchase planning, vendor relationship manager, demand forecast, inventory, product control management, etc.
• Financial Aspects: From billing to generate financial statements, Priority offers every needful accounting features.
• Other Services: Warehouse and manufacturing process management, customer support modules, and comprehensive business intelligence analytics.

Drawbacks

• Customer support is slow and sometimes unresponsive
• Non-compatibility issues
• The UI needs improvement

Pricing

The pricing follows various subscription models. However, you can ask for pricing according to your needs.

8. Acumatica

Acumatica is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning software company. They started the journey back in 2008 from Maryland, US. Hence, they are one of the fastest-growing ERP providers in the US right now.

They have different ERP models across the industry and various scopes. Currently, Acumatica provides five types of ERP solutions. And we are choosing the General Business Edition for this ERP comparison, as it is a well-fitted option for small and mid-range businesses.

Top features

• Customer Relationship Management: All the necessary CRM functionalities like Lead Manager, contact, and opportunity management. Therefore, it has post-sales services, and customer help portals support.
• Financial Management: On-line accounting management for small businesses is available. Moreover, you can find feature-rich global accounting applications for larger prospects. Then, there are double-entry journals, ledger, and financial statement options to streamline all of your accounting functions.
• Project Accounting: Find out the expenditure on internal or external projects. Therefore, you can have budgeting control, timesheets, project inventory, and billing management at ease.
• Powerful Reporting and Data Analysis: Help you to get insights into your business management.

Drawbacks

• The implementation process is complex. Therefore, you may use help from a third party software installing service.

Pricing

Pricing is a major issue. However, you can ask customer support for a pricing plan, and ask to schedule a Demo. Anyway, you can pay only the way you are going to use different features.

9. ERPNext

If you need a simple and interactive enterprise resource solution, ERPNext can be a very good option. It’s easier, and the maintenance is simple. Therefore, the tool is highly customizable because it is an open-source ERP system.

Mainly, the main beneficiary of ERPNext are manufacturers, distributors, and services companies. Furthermore, it is well compatible with schools, healthcare, agriculture, and non-profit organizations.

Top features

• Accounting Module: You will get a real-time view of the cashflow. Smart functions to keep track of every accounting process.
• HR and Payroll: Create an employee database. Manage the complete and dynamic employee life-cycle. The most common advantages include onboarding, payroll management, attendance, leave manager, and user-dashboards.
• Client Resource for Growing Business: Have all the core CRM functionalities.
• Manufacturing: Production planning, billing, inventory manager and job-cards maintenance.
• Simple Asset Management: Manage, utilize, and track your assets at ease.
• Sales and Purchase: ERPNext allows you to monitor sales and purchase, track records, and many more.

Drawbacks

• The UI and UX (user experience) need improvements.
• Harder to customize the modules for a non-technical person, as many all-modules are not pre-built.
• All the functions are not applicable to every region.

Pricing

Free trial available. The cloud solution will cost you $25 a month per user, billed yearly. On the other hand, the self-hosted version has customized pricing.

The final take on these ERP softwares

So that’s our ERP software comparison for 2023 right here. If you look closely, you will see that we chose tools that are interrelated. Either in regard to advantages or drawbacks. Despite coming from different companies, they are well capable of fitting your needs.

Therefore, you will find almost all types of enterprise resource planning software on this list. To make a valid decision, you can check through their pluses and minuses, along with the pricing plan. Hence, remember one thing. You should choose only what you need. Unnecessarily, do not stuff your business with a heavy ERP system.

As we are at the end of this ERP comparison, let’s sort this out. If you have a fast-growing mid-level company, Dynamic 360, SAP, or SYSPRO would be a good choice. Otherwise, a stable medium business can rely on tools like Odoo, Acumatica, Priority Pro, or Bitrix24.

But when you are an SME owner and have WordPress experience, then, in your case, you can start free with WP ERP. You can turn your WordPress business website into an ERP system with it. Go for the pro plan anytime you want. And it is all the way an easier option like any other WordPress tool.

Now that you know all about these top Enterprise Resource Planning Software so therefore you can also let us know which one should be your first choice according to you in the comments section below.