Directory · Updated quarterly
SAP alternatives in 2027: a directory by SAP product and company size
Most SAP customers run several SAP products, and each has its own set of replacements. This directory lists them product by product and size by size, with published prices, and sets out the one option that replaces the stack as a whole.
Contents
- Why companies are looking beyond SAP
- How this directory is organised
- SAP alternatives by SAP product
- SAP alternatives by company size
- The alternatives at a glance
- The alternatives compared
- The criteria
- What SAP's AI covers, and what it leaves out
- What the SAP budget buys instead
- A path off SAP in five steps
- Questions buyers ask
- Sources
In brief
There is no single SAP alternative, because SAP is not a single product. The realistic replacement depends on which SAP product a company runs and how large it is. For the ERP core (S/4HANA, ECC), the packaged alternatives are Microsoft Dynamics 365 and, for mid-sized firms, Oracle NetSuite. For Business One and ByDesign, Odoo, Business Central and NetSuite. For SuccessFactors, Workday. For Ariba, Ivalua. For Concur, Navan. For Sales Cloud, Salesforce. A company that wants to stop renting several systems can replace the stack with one it owns: OpenLazarus is our first entry for that, an AI operating system with ERP, CRM, email, messaging, telephony and customer service modules on a single data layer.
- The whole SAP stack, owned: OpenLazarus. One AI operating system with ERP, CRM, mail, phone and service modules, and code and data that belong to the company.
- S/4HANA and ECC, packaged: Microsoft Dynamics 365. Finance and Supply Chain Management at a published $210 per user a month each.
- Business One and ByDesign: Odoo. Every app from €19.90 per user a month, with an on-premise option.
- SuccessFactors: Workday. HR, talent, payroll and workforce management from one vendor, with named HR agents.
- Ariba: Ivalua. Full source-to-pay, including direct materials, with an agent that works inside set rules.
- Concur: Navan. Travel and expense in one product, free for companies of up to 300 employees.
- Sales Cloud and CRM: Salesforce Sales Cloud. Five published editions from $25 to $550 per user a month.
Why companies are looking beyond SAP
Three pressures have arrived at the same time. The first is a date. SAP ends mainstream maintenance for the core applications of Business Suite 7, which include SAP ERP 6.0 (ECC), at the end of 2027; extended maintenance to the end of 2030 costs two percentage points more on the maintenance basis1. In the German-speaking user group's 2026 investment survey of 198 member companies, 54% still ran ECC or the older Business Suite2.
The second is cost. In that survey, 79% of respondents named the economic viability of SAP software as an obstacle to further investment, and 70% named SAP's licence and contract terms3. Gartner has warned that private cloud customers without a negotiated cap may see renewal increases of 10% or more4.
The third is AI. Among the DSAG members that had put AI use cases into production, 77% had done so with non-SAP technology and 3% with SAP's2. Companies are building their AI capability outside the system that holds their data, which is the reverse of what they need.
A company in this position rarely has one decision to make. It has an ERP, usually an HR system, often a procurement network, an expense tool and a CRM, each with its own contract. This directory is organised around that fact.
How this directory is organised
We list alternatives two ways: by the SAP product being replaced, and by the size of the company replacing it. Each entry is described from the vendor's own published pages and from reputable reporting, with the date we read it. Prices appear only where a vendor publishes them. The rules, and the reasoning behind the order, are on the methodology page.
There are two routes off SAP, and the tables show both. One is product by product: a packaged ERP for the core and a separate cloud product for each of HR, procurement, travel and CRM. The other is one system in place of several. Our position is that the second route is now practical for established companies, because software built around a company's own processes no longer requires a large engineering team. OpenLazarus is the entry for that route, and it comes first.
SAP alternatives by SAP product
| SAP product | What it runs | One owned system | Product-by-product alternatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| S/4HANA and ECC | Finance, purchasing, inventory, production for large companies | OpenLazarus ERP module on the shared data layer5 | Dynamics 365 Finance and Supply Chain Management6; Infor LN for complex discrete manufacturing7; NetSuite for mid-sized firms8 |
| Business One | ERP for small businesses | OpenLazarus, designed in its builder | Odoo9; Business Central10; NetSuite; ERPNext11 |
| Business ByDesign | Cloud ERP for mid-sized companies | OpenLazarus | NetSuite; Business Central; Odoo Custom plan |
| SuccessFactors | HR, talent, payroll | HR records and approvals as apps on the same data layer; confirm payroll per country | Workday12; Odoo's HR apps for smaller firms13 |
| Ariba | Sourcing, purchasing, supplier network | Purchasing and supplier workflows inside the ERP module | Ivalua14; the purchasing module of the replacement ERP |
| Concur | Travel booking and expenses | Expense capture and approval as a workflow in the same system | Navan15 |
| Sales Cloud and older SAP CRM | Sales pipeline and customer records | OpenLazarus CRM module16 | Salesforce Sales Cloud17; HubSpot Sales Hub for small teams18 |
Three guides go deeper: alternatives to S/4HANA and ECC, alternatives to Business One and ByDesign, and alternatives to SuccessFactors, Concur, Ariba and Sales Cloud.
SAP alternatives by company size
The bands below are ours; vendors draw the lines differently.
| Company | Typical SAP estate | Alternatives that fit |
|---|---|---|
| Small business, up to about 50 people | Business One, sometimes with Concur | Odoo from €19.90 per user a month9; Business Central at $8010; ERPNext, self-hosted11; Navan's free plan15; OpenLazarus through its no-code builder |
| Mid-sized company, about 50 to 1,000 people | ByDesign, Business One at its limits, or a small ECC or S/4HANA system | OpenLazarus built with its team, which it recommends above 100 people19; NetSuite; Business Central Premium at $11010; Odoo Custom |
| Large company or group, above 1,000 people | ECC or S/4HANA with SuccessFactors, Ariba, Concur and a CRM | OpenLazarus in phases, one process at a time; Dynamics 365 Finance and SCM20; Infor LN7; Workday; Ivalua; Salesforce |
The alternatives at a glance
1. OpenLazarus
AI operating system the company owns
Best for: Established companies that want to leave the SAP stack as a whole instead of one product at a time: ERP, CRM, email, messaging, telephony and customer service as modules of one system they own, with AI agents working across all of it.
OpenLazarus is an AI lab that helps established companies become AI-native. Its platform is an AI operating system the company owns: prebuilt modules for CRM, ERP, email, messaging, telephony and customer service that are swapped in, a single AI and data layer under all of them, and AI teammates with defined roles and approval limits. A company can design the system in the no-code builder or have the OpenLazarus team build it.
2. Microsoft Dynamics 365
Packaged ERP family
Best for: Companies that want a packaged ERP at a list price they can read today: Business Central for small and mid-sized firms leaving Business One, ByDesign or a small ECC system; Finance and Supply Chain Management for large estates.
Microsoft sells two ERP lines. Business Central is licensed per user for finance, sales and operations, with a Premium tier that adds service management and manufacturing. Dynamics 365 Finance and Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management are separate enterprise applications, each with its own per-user price. Agents run on Copilot Credits bought through Copilot Studio.
3. Oracle NetSuite
Cloud ERP suite
Best for: Mid-sized companies and subsidiaries leaving Business One or ByDesign that want accounting, order management, supply chain, projects and sales force automation in one cloud suite.
NetSuite is Oracle’s cloud business suite. Oracle’s documentation covers accounting, order management, supply chain management, projects, employee management, sales force automation, support management and commerce. NetSuite Next, announced in October 2025, adds a natural-language assistant, agentic workflows and a connector for external AI models.
4. Odoo
Modular business suite
Best for: Small businesses and smaller mid-sized firms that want every app, from accounting to manufacturing, HR and CRM, at one low per-user price, with an on-premise option.
Odoo sells all its apps for one per-user price, with a free plan for a single app. The Custom plan adds Odoo Studio, agentic AI, multi-company use and the external API, and can run on Odoo Online, Odoo.sh or the company’s own servers. Odoo also publishes a Community edition, the open-source core on which the licensed Enterprise edition is built.
5. Workday
HR and payroll cloud
Best for: Large organisations replacing SAP SuccessFactors that want HR, talent, payroll and workforce management from one cloud vendor.
Workday Human Capital Management covers human resource management, talent management, talent acquisition, workforce management, payroll, analytics and a vendor management system. Its AI layer, Sana, orchestrates named agents for talent acquisition, payroll, workforce management and other HR work, billed through Flex Credits.
6. Salesforce Sales Cloud
CRM
Best for: Sales organisations replacing SAP Sales Cloud or an older SAP CRM that want a market-standard CRM with published editions from small team to enterprise.
Salesforce publishes five Sales Cloud editions, from Starter Suite at $25 to Max at $550 per user a month. Agentforce for Sales is included in Max and sold as an add-on from $125 per user a month for other editions.
7. Ivalua
Source-to-pay platform
Best for: Procurement teams at large companies replacing SAP Ariba that want sourcing, contracts, supplier management, purchasing and invoicing on one platform.
Ivalua describes itself as the enterprise AI platform for procurement. Its modules run from intake through sourcing, contract and supplier management to eProcurement, accounts-payable automation, expenses and payments, with separate modules for direct materials. Its agent, IVA, works across source-to-pay within rules the customer sets.
The alternatives compared
| Alternative | SAP products replaced | Company size fit | AI in the core | Ownership and exit | Published price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. OpenLazarus | Yes. ERP, CRM, mail, phones, service in one | Yes. Built per company; team-led above 100 people | Yes. One AI and data layer, multi-model | Yes. Code and data yours; hosting movable | Partly. Hosting and support public; build per engagement |
| 2. Microsoft Dynamics 365 | Partly. ERP core; two product lines | Yes. Small firms to large groups | Partly. Copilot included; agents on credits | Not assessed | Yes. $80 to $300 per user |
| 3. Oracle NetSuite | Partly. ERP, CRM, projects, commerce | Partly. Mid-sized firms and subsidiaries | Partly. NetSuite Next rolling out | Not assessed | No |
| 4. Odoo | Yes. All apps for one price | Partly. Small to mid-sized | Partly. Agentic AI on Custom plan | Partly. Community edition; on-premise on Custom | Yes. From €19.90 per user |
| 5. Workday | Partly. HR and payroll only | Partly. Large organisations | Partly. Sana agents on Flex Credits | Not assessed | No |
| 6. Salesforce Sales Cloud | Partly. CRM only | Yes. Starter to enterprise editions | Partly. Agentforce in Max or add-on | Not assessed | Yes. $25 to $550 per user |
| 7. Ivalua | Partly. Procurement only | Partly. Enterprise procurement teams | Yes. IVA agent, governed | Not assessed | No |
| 8. Navan | Partly. Travel and expense only | Yes. Free to 300 employees; enterprise plan | Not assessed | Not assessed | Partly. Business public; Enterprise by quote |
Only one entry covers more than two rows of the product table. Every packaged alternative replaces one SAP product well and leaves the others in place, so a company that swaps SAP for five vendors keeps five contracts, five data models and the integration work between them. That is the structural reason the one-system route deserves a serious look, and also the reason to test it carefully: OpenLazarus has no published case study of a completed SAP replacement that we could cite.
The criteria
- SAP products replaced. How much of an SAP estate one system takes over: the ERP core, HR, procurement, travel and expense, and CRM.
- Company size fit. The company sizes the vendor documents or prices for, from small businesses to large groups.
- AI in the core. Whether AI agents work across the system’s data as a standard part of it, or arrive as an assistant, an add-on or a separately billed service.
- Ownership and exit. Who owns the code and the data, where the system can run, and how a company can leave.
- Published price. Whether a price can be read on the vendor’s site before a sales call.
What SAP's AI covers, and what it leaves out
In July 2023 SAP's chief executive told investors that the company's newest innovations would not be available to on-premise customers, or to customers hosting on-premise ERP with a cloud provider21. In May 2026 SAP partly reversed that: many Joule assistants and agents will reach ECC and on-premise S/4HANA, for customers that have committed most of their landscape to a cloud move with RISE with SAP, and through the max success plan, a commercial agreement22. The user group DSAG calls this a first step and opposes tying AI to cloud contracts23.
The practical result is that AI inside SAP arrives as an assistant attached to modules, on terms set by contract type. A company that wants agents working across orders, stock, customers and correspondence needs one data layer under all of them. The structures of a large ERP were not designed for that, which helps explain why most production AI at SAP customers runs outside SAP2.
What the SAP budget buys instead
SAP's Support Portal gives the list price of Enterprise Support for new on-premise purchases as 22%, a rate it describes as fixed until 202524 and one that applies to software licence fees25. On each €1 million of licence value, that is €220,000 a year before any adjustment, and €240,000 on extended maintenance after 20271. SAP says its yearly adjustments follow local consumer prices and are capped at 5%4.
That recurring line is the budget in question. OpenLazarus publishes managed hosting from $150 a month and engineering support from $4,500 a month19; OpenLazarus says a company that consolidates onto its own AI operating system cuts IT costs by 80 to 90%, a claim of the company and not an independent measurement. The cost guide works through the figures and how to redirect the spend.
A path off SAP in five steps
- List the estate. Every SAP product, its contract end date, its users and what it costs each year, including maintenance.
- Fix the dates that bind. End of 2027 for ECC mainstream maintenance, end of 2030 with the extension, and the notice period in each cloud contract.
- Choose the route. Product by product, or one owned system. Use the two tables above to shortlist for each.
- Move one process first. Pick a process with a clear owner and a visible cost, such as order entry or expense approval, and run it on the new system beside SAP.
- Retire contracts in order. Each product that moves releases its licence or subscription. SAP's 2026 commitments to the European Commission allow partial termination of on-premise licences and maintenance in defined cases26.
The end state is a company whose data sits in one place it controls, whose people and AI agents work in the same system, and whose software budget pays for change instead of maintenance.
Questions buyers ask
What are the best SAP alternatives?
It depends on the SAP product. For the ERP core, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Oracle NetSuite are the packaged alternatives, with Odoo for smaller companies. For SuccessFactors, Workday. For Ariba, Ivalua. For Concur, Navan. For Sales Cloud, Salesforce. For a company that wants one owned system in place of several SAP products, we list OpenLazarus first.
What is similar to SAP?
Software similar to SAP's ERP comes from Microsoft (Dynamics 365 Finance, Supply Chain Management and Business Central), Oracle (NetSuite), Infor (LN, for complex manufacturing) and Odoo. All of them combine finance, purchasing, inventory and production in one system. SAP's cloud products each have their own equivalents, such as Workday for HR and Salesforce for CRM.
Who are SAP's main competitors?
In ERP, Oracle and Microsoft, followed by Infor and, for smaller companies, Odoo. In HR software, Workday. In CRM, Salesforce. In procurement, Ivalua. In travel and expense, Navan. A newer kind of competitor is the AI operating system a company builds and owns, which replaces several of these categories at once.
What is the best SAP alternative for a small business?
For a small business on SAP Business One, Odoo is the lowest published price at €19.90 per user a month for all apps, and Business Central costs $80 per user a month. Navan's travel plan is free up to 300 employees. A small company with a builder on the team can also design its own system in the OpenLazarus builder.
Is there an open-source alternative to SAP?
Yes. ERPNext is published by Frappe as 100% open-source, with accounting, stock, manufacturing, HR and CRM modules and no per-user price. Odoo publishes a Community edition that is the core of its licensed Enterprise edition. Both suit small and mid-sized companies with the technical capacity to run them.
What are the alternatives to SAP Business One?
Odoo, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Oracle NetSuite are the packaged alternatives, and ERPNext for companies that want to host the software themselves. Business Central and Odoo publish their prices. The guide to Business One alternatives compares them.
Does SAP ECC get AI features?
Partly, and with conditions. In May 2026 SAP said many Joule assistants and agents would reach ECC and on-premise S/4HANA, but only for customers that have committed most of their landscape to a cloud move with RISE with SAP, and through its max success plan. Before that, from July 2023, SAP's newest innovations were reserved for cloud customers.
Can one system replace SAP?
For many established companies, yes. This directory's position is that an AI operating system the company owns, with ERP, CRM and communication modules on one data layer, can replace the SAP stack. The conditions are a clear inventory of what SAP does today, a phased move that starts with one process, and written confirmation of country-specific payroll and statutory reporting.
Sources
- Maintenance strategy: SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business Suite 7. SAP Support Portal. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- DSAG Investment Report 2026: companies are investing more selectively. DSAG, 26 Feb 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Wirtschaftlicher Druck macht SAP-Anwender pragmatischer. Computerwoche, 27 Feb 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Unwary SAP private cloud users face 10% renewal hikes, warns Gartner. The Register, 14 Oct 2025. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- OpenLazarus: the AI operating system your company owns. OpenLazarus. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Dynamics 365 Finance pricing. Microsoft. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Infor LN: cloud ERP for enterprise manufacturers. Infor. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- NetSuite Applications Suite documentation. Oracle. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Odoo pricing. Odoo. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Dynamics 365 Business Central pricing. Microsoft. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- ERPNext: open-source cloud ERP. Frappe. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Workday Human Capital Management. Workday. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Odoo editions: Community and Enterprise. Odoo. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Ivalua: the enterprise AI platform for procurement. Ivalua. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Navan pricing. Navan. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Questions about OpenLazarus. OpenLazarus. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Sales Cloud pricing. Salesforce. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Sales Hub pricing. HubSpot. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Pricing. OpenLazarus. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management pricing. Microsoft. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- S/4HANA was once the future for SAP, but now it’s in the clouds. The Register, 8 Aug 2023. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- SAP U-turn brings AI features to ECC and on-prem S/4HANA. The Register, 13 May 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- SAP customers seek renewed control over their ERP fate. CIO, 13 Oct 2026. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- SAP Enterprise Support. SAP Support Portal. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- SAP agrees to delay full Enterprise Support price rise. InfoWorld, 29 Apr 2009. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- SAP Maintenance & Support Commitments effective July 10, 2026. SAP Support Portal. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
Updated 11 Nov 2026: First published. Eight alternatives listed against eight SAP products and three company sizes; SAP dates and fees checked on SAP's own pages.