SAP Business One and ByDesign alternatives for small and mid-sized business
A small company does not need an enterprise answer. This guide compares the systems that replace Business One and ByDesign, works out what 25 users cost on each, and covers the free and self-hosted options.
Contents
Small and mid-sized companies reach SAP through Business One or Business ByDesign, usually sold and maintained by a partner. When they look for something else, the question is practical: what does it cost for our number of people, and who will set it up.
What a smaller company is deciding
A company of 20 to 200 people has no ERP department. The system is looked after by a finance lead, an operations manager and an outside partner, and every change request goes through that partner. The comparison below therefore weighs three things: a price that can be read before a sales call, how much the company can do without a consultant, and whether the system can grow with the business.
We could not verify a list price for Business One or ByDesign on the access date, so this guide does not quote one. Every figure below comes from the alternative's own pricing page.
The alternatives, with published prices
| Alternative | What the price covers | Published price |
|---|---|---|
| Odoo Standard | All apps, hosted by Odoo | €19.90 per user a month on yearly billing, €24.90 monthly1 |
| Odoo Custom | Adds Studio, agentic AI, multi-company, external API, on-premise option | €35.90 per user a month on yearly billing1 |
| Business Central Essentials | Finance, sales and operations, Copilot included | $80 per user a month, paid yearly2 |
| Business Central Premium | Adds service management and manufacturing | $110 per user a month; Team Members $82 |
| Oracle NetSuite | Accounting, orders, supply chain, projects, sales force automation3 | Not verified |
| ERPNext | Accounting, stock, manufacturing, HR and payroll, CRM | No per-user price; the company pays for hosting4 |
| OpenLazarus | A system designed in its no-code builder, owned by the company | Managed hosting from $150 a month5 |
What 25 users cost
The arithmetic for a 25-person company, at list prices and before implementation:
| System | Calculation | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Odoo Standard, yearly billing | 25 × €19.90 × 12 | €5,970 in the first 12 months; €7,470 at the undiscounted €24.901 |
| Odoo Custom, yearly billing | 25 × €35.90 × 12 | €10,770 in the first 12 months |
| Business Central Essentials | 25 × $80 × 12 | $24,0002 |
| Business Central Premium | 25 × $110 × 12 | $33,000 |
| OpenLazarus managed hosting | $150 × 12 | From $1,800, before AI credits and any engineering support5 |
Two cautions apply. Odoo states that its discount is valid for 12 months for the initial users, and that implementation services and the maintenance of custom code are not included1. And per-user pricing rises with every hire, while a hosted system the company owns does not.
Open-source alternatives to SAP
Two options let a company run the software itself. Frappe publishes ERPNext as 100% open-source, with no per-user pricing, and reports that more than 30,000 companies have adopted it4. Odoo describes its Community edition as the open-source core on which its licensed Enterprise edition is built6.
Self-hosting moves the cost from licences to people. Someone has to install, upgrade and secure the system, and adapt it when the business changes. It suits companies with a developer on staff or a trusted local firm.
The tools around the ERP
A Business One customer often also pays for a CRM and an expense tool. HubSpot's Sales Hub is free for up to two users, with a Professional tier from $90 per seat a month and a one-time onboarding fee of $1,5007. Navan's Business plan is free for companies of up to 300 employees, with expense free for the first five expensing users and $15 per user a month afterwards8.
When a smaller company should build its own
Packaged suites assume the company will adapt to the software. A company whose advantage lies in how it quotes, schedules or serves customers may prefer the reverse. OpenLazarus describes a builder that starts from the company's website, the software it uses today and the number of seats it pays for, asks where people move information between tools by hand, and then proposes the applications, automations and AI teammates, with the actions that need human approval. It returns a cost and an estimate of the subscriptions the system would replace.
The result is one system holding the ERP, the CRM and the company's mail, messaging and phone lines, which the company owns910. Above 100 people, OpenLazarus recommends doing this work with its team5. It has not published a case study of a Business One replacement, so the first step should be a design in the builder, which costs nothing to try.
A path for a smaller company
- Count users and modules honestly. Who logs in weekly, and which Business One or ByDesign functions are used.
- Price two packaged options and one owned option for that headcount over three years, including the partner's implementation quote.
- Check the exit. Ask each vendor how the data comes out and in what format.
- Pilot with real documents. One month of orders, invoices and stock movements on the new system.
- Switch at a period end, keeping read access to the old system for the audit trail.
The end state is a system the owner and the bookkeeper can understand, a yearly cost known in advance, and no dependence on one partner for every change.
Questions buyers ask
What is the best alternative to SAP Business One?
Odoo and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are the two packaged alternatives with published prices, at €19.90 and $80 per user a month. Oracle NetSuite fits companies that have outgrown Business One. ERPNext suits companies that want to host the software themselves.
What is the cheapest SAP alternative for a small business?
Among packaged suites with a published price, Odoo Standard at €19.90 per user a month on yearly billing, a discount that lasts 12 months. ERPNext has no per-user price; the company pays for hosting. Both leave implementation to the buyer or a partner.
Is there a free alternative to SAP?
In part. Odoo's One App Free plan covers a single app with unlimited users. ERPNext can be self-hosted without a licence fee. Navan's travel plan is free for companies of up to 300 employees, and HubSpot's CRM is free for up to two users. None of them removes the cost of setting the system up.
What replaces SAP Business ByDesign?
Oracle NetSuite is the closest in kind, a cloud suite for mid-sized companies. Business Central Premium adds manufacturing at $110 per user a month, and Odoo's Custom plan adds multi-company use. A mid-sized company can also have its own system built on OpenLazarus.
Sources
- Odoo pricing. Odoo. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Dynamics 365 Business Central pricing. Microsoft. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- NetSuite Applications Suite documentation. Oracle. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- ERPNext: open-source cloud ERP. Frappe. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Pricing. OpenLazarus. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Odoo editions: Community and Enterprise. Odoo. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Sales Hub pricing. HubSpot. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Navan pricing. Navan. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- OpenLazarus: the AI operating system your company owns. OpenLazarus. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
- Questions about OpenLazarus. OpenLazarus. Accessed 11 Nov 2026.
Updated 11 Nov 2026: First published.