NetSuite vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud

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Our analysts compared NetSuite vs SAP S/4HANA Cloud based on data from our 400+ point analysis of Manufacturing Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Software Tool

Product Basics

NetSuite ERP is a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed to automate and streamline core business processes. It manages all aspects of a company's operations, including financials, accounting, inventory, supply chain, and customer relationship management (CRM). NetSuite is best suited for mid-sized and large businesses with complex needs who require a comprehensive solution to manage their growth. Key benefits include improved visibility, real-time data access, increased efficiency, and enhanced collaboration. Popular features include order management, project management, financial reporting, and business intelligence. User reviews praise NetSuite's scalability, flexibility, and ease of use. However, some users mention the initial implementation cost and learning curve as drawbacks. Pricing is tiered based on the number of users and modules required. Monthly subscription fees can range from $999 to $4,999 per month. Additionally, one-time implementation fees may apply.

Pros
  • Scalable
  • Flexible
  • Easy to use
  • Real-time data
  • Improved visibility
Cons
  • High cost
  • Steep learning curve
  • Limited customization
  • Integration issues
  • Vendor lock-in
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Running a growing business comes with enough challenges — managing core processes shouldn’t be one of them. That’s where SAP S/4HANA Cloud by SAP steps in, a modern cloud-based ERP solution designed to simplify tasks like finance, procurement, manufacturing and supply chain management.

It’s built for mid-sized to large enterprises, offering real-time insights and advanced analytics to keep things running smoothly. It also integrates advanced technologies such as AI and machine learning.

Top features include its user-friendly interface, customizable dashboards and industry-specific workflows. It beats traditional on-premise ERPs with faster deployment, lower maintenance and automatic updates.

Users love the flexibility and accessibility, helping them simplify daily operations. It offers various deployment options to meet different business requirements, including public cloud, private cloud, on-premise and hybrid models.

SAP S/4HANA Cloud offers a 14-day free trial at no cost that includes guided tours and sample data to help you navigate the system. Pricing depends on company size, number of users and selected modules. However, SAP S/4HANA Cloud hasn’t mentioned it directly on the website.

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$999/User, Monthly
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$40/User, Monthly
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Product Assistance

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Product Insights

  • Customization and visibility: The ability for clients to develop solutions that are tailored to their own business needs is a driving benefit of NetSuite ERP. The tool also provides visibility across workflows, which provides heightened transparency across departments. 
  • Built-in workflows: Built-in workflows are helpful because they allow for the automation or streamlining of various business tasks, therefore improving productivity. This benefit includes more accurate financial management and omnichannel engagement. 
  • Control over business processes: NetSuite ERP gives companies more control over business processes. For example, the program contains a supply chain portal that makes sure your customers benefit from the same experience, no matter where exactly they decide to convert within the sales funnel. 
  • Real-time insights: Real-time data is a key benefit that, when paired with NetSuite ERP’s personalized dashboards, can help your company develop insights more quickly. This can reduce the amount of time you spend filtering and sorting data to develop actionable solutions for your business. 
  • Easily accessible: NetSuite ERP is a cloud-based solution, meaning that as long as you have internet access, you can use it. This means you won’t have to be tied to your desktop computer to work with its suite of tools, which gives you the freedom to work where and when you want. 
  • Relatively low cost of ownership: Cost is an essential factor to consider when implementing an ERP solution, which is why NetSuite ERP seeks to lower its price by eliminating IT expenses (both initially and on an ongoing basis.) It also provides automatic updates so that you don’t have to pay extra for maintenance. 
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  • Automate Business Processes: Use intelligent automation, AI and robotic process automation (RPA) to handle routine tasks while optimizing others. This capability reduces manual work and lets employees focus on more valuable tasks. Our analysts give it a 100 for its intelligent capabilities.
  • Reinvent Your Business Model: Implement industry-specific solutions and best practices to introduce new strategies. Create customized products and explore innovative strategies to elevate how you do business.
  • Make Data-Driven Decisions: Access real-time data, embedded analytics and digital assistants to make informed decisions quickly. Engage with visual reports and use a context-aware digital assistant for a seamless, intuitive experience. Its standout capabilities earn it a perfect 100 for reporting.
  • Adapt: Address changes with real-time analysis and flexible tools for configuration, pricing, and quotes. These features help users quickly identify and manage changes. The system also notifies users of issues and suggests solutions. Our analysts rated SAP S/4HANA Cloud as the best solution in its category for procurement.
  • Accelerate User Adoption: Access a wide range of onboarding resources through openSAP and the SAP Learning Hub. These online hubs offer various learning formats to ensure users can easily understand and adopt the new system, no matter their preferred learning style.
  • Increase Efficiency: Equip employees with automation tools and real-time data insights to improve decision-making. This strategy reduces errors, saves time and money, and boosts productivity, driving better overall business performance.
  • Improve Usability: Built with SAP Fiori, the system is responsive, intuitive and designed to be simplistic. It provides a personalized and role-based user experience that can be accessed from any device. The system also supports 85% of functional requirements out-of-the-box so you have the features you need from the get go.
  • Centralize Data: In-memory computing stores all data in one unified system, avoiding fragmented databases. This centralization enables users to analyze large volumes of data at once and quickly spot trends, making data management more efficient.
  • Boost Time to Value: Start with guided implementation, quick technical setup and an intuitive interface. This helps the team to adopt the system quickly and deliver results faster.
  • Lower Expenses: Minimize total cost of ownership (TCO) with a subscription-based model. This cuts hardware, maintenance and upgrade expenses when compared to traditional on-premise systems.
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  • Sales Order Management: The sales order management tool provides automation that works to reduce manual errors and to speed up the billing and order management process. It is also integrated with other business functions such as finance and fulfillment. 
  • Source Management: This tool helps ensure compliance during the purchasing process through its centralized supply portal. It also has forecasting abilities that are able to recalculate predictions based on actual fluctuations. 
  • Warehouse Management: The warehouse management feature streamlines warehouse operations by decreasing overhead and cycle times. It can also improve rates of on-time delivery, therefore improving customer retention and ultimately boosting revenue. 
  • Production Management: The production management tool is integrated with CAD and PLM functionality. This feature assists in the development of quotes, tracking of contract renewals and cost estimation. 
  • Manufacturing Accounting: All of the basic features of accounting are present in this tool, from invoicing to forecasting. It can also help your company determine the amount of taxes you need to pay based on factors such as location and revenue. 
  • Transportation and Logistics: This tool is well-integrated with IoT functionality, as it lets you see in real-time where your transportation units are located. The logistic side of this tool provides inventory estimation based on historical data to help you decide what to order more of and what to order less of. 
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  • Financial Management: The SAP S/4HANA financial and accounting management tool scored 100 in our assessment. Below are some key capabilities:
    • Run your business efficiently using built-in best practices, reporting and predictive analytics to maintain compliance and manage risks.
    • Analyze your revenue and costs in real time, allowing you to view data across various dimensions to understand profitability at any level of detail.
    • Automatically record financial transactions as they occur, ensuring reports are up-to-date while supporting multiple accounting principles for asset valuation.
    • Use KPIs to monitor and manage payables, receivables, and cash flow, giving you a real-time view of key financial metrics through a centralized dashboard.
    • Prioritize payments, track overdue invoices and identify high-risk customers to help your team manage costs more effectively and reduce the risk of bad debt.
    • Centralize tax and financial reporting, ensuring that all departments access the same consistent data, while guiding users through an interactive financial analysis process.
  • Sales Management: The SAP S/4HANA Sales module offers effective order and contract management, incentive and commission management, and support for sales teams. Its key capabilities include:
    • Manage the order-to-cash process efficiently across various revenue streams, including physical and digital goods, services, subscriptions, projects and bundles.
    • Oversee bundled orders from one place, tracking profit, cost and revenue for each order line item. Automate alerts for project changes, deadlines and expirations.
    • Equip sales reps to sell more effectively with a personalized home page, intuitive interface and quick access to tasks, applications and reports.
    • Create sales orders from unstructured data like PDF or image-based purchase orders using machine learning to extract information automatically.
    • Simplify incomplete sales order documentation with AI-powered autocomplete, which suggests missing fields based on historical data.
    • Automate invoicing by integrating billing and accounting, improving cash flow accuracy and simplifying accounts receivable, all while meeting local requirements.
  • Supply Chain Management: The SAP S/4HANA Supply Chain tool achieved an outstanding score of 100 in our assessment, surpassing Visibility ERP and Oracle Fusion Cloud. It offers users a range of capabilities, including:
    • Get real-time visibility into your supply chain with customizable dashboards. Track inventory, predict stock trends with AI and monitor deliveries instantly.
    • Automatically confirm and process customer orders, ensuring that they align with business priorities to meet customer expectations.
    • Help teams cut costs and reduce waste with easy-to-use mobile apps for packing goods more efficiently as part of the logistics process.
    • Shorten delivery times by making sure you have the right vehicles, optimized routes, and the right quantity of goods, saving both time and fuel.
  • Manufacturing Management: The SAP S/4HANA Manufacturing module is built on methods like lean control, continuous improvement and just-in-time replenishment. It can:
    • Optimize production by integrating processes smoothly, whether you're manufacturing to stock, order or custom specifications.
    • Meet customer demands by identifying and fixing capacity issues, bottlenecks or shortfalls early, using planning simulations to find the best solutions.
    • Balance supply and demand with real-time material requirements planning (MRP). The system immediately flags MRP exceptions and helps you resolve them quickly.
    • Ensure timely product delivery by tracking each container’s status with a real-time graphical Kanban board.
    • Deliver high-quality products by running quality inspections throughout the production process.
  • Procurement Management: The SAP S/4HANA Procurement module offers a scalable, value-driven and compliant process for managing operations. Its key features include:
    • Easily view and update all purchase requisitions at once. The Joule copilot simplifies how employees collaborate during procurement tasks.
    • Efficiently manage the entire procure-to-pay process, with real-time insights available at every stage.
    • Identify bottlenecks and cost-saving opportunities with a customizable dashboard that shows all key tasks. Automate workflows for purchase orders, contracts and invoices, and analyze them in detail.
    • Improve purchase contracts by setting up approval workflows. Track contract usage, plan renewals and negotiate long-term discounts with suppliers.
    • Predict delivery dates for purchase orders to improve planning and avoid production delays.
    • Make informed decisions by accessing real-time purchasing data without needing to open multiple reports.
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Product Ranking

#3

among all
Manufacturing Software

#45

among all
Manufacturing Software

Find out who the leaders are

Analyst Rating Summary

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17
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Analyst Ratings for Functional Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

NetSuite
SAP S/4HANA Cloud
+ Add Product + Add Product
Bill Of Materials (BOM) And Routing Computer-aided Design And Computer-aided Manufacturing (CAD And CAM) Management Engineering Change Control Inventory Management Manufacturing Execution System (MES) Mobile Capabilities Platform Capabilities Product Configuration Production Planning Production Scheduling Quality Management Recipe And Formula Management Reports And Dashboards Shop Floor Control Warehouse Management Work In Process (WIP) Work Order Management 74 0 44 86 64 77 97 42 80 67 30 0 64 40 100 17 43 54 17 56 79 68 60 53 41 39 47 56 16 45 20 71 33 76 0 25 50 75 100
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100%
17%
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83%
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56%
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86%
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14%
79%
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55%
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64%
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40%
86%
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57%
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44%
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Analyst Ratings for Technical Requirements Customize This Data Customize This Data

44%
17%
39%
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39%

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 6448 reviews
Great User Sentiment 2815 reviews
81%
of users recommend this product

NetSuite has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 81% when considering 6448 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

87%
of users recommend this product

SAP S/4HANA Cloud has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 87% when considering 2815 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

4.9 (20)
n/a
4.0 (3489)
4.5 (730)
4.2 (1600)
4.3 (338)
4.4 (125)
4.2 (388)
4.0 (1214)
4.3 (1359)

Awards

SelectHub research analysts have evaluated NetSuite and concluded it earns best-in-class honors for Warehouse Management.

Warehouse Management Award

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Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Real-time data and visibility: Gain immediate insights into your business performance with real-time access to all your data.
Improved efficiency and automation: Automate routine tasks and streamline workflows to boost productivity across your organization.
Enhanced collaboration: Break down departmental silos and foster better communication across teams.
Scalability and flexibility: Adapt NetSuite to your unique needs and accommodate your business growth.
Comprehensive features: Manage all aspects of your business operations with a single platform.
Improved decision-making: Get data-driven insights to make informed and strategic decisions.
Strong customer support: Reliable support is available through multiple channels to ensure your success.
High security and compliance: Secure your data and meet industry regulations with robust security features.
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Real-Time Inventory Visibility: It optimizes stock levels and avoids stockouts with instant inventory updates, reducing carrying costs and boosting customer satisfaction.
Purchase Order Accuracy: Some users say automating purchase order generation based on real-time inventory and demand has minimized errors in procurement.
Production Planning: It refines production schedules and resource allocation with real-time data insights from connected machines and sensors, increasing efficiency and output.
Financial Reporting: Many users appreciate the ability to generate accurate and timely financial reports with automated data consolidation from all departments.
Sales Team Productivity: It gives the sales team the ability to access customer data and manage orders directly from mobile devices. This increases overall productivity and works efficiently from anywhere.
Automatic Updates: Users say that SAP manages regular updates and maintenance, ensuring up-to-date features and security patches without the need for external resources.
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High cost: NetSuite's initial implementation and ongoing maintenance fees can be significant, especially for small businesses.
Steep learning curve: The platform's extensive features require significant training and user adoption efforts.
Limited customization options: While customizable, NetSuite requires technical expertise and can be costly compared to competitors.
Vendor lock-in concerns: Switching to a different ERP provider can be challenging due to potential data migration issues and dependence on NetSuite's proprietary features.
Integration challenges with certain applications: While NetSuite offers pre-built integrations, connecting with niche or less popular applications might require complex manual data entry or third-party solutions.
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Steep Learning Curve: It can be tough to transition from traditional ERPs to a new interface and cloud-based model. This could affect initial productivity, requiring user training to get fully up to speed.
Limited Customization: Users say the customization options are limited compared to on-premise systems. The ability to tailor the system for specific business needs is restricted.
Integration Challenges: Users find integrating with older, non-S/4HANA systems challenging. The process often requires additional tools and expertise, which can increase the complexity and overall costs.
Vendor Lock-in: Some users mention the reliance on SAP's cloud infrastructure makes it harder to switch to alternative solutions later. This dependency can reduce flexibility for future expansion.
High Subscription Costs: Some users say the cost of the software is a big barrier for small businesses since the initial implementation and ongoing subscription fees are relatively high.
Response Time: Customer support could be more responsive and efficient in addressing issues. Users mentioned that providing more thorough assistance would enhance the overall customer experience.
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User reviews for NetSuite ERP paint a mixed picture, highlighting both its strengths and weaknesses. Many users praise its comprehensive features and real-time data visibility, reporting improvements in efficiency and collaboration. One user commented, "NetSuite has transformed our business by automating tedious tasks and providing us with a single source of truth for all our data." Another added, "The collaboration features are fantastic – we can now work together seamlessly across different departments, which has boosted productivity significantly." However, users also raise concerns about the complexity of the platform and its high cost. Some find the learning curve steep and the customization options limited compared to competitors like SAP Business One and Microsoft Dynamics 365. One user noted, "NetSuite was initially overwhelming for our team due to its complexity. We had to invest heavily in training just to get started." Another commented, "The cost was a major barrier for us. We found other ERP solutions that offered similar features at a fraction of the price." The issue of vendor lock-in is another recurring concern among users. Switching to a different ERP system can be challenging due to data migration issues and dependence on NetSuite's proprietary features. One user expressed their apprehension, "We're worried about getting locked into NetSuite's ecosystem. Switching to another provider seems like a huge headache." Overall, user reviews suggest that NetSuite ERP is a powerful and feature-rich solution but comes with a steep learning curve and high cost. While it may be the perfect fit for large organizations with complex needs and significant resources, smaller businesses might find it overwhelming and expensive. When evaluating NetSuite, it's crucial to carefully consider your specific needs, budget, and technical expertise before making a decision.

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As a free trial user of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, I can confidently say it excels in simplifying core business processes and offers top-notch capabilities. Our analysts give a perfect 100 for their Finance, Procurement and Supply Chain Management modules.SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a robust ERP solution widely used across various industries due to its flexible, modular design and comprehensive functionality. After trying it firsthand, I was surprised by the initial setup. It was smooth and intuitive, with sample data and guided tours provided to explore all modules easily.The main menu and search bar were easy to navigate without redirects. I also liked how user-friendly the interface felt, especially for a first-time user.The finance module stood out to me. It provides a centralized dashboard where you can store and generate all sorts of reports, and it's easy to keep track of payments and overdue invoices. For someone looking to optimize manufacturing, it offers real-time visibility into operations, making it easier to meet customer demands efficiently.That said, the free trial had its limitations. I couldn’t access all features or sample data completely, which made it harder to fully explore the system’s potential.That being said, our analysts rated the Finance, Procurement, and Supply Chain Management modules a perfect 100. Many recent reviews have echoed the same sentiment, praising its real-time inventory view and automated workflows. However, others mentioned the inability to customize workflows during the trial.Users also pointed out the system’s complexity, but I personally found it easier to navigate than expected with the sample data. Still, I’m unsure how it would perform with real-time data in an actual business setting.Pricing wasn’t listed directly on the site, but compared to competitors, SAP S/4HANA costs—including implementation, licensing and training—are higher, especially for smaller organizations with tighter budgets.Overall, SAP S/4HANA Cloud is a powerful tool with advanced capabilities, though its learning curve and customization limitations may be challenging for some. For larger organizations with the budget and resources to implement it fully, it can significantly improve operations and drive growth.

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