Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Dolibarr

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Our analysts compared Dynamics 365 Business Central vs Dolibarr based on data from our 400+ point analysis of ERP Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Dynamics 365 Business Central Software Tool

Product Basics

Dynamics 365 Business Central, formerly known as Dynamics NAV, is a widely used ERP platform that benefits businesses of small and medium sizes. It’s a multi-faceted ERP product that assists in the streamlining of aspects such as accounting, contact management and inventory management. This program has high integration capabilities due to its status as a Microsoft product and is currently used by more than 100,000 companies.

Personalization is a key benefit of this tool that is expressed throughout the program’s different modules. For example, you can customize dashboards and reports to ensure that your employees are obtaining useful insights quickly and easily. The program is also highly automated and can reduce human error through its connected systems.

Pros
  • User-friendly interface
  • Seamless integrations
  • Flexible customization
  • Robust financial management
  • Strong reporting capabilities
Cons
  • Limited industry-specific features
  • Potential customization complexity
  • Scalability concerns for large enterprises
  • Reliance on third-party add-ons
  • Potentially high ownership costs
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Dolibarr is a suite of open-source tools for foundations, freelancers and organizations of all sizes. It has a few thousand developers, translators, users and testers who work on the project. Since it is open source, it has a large user base that consistently provides feedback to help improve the product as a whole. It can be used as a standalone local application or online on a dedicated or virtual machine that can be accessed from anywhere at any time.

Its features include product and stock management, human relationship, billing and finance, marketing and more. It is available in multiple variations and supports operating systems like Mac, Linux, Windows and auto-installer packages.
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$70/User, Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
$14 Monthly
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Tailored to your specific needs
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Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Centralized Data: Dynamics 365 Business Central leans in to the essence of ERP software — data centralization. For example, the system’s contract management program maintains a shared database of customers and prospects that can be customized and filtered. The program also removes any duplicates found in the system, which is especially helpful when you have multiple people entering prospect information or liaising with customers. Customized dashboards and visualizations are also available for insights developed across your company. 
  • Accessibility: This software is available either on-premise or as a cloud-based ERP. If you opt to go with a cloud deployment, the solution will be accessible to your employees anytime and anywhere as long as an internet connection is available. This broadly increases the scope of where your employees can complete their duties and access pertinent information. 
  • Forecasting: Dynamics 365 Business Central contains forecasting tools that include the use of historical demand to estimate future demand. This is helpful because it can improve efficiency, reduce spoilage and improve the likelihood that you will be able to fulfill orders from customers. 
  • Simple Integration: As a Microsoft product, Dynamics 365 Business Central is well poised for integration. The software can work with programs such as Word and Excel and is also available across iOS, Android and Windows devices. Microsoft offers a wide variety of software solutions that can be connected to Dynamics 365 Business Central, such as Dynamics 365 for Sales. 
  • Collaboration: Dynamics 365 Business Central provides visibility and control over multiple production sites. This allows you to collaborate with employees located in that facility to determine benchmarks such as optimal inventory level. Additionally, because of Dynamics 365 Business Central’s availability as a cloud-based solution, it is easy for employees to collaborate on and access materials whether they are in a corporate office or at a production facility. 
  • Security: With this program, you can configure user access to different components of the software. For example, if you don’t want an account representative to have visualization of the payroll, you can limit the scope of a user’s access to the application. Disaster recovery tools also assist with security measures. 
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  • Maintain Prospects and Customer Details: Dolibarr lets users create customer or prospect records by adding their personal information to the database. It also helps create alternative contacts for every prospect and displays the status and potential of the opportunity. Users can also create and convert commercial proposals, quotes, sales orders and follow up with customers and prospects.  
  • Customization: Users can set up features according to their needs and choose from options like marketing, sales, manufacturing, human resources, accounting, logistics, invoicing, stock and more.  
  • Avoid Double Entries: The integrated features, even without any customization, help users avoid double entry and cut down on human error.  
  • Easy Upgrades: Upgrades to new versions are a part of the development process, making it easy for users to upgrade to the latest version easily without any data loss.  
  • Open Source: One of the biggest benefits of Dolibarr is that it has no cost of entry thanks to its open-source model. This allows thousands of end users, testers and developers to work on projects, provide feedback and help Dolibarr continually innovate.  
  • User-Friendly: Since the open-source model has a large end-user base, the platform gets a lot of contribution and feedback. This helps users make Dolibarr user friendly.  
  • Available on All Platforms: It is available as an auto-installer package, which does not require any coding or technical knowledge to install. It is also available as a standard distribution that is compatible with all the operating systems and PHP architecture. It is available as an on-premise and SaaS system.  
  • Partners: Its open-source environment creates an ecosystem of partners who can assist users with customized features.  
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  • Sales Order Management: Dynamics 365 Business Central’s sales order management module allows you to alter quantity available amounts based on posted invoices. You can also use the program to create prepayment invoices and to manage partial shipments. 
  • Analysis Reports: The analysis reports tool is based on helping decisionmakers within your company gain meaningful insights that will positively influence daily decisions. With this customizable tool, you can use factors such as customers, items and vendors to view information such as inventory turnover and customer behavior. You can also use this tool to more accurately pinpoint problems across your business that are creating bottlenecks or inefficiencies. 
  • General Ledger: Accounting and financial reporting tools are a commonly requested feature in ERP software. Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a general ledger in its base package that includes internal and external reporting tools, ability to export data in various formats, employee ledger entries, linking to external documents and reporting in your company’s preferred currency format. 
  • Requisition Management: Dynamics 365 Business Central’s Requisition Worksheet allows you to optimize your inventory based on factors such as predicted demand and material availability. You can also set minimum and maximum quantity levels to determine a reordering point in your manufacturing center. 
  • Multi-Site Functionality: With this software, you can track inventory levels across multiple distribution centers, warehouses, production plants, showrooms and more. You can also track inventory as it moves from different locations while accounting for its value during transit. 
  • Contact Management: The contact management feature allows you to input and maintain a list of your business contacts and prospects. The tool lets you know when duplicate contact information is entered, enables you to issue quotes or sales documents, allows for the categorization of people associated with a specific contact and segments people based on profiling questions. 
  • Optical Character Recognition (OCR): Dynamics 365 Business Central includes support for Kofax Invoice Capture Service (ICS) out of the box. This tool can take information from unstructured PDFs, extract it, and turn it into structured data. 
  • Currency Exchange Rates: This system allows you to update currency exchange rates as they shift. This can be done either manually or automatically. Dynamics 365 Business Central supports Yahoo and European Central Bank (ECB) currency feeds out of the box, but you can add other currencies to the tool using the currency exchange rates setup. 
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  • Point of Sale Interface: Dolibarr supports a point of sale interface for restaurants, traditional shops and bars. The drag-and-drop interface helps users define tables, floors and rooms. Invoices and orders can be assigned to a table, and it supports automatic stock updates and a touchscreen POS.  
  • Double Entry Accounting: Dolibarr can set up accounts and dispatch data like salaries, products, expense reports, purchases and sales in ledger tables. Users can define or set up their own chart of accounts.  
  • APIs and Hooks: It allows users to integrate their ERP with other applications using hooks, triggers or APIs. It lets users adjust Dolibarr to suit their specific needs. Users can execute their own code every time an event occurs by adding trigger code. It also has an embedded API explorer tool to generate URLs or test APIs.  
  • Timesheets: Dolibarr offers numerous ways to enter details into timesheets, like week, day or month grid. It can also import information from projects and specific tasks.  
  • Market Place: One of its most unique features is its marketplace for extensible applications that help match the scale of users’ growth. It centralizes hundreds of add-ons to extend the functionality of every specific need. Users don’t need coding experience thanks to the included module builder assistant.  
  • Orders: Dolibarr helps users manage supplier and customer orders. Users can manage their product stock and workflow orders according to preset rules.  
  • Expense Reports: Dolibarr allows users to define expense types in dictionaries for accurate statistics. If users integrate the accounting module, they will automatically be able to dispatch all expenses to a different account. Managers can find, approve, validate or refuse expenses.  
  • Bank Reconciliation: This feature helps users detect typing errors or missing details during payment recording. Reconciliation of bank accounts can be made from the same grid and users can search through multiple lines at once by using filters.  
  • Billing & Payments: Users can create invoices, down payments and credit notes from scratch. They can also generate report invoices from proposals, orders, contracts and interventions. Users may include full content or predefined products manually.  
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Product Ranking

#18

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ERP Software

#68

among all
ERP Software

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User Sentiment Summary

Good User Sentiment 366 reviews
Excellent User Sentiment 184 reviews
75%
of users recommend this product

Dynamics 365 Business Central has a 'good' User Satisfaction Rating of 75% when considering 366 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.

90%
of users recommend this product

Dolibarr has a 'excellent' User Satisfaction Rating of 90% when considering 184 user reviews from 2 recognized software review sites.

3.6 (142)
n/a
3.7 (85)
4.5 (90)
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4.5 (94)
4.3 (9)
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3.9 (130)
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Awards

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Dolibarr stands above the rest by achieving an ‘Excellent’ rating as a User Favorite.

User Favorite Award

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Easy to Learn: Precisely 53% of users say the system has a simple implementation process and helpful training materials.
Extensive Features: Features include BOM management, finance management, document management, reporting, search filters, accounting and other modules, according to 79% of users.
Intuitive Interface: Familiar layout and guided workflows simplify data entry and task completion for non-technical users.
Automated Processes: Reduce manual tasks and errors with automated workflows for finance, inventory, sales, and customer service.
Actionable Insights: Gain real-time visibility into business performance through comprehensive dashboards and reporting tools.
Powerful Integrations: Connect seamlessly with Microsoft 365, Power BI, and other popular business applications for a unified data ecosystem.
Cloud-based Scalability: Adapt to growth with a flexible cloud infrastructure that supports diverse user needs and data volumes.
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Cost-Effective: Many users appreciate that Dolibarr is a free and open-source ERP, making it a budget-friendly option compared to proprietary solutions.
Modular Design: Users value the flexibility of enabling only the modules they need, such as sales, CRM, or invoicing, allowing them to tailor the system to their specific requirements.
Active Community: A vibrant community of users and developers provides support, resources, and a collaborative environment for troubleshooting and knowledge sharing.
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User Interface: Of the users who discussed the interface, 46% said it was not intuitive and the layout is old-fashioned.
Glitchy Performance: Approximately 67% of users said the program's overall performance is slow and glitchy.
Industry Gaps: While strong for core ERP functions, may require additional add-ons or integrations for complex industry-specific needs like manufacturing or healthcare.
Customization Curve: While offering customization options, extensive modifications might require developer expertise, increasing costs and implementation time.
Large Enterprise Scalability: While cloud-based and scalable, very large enterprises with intricate operations might encounter limitations or require additional configuration.
Add-on Dependence: Fulfilling specific needs may rely on third-party add-ons, introducing potential compatibility and support challenges.
Cost Considerations: While offering subscription plans, total cost of ownership can be influenced by user licenses, customization needs, and add-on integrations.
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Steep Learning Curve: Dolibarr's interface can be overwhelming for new users due to its extensive features and complex configuration options. This can lead to a longer onboarding process and frustration for users who are accustomed to more intuitive ERP systems.
Limited Support: While Dolibarr has an active community forum and documentation, it lacks official customer support channels. This can be a challenge for businesses that require timely assistance with technical issues or have complex implementation needs.
Customization Challenges: Although Dolibarr is open-source and allows for customization, modifying the core code or extending functionality can be difficult for users without advanced technical skills. This can limit the ability to tailor the system to specific business requirements.
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Users appreciated Dynamics 365 Business Central's user-friendly interface and automation capabilities, highlighting its ease of use even for non-technical personnel. The streamlined workflows and intuitive layout simplified data entry and task completion, especially compared to competitor solutions with steeper learning curves. The automated processes proved beneficial in eliminating manual work and errors, boosting efficiency in areas like finance, inventory, and customer service. However, some users pointed to limitations in industry-specific features compared to more specialized competitors like SAP Business One or Acumatica. While Business Central excels in core ERP functions, complex needs in manufacturing or healthcare might require additional add-ons or integrations, increasing complexity and potentially cost. Customization, while available, also presented a potential hurdle. While offering flexibility, extensive modifications could necessitate developer expertise, raising implementation time and costs compared to competitors with more drag-and-drop customization options. Business Central's cloud-based scalability was praised, accommodating growth and diverse user needs effectively. This stood out compared to some on-premise competitors with less flexibility. However, very large enterprises with intricate operations might encounter limitations or require additional configuration compared to solutions like Oracle NetSuite designed for such complexity. Overall, user reviews suggest Dynamics 365 Business Central shines for its user-friendliness, automation, and cloud-based scalability. However, limitations in industry-specific features and potential customization complexity compared to some competitors are important considerations, especially for niche businesses or large enterprises.

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Is Dolibarr all it's dolled up to be? One user, with over 10 years in IT, raves about Dolibarr's comprehensive features, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses. They highlight its robust nature and simplicity, emphasizing its value in boosting business operations. The user also appreciates the availability of numerous affordable modules that provide flexibility for various businesses. However, they suggest that the interface could be more intuitive and the workflow more proactive. Another user, focusing on its open-source nature, praises Dolibarr's modular approach, allowing users to run only necessary modules. They see it as a developer's dream, especially for creating customized solutions like GST modules for specific markets. However, they note that while it meets basic ERP needs, achieving feature-rich compliance with regional regulations might require code tweaking and customization. Dolibarr seems best suited for tech-savvy small and medium businesses comfortable with some level of customization. Its open-source nature and modular design allow for tailoring the system to specific needs, a major advantage over less flexible ERP solutions like Peachtree. However, businesses seeking a ready-to-go, feature-rich system for immediate compliance with regional regulations might find Dolibarr requiring more effort than anticipated.

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