What is the best ERP system for a business that needs heavy customization?
Odoo is the best ERP system for a business that needs heavy customization, because its Custom plan includes Studio and can be hosted on Odoo.sh or on premise with your own code. A custom ERP built by Black Badger ranks second, and it wins once the list of changes is long enough that you are paying to maintain custom code inside a product you still rent.
Companies prepared to drop their changes and adopt a standard
Standard cloud ERP from a large vendor with preset processes
Packages let you start with finance or supply chain and add more
Publishes a per-user rate for its finance and supply chain packages
Minimum of 15 users
Sold as fixed packages that follow SAP preset processes
Plan for an implementation team, from SAP or one of its partners
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Odoo
Best for companies that will change a product with their own code
Odoo ranks first because it is the one vendor here whose pricing page talks about custom work openly. The Custom plan, billed per user and yearly, adds Studio and is the only plan that can be hosted on Odoo.sh or on premise. That gives a company room to change how the product works. Odoo is equally plain that maintaining custom code is not part of the plan price.
Watch for. Every customization becomes yours to maintain. Odoo expects companies of more than 50 employees to work with a partner, so add that to the budget.
How it charges
Per user, billed yearly or monthly, one app free
Main limit
Mid-size firms usually need a partner, and Custom adds multi-company and Studio
Best for companies that need more changes than a product allows
Heavy customization is a build project carried out inside a product that belongs to someone else. You pay the subscription, pay for the changes, then pay to keep the changes working. A custom ERP ranks second because it removes the first and third of those. Black Badger publishes this guide and builds these systems from your process, so there is nothing to customize around. There are no licenses and no per-seat fee, and the code is yours.
Watch for. A custom system is only worth its cost if the process is stable enough to write down. If yours changes month to month, configure a product first and build later.
How it charges
One-time build scoped in writing, then running costs such as hosting
Main limit
Needs a scoping call first, and suits companies of 50 or more employees
Best for companies whose unusual process is normal for their industry
Infor CloudSuite ranks third. Much of what a company calls customization is its industry. Infor sells suites with the industry built in, for sectors from food and beverage and fashion to healthcare and the public sector. If your sector is on that list, the change request may already be a feature. It ranks behind custom because outside those sectors that advantage does not apply.
Watch for. Infor publishes no price and no list of what each suite allows you to change. Bring your specific requirements to the demo.
How it charges
Quoted by sales, no published price
Main limit
Quote only, sold as industry suites, so the choice depends on your sector
Best for companies that want a reseller to fit the deployment to them
Acumatica ranks fourth. It is sold only through value added resellers, and the implementation is the work those firms do. Buyers can also choose a private cloud subscription in place of the SaaS one, which is a deployment choice the fully vendor-managed products do not offer. It ranks here because Acumatica publishes nothing about the cost or limits of changes, so the reseller is your only source.
Watch for. Ask the reseller who maintains your changes after go-live and what that costs each year.
How it charges
Quoted by applications and usage, not by user seats
Main limit
Quote only, sold through resellers, priced by resources and not by users
Best for companies whose changes are mostly added functions
NetSuite is fifth on this list. Its route to a closer fit is the module catalog, since modules can be licensed separately at any time during the contract. That works when what you call customization is missing functionality. It works less well when you need the product to behave differently, because NetSuite is a multi-tenant, vendor-managed cloud with no on-premise option, and each module adds a fee.
Watch for. Separate your requirements into functions you lack and behavior you want changed. A module solves only the first kind.
How it charges
Quoted annual license by modules and users
Main limit
Quote only, and each module is licensed separately
Best for microsoft companies with a partner to extend the product
Business Central ranks sixth. Microsoft directs buyers to a partner for assessments and consulting services, and any heavy change to the product will come through that partner. The license price is published, per user and paid yearly, so the unknown is the services bill. We rank it low here because nothing on the pricing page describes how far the product can be changed.
Watch for. Ask the partner to price your largest change before you sign for licenses. In a heavily customized rollout the services quote matters as much as the license figure.
How it charges
Per user, paid yearly, bought through a Microsoft partner
Main limit
Manufacturing needs the Premium plan, and Microsoft sends buyers to a partner
Best for companies prepared to drop their changes and adopt a standard
SAP S/4HANA Cloud is last on this list by its own design. The public cloud edition is sold as fixed packages with a fixed-scope implementation option, and it fits a company that will follow SAP's preset processes. It does not fit one that needs heavy changes to the way the system works. It is here because some companies would rather give up their exceptions than maintain them.
Watch for. If you choose SAP, decide which of your current exceptions you will retire. The 15 user minimum applies whatever you decide.
How it charges
Per user, 15-user minimum, rate varies with user count
Main limit
Sold as fixed packages with a 15 user minimum, rate depends on user count
We ranked for a company of 50 or more employees whose process differs from the standard enough that an ERP must be changed, and configuration alone will not cover it. The test was what each vendor itself says about changing the product, where the changed system can be hosted, and who pays to maintain the changes.
Most vendors publish little on this. Where a vendor is silent, the entry above says so and does not guess.
Questions buyers ask
What is the difference between configuring and customizing an ERP?
Configuration uses the options the vendor built, such as fields, workflows and settings. Customization changes or adds to how the product works, usually with code, and someone has to maintain it. The more of the second you need, the closer you are to building software inside a product you rent.
When does heavy customization of an ERP stop making sense?
Heavy customization stops making sense when the cost of making and maintaining the changes approaches the cost of a system built for you. At that point you are paying for a build and a subscription together. Our product versus custom page sets the two side by side.
Is there an ERP that needs no customization?
The only ERP that needs no customization is one that already matches your process. That is the idea behind industry suites such as Infor CloudSuite and behind the preset processes SAP sells. If your business can adopt the standard, you avoid the problem. If it cannot, plan for the changes openly.