10 Best ERP Software of 2023 (+ Free ERP Options)

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is the obvious choice for enterprise resource planning if you are already in the Microsoft software ecosystem (MS Teams, MS Project, MS Office). MS Dynamics 365 is used by the likes of Coca-Cola, Crate&Barrel, BMW, and Lowe’s. Mix and match modules for sales, marketing, content management systems (CMS), field service, finance and operations, and connected commerce.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 will have a familiar feel and interface for anyone used to dealing with MS platforms, making for easy adoption for Microsoft-savvy workplaces. On top of that, you can pick and choose which of their applications you want to implement to better customize your experience (and your pricing!). Microsoft Dynamics ERP is suitable for companies of all sizes.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 can be a bit of a memory/CPU hog, which may not be ideal for older office computers or entry-level laptops. The built-in reporting suite could also use more customization options, so it would be wise to employ a third-party integration for most complex analytics. Luckily, plenty of options are available.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 integrates with all other Microsoft software solutions as well as third-party apps like Power BI, Yammer, ESB, HubSpot Sales, Zoom, Salesforce, Cisco Webex Scheduler, Mendeley Cite, IMPACT, FindTime, MIPA Personal Assistant, and more. You can also build your own integrations using their REST API.

TallyPrime is a tried-and-true business management solution suitable for small and medium businesses. Their user interface may be outdated but their suite of enterprise resource planning features is more than capable of supporting growing SMBs.

They boast a powerful and secure server to save and manage your company's critical data giving employees a centralized source of information. With TallyPrime Server, stored information instantly gets updated ensuring that all employee profiles have the most up-to-date data available. TallyPrime Server also gives administrators monitoring capabilities to manage user sessions and activities.

TallyPrime offers a wealth of ERP reporting capabilities with a focus on time-saving, which SMBs will appreciate. With 400+ reporting templates, you can generate reports with customizable fields like multiple go-downs, multi-currency, order process, and cost centers.

Another plus: TallyPrime’s inventory management system lets you track, manage, and forecast inventory ensuring that you have the resources to complete projects and deliver products on time.

In 1972, five former IBM employees founded the company they call SAP Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (“System Analysis and Program Development”). Since then, SAP ERP has excelled in enterprise resource planning and financial management solutions. SAP currently supports over 200M subscribers in their cloud user base and has been named a top contending software company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 14 years.

SAP ERP can easily integrate with other SAP first-party software. You can tap into SAP’s reliable treasury and cash management features; financial closing assistance; agile international trade compliance; and customer and employee insights. SAP has a host of business software modules so you can expand or contract as your needs and budget require. This makes it a flexible and scalable ERP solution.

SAP ERP is one of those “easy to learn, hard to master tools” that can only support your resource planning strategy according to how much time and effort you are willing to put into learning the complexities of the system. This goes doubly so if you upgrade your account to include the expanded SAP universe of apps.

SAP ERP integrates with other SAP solutions, like SAP Business One, SAP Business ByDesign, SAP Commerce Cloud, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud. Third-party integration opportunities require the SAP Integration Suite, which comes at an additional cost. SAP does their best to keep you within their first-party ecosystem.

ERPNext is a free open source ERP software that is an awesome option for small to midsize businesses with limited resources who are looking to take advantage of some free ERP software solutions. ERPNext has been translated to more than 70 languages; offers smart device apps for iOS and Android; and comes with personalized training for any paid plan.

SMBs will be able to track leads and customers, set up subscription plans for services, establish loyalty and rewards programs, and schedule appointments and meetings with your team for a low (or no) cost so long as you don’t mind self-hosting and DIY troubleshooting after your initial consultation call. Mind you, their YouTube channel has over 300 videos to help you find your groove.

For people who are familiar with Odoo, this tool is comparable as an open source solution with a few caveats. ERPNext doesn’t have nearly as robust or thorough documentation, particularly when it comes to the JS side of things (client end). However, the free modules are easy to implement and understand so it makes total sense as a freeware ERP solution.

ERPNext integrates natively with Amazon MWS, PayPal, Razorpay, Dropbox, LDAP, Braintree, Paytm, Stripe, Shopify, WooCommerce, Google Drive and Calendar, FairLogin, Plaid, GoCardless, and Exotel.

Vault ERP is a powerful enterprise resource planning software that streamlines the management of business processes. It offers an efficient tool to improve organizational productivity and profitability by unifying data from multiple sources into one secure system. With Vault ERP, businesses can manage their resources more effectively and keep operations running smoothly.

Vault ERP provides easy-to-use tools for tracking inventory, automating accounting tasks, managing customer relationships, and optimizing product production. It also allows users to access data from all departments in real time. This helps them make informed decisions quickly without sacrificing accuracy or security. Additionally, the platform integrates with other popular business applications such as Salesforce and QuickBooks for added functionality and convenience. 

From budgeting to forecasting, Vault ERP is a comprehensive solution for large enterprises looking to gain control over their resources and increase their bottom line.

Vault ERP is hugely scalable as ERP software. This is because you can mix and match your subscription to include other workforce software modules like HR, recruitment, asset management, client management, and more. Most companies need more than just resource management to function and Vault ERP can accommodate with additional solutions for onboarding, upskilling, and sales enablement. 

Features include Gantt charts, resource management, project management, attendance tracking, calendar management, customer management, employee database, external integrations, notifications, task scheduling/tracking, timesheets, time management, collaboration support, batch permissions & access, dashboards, data visualization, scheduling, workflow management, budgeting, expense tracking, forecasting, payroll, supplier management, and vacation & absence calendar.

Integrations include Unfuddle, Microsoft Azure, Jira, GitHub, Basecamp, Google Apps, Logmill, Wufoo, Trello, Microsoft Active Directory, NodeBB, and Tempo.

That’s right—Dolibarr is another open source ERP-meets-CRM solution with a free version available for all computers and OSs. Dolibarr offers modules for CRM, sales, human relationship management (HRM), CMS, websites, ecommerce, point-of-sale, product and stock, finance and billing, productivity, and integration/development.

Dolibarr is easy to use, easy to customize with add-ons, and easy to learn on the go. You can immediately tell that usability and customer-friendliness is top priority in the development teams’ minds. Below I’ll go into all the third-party integration options but it should also be noted here that they are much easier to implement than those associated with other tools on this list.

Dolibarr doesn’t offer a mobile app, which is one of the few downsides of the software. Seeing as Dolibarr is free to use, it is a picky criticism to add that the UI isn’t as modern and clean as some of its contemporaries. What Dolibarr lacks in modernity, they make up for in convenience and flexibility.

Dolibarr integrates with LDAP, PayPal, Stripe, Paybox, Google services like Google Maps/Contacts/Calendar, Prestashop, Magento, WooCommerce, and many more paid and unpaid tools in their app marketplace. You can also build and submit your own modules for integration.

Odoo is an open source ERP and customer relationship management (CRM) platform with a suite of apps—for an extra cost—to cover everything from point-of-sales, helpdesks, timesheets, website builders, inventory, email marketing, and more. Odoo offers Android and iOS smartphone apps, as well.

Being open source, Odoo handles customization and integration incredibly well. You’ll want a dedicated software development team to take full advantage of all the features (code available on GitHub) but it will be well worth your time. Odoo’s ERP can open wide up to incorporate everything from lead management, supply chain management, quotation system, accounting system, CRM system, and inventory.

Odoo offers a “support pack” whereby you can buy hours of customer support and cash them in for assistance, communication, and troubleshooting. However, these hours expire and a single email response may eat into your purchased time for between 6-10 minutes apiece. Odoo does a lot well but be prepared to take problem-solving into your own hands.

Odoo integrates with plenty of third-party apps alongside its first-party offerings, such as WooCommerce, Shopify, Dashboard Ninja, Amazon, ChitChats Shipping, eShipper Shipping, eBay, Magento, Microsoft Office 365, Google Drive, Quickbooks, and more.

Used by Air Asia, DropBox, FedEx, Lyft, Maxda, and UCLA, Oracle ERP Cloud offers flexible, mix-and-match solutions for financials, project management, procurement, risk management and compliance, enterprise performance management, supply chain and manufacturing, and in-depth ERP analytics that both small to medium businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises will find helpful.

Oracle ERP Cloud does analytics and reporting unlike many others on this list of ERP platforms. Their ERP analytics solution boasts key performance indicator (KPI) management, a best practices metrics library, prebuilt analytical models, self-service data hubs, and mobile compatibility. Some analytics are embedded right into ERP Cloud; additional features can be unlocked with the ERP Analytics package.

Like many Oracle products, Oracle ERP Cloud comes with a steep learning curve that may require implementation cheerleaders both within your organization and from Oracle customer service themselves. Be sure to allot some extra time for onboarding, training, and even ongoing learning/development for your team.

Oracle ERP Cloud integrates with other Oracle services as well as third-party solutions like SAP, Quickbooks, Marketo, PayPal, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Shopify, IBM DB2, Apache Kafka, Workday, UiPath, Box, DocuSign, Eventbrite, Microsoft platforms, Google platforms, and more.

WebERP is another free, open source cloud ERP with a particular focus on enterprise resource planning for manufacturing and multi-branch retail management. Enterprise retail teams can leverage modules for business functions like accounts receivable, inventory management, purchasing, banking and taxes (for Canada, US, South Africa, UK, Australia, NZ), and customer profiles/wikis.

WebERP focuses on design simplicity, lightning-fast service, and PHP code written in a way that any developer can add their own features as needed. Retail teams will appreciate comprehensive real-time daily sales reports, ad hoc sales graphs, automatic product backordering, and simple inventory planning reports.

As it stands, webERP doesn’t do payroll management, meaning that you’ll have to integrate with a third-party system like OrangeHRM to account for that feature set. This isn’t a huge deal, seeing as webERP does so much else, but it’s important to note for anyone who might want to employ this software as a holistic retail management solution.

WebERP can be integrated with third-party software using their open source code. You will need a dedicated software developer to do so, however, as there are no apps marketplace or out-of-the-box plug-ins available.

WebERP is free to use.

DELMIAWorks (used to be IQMS Manufacturing Software) is award-winning manufacturing ERP software. This solution combines manufacturing software, MES software, and ERP software. DELMIAWorks has always tailored its business operations to a factory ecosystem with modules that conform to ISO and TS standards as well as FDA requirements.

DELMIAWorks has the capability for product lifecycle management, bill-of-manufacturing document building, and quality assurance bolstered by document libraries, ECO, FMEA, CA/PA, and inspection requirement standardization. They have small business solutions and apps for mobile devices, making them a versatile option for companies of all sizes.

DELMIAWorks performed great as a general manufacturing ERP but is lacking in other resource planning tools for accounting, payroll, and HR. Anything human resources-related will require additional software or a third-party integration of some sort. However, for a manufacturing-focused ERP system, DELIMAWorks really can’t be beat.

DELMIAWorks integrates with Microsoft 365, cloudDISPATCH, Spreadsheet Service, Oracle Eloqua, Fulcrum, and others.