ERP categories compared for Australian SMEs
How the main types of ERP and business-management software are usually priced, what they suit and what to watch for.
This table compares categories of ERP, not individual vendors. Vendor names appear only as examples of a category, never with a price or score. Where a price band is shown it is an illustrative range for planning, not a quote: actual prices depend on edition, user numbers, modules, contract length, currency and discounting. Use the TCO estimator with figures from your own quotes.
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| Option | How it is usually priced | Usually suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accounting platform plus add-on apps (e.g. Xero or MYOB with inventory, job or CRM apps) | Per organisation subscription tier plus a separate subscription per add-on; illustrative $40–$90 per user a month all-in | Businesses up to roughly 20 staff with simple inventory or jobs | Several vendors and contracts, integrations that break, data spread across apps, total cost rising with every add-on |
| Cloud business-management suite for SMEs | Per user per month by edition, sometimes a base fee; illustrative $80–$180 per user a month | Growing businesses wanting one system for finance, stock and sales | Edition limits on entities, warehouses or transactions that force an upgrade |
| Mid-market cloud ERP (e.g. Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, MYOB Acumatica) | Base platform fee plus full and light user licences plus modules, usually annual contracts; illustrative $120–$250 per user a month | Multi-entity, multi-currency or distribution businesses of roughly 20–250 staff | Partner implementation often costs as much as several years of subscription; renewal uplifts; USD pricing on some contracts |
| Industry-specific ERP (construction, manufacturing, wholesale, agriculture) | Per user or per site, often with mandatory implementation packages | Businesses whose core process (jobs, BOMs, batches) is complex | Smaller partner network, harder exit, customisations that complicate upgrades |
| Enterprise-tier ERP edition (e.g. SAP S/4HANA Cloud editions) | Contracted subscription by user type or resource metric, multi-year; illustrative $200–$400 per user a month | Larger mid-sized groups with complex operations | Long implementations, specialist consultants, minimum contract values |
| Open-source or open-core ERP with a partner (e.g. Odoo) | Free community edition or paid per-user enterprise edition plus partner fees and hosting | Businesses with in-house IT or a trusted partner | Hidden costs in hosting, upgrades and custom modules; support depends on the partner |
| Partner-hosted (private cloud) ERP | Licence or subscription plus monthly hosting and managed service fees | Businesses keeping an existing on-premise ERP without running servers | Two contracts (software and host), upgrade responsibility unclear, exit fees |
| On-premise perpetual licence | Upfront licence plus annual maintenance (often a percentage of licence), your own servers and IT | Businesses with strict data control needs and IT staff | Hardware refresh, security patching, maintenance fee increases, end-of-support dates |
Price bands are illustrative planning figures built to show scale. They are not taken from any vendor price list and will not match a specific quote. Check the vendor's own current pricing page (with the date you viewed it) and your written proposal. For Australian compliance, check payroll products against ATO Single Touch Payroll information, e-invoicing capability on the ATO's eInvoicing pages, and privacy obligations with the OAIC. For contract terms, see the ACCC guidance on unfair contract terms.