What is the best cloud ERP to integrate with the systems you already run?
Sage Intacct is the best cloud ERP for a company that is keeping its operational systems, because it is a finance system designed to sit beside other tools. A custom cloud ERP built by Black Badger ranks second, and it is the better fit when the systems you keep are unusual and the connections between them are most of the work.
Companies that may replace kept systems later, app by app
Published per-user price with a wide set of apps under one fee
Choice of hosting, including on premise on the Custom plan
Portal users such as customers and suppliers are not charged
Implementation and custom code maintenance are not in the plan price
Multi-company use and Studio need the dearer Custom plan
Companies over 50 employees usually work with a partner
The ranking, entry by entry
1 Sage Intacct
Best for companies keeping operations tools and replacing finance
Sage Intacct ranks first here because it does not try to replace everything. Its best fit is a company whose main need is accounting, reporting and dashboards, with operations handled in other tools, so working beside the systems you keep is the intended design. You replace the finance system and keep the rest of your systems as they are.
Watch for. Ask Sage how each system you are keeping would connect, and who builds and supports that connection. Sage quotes the price and does not publish it.
How it charges
Quoted by sales to the size and needs of the organization
Main limit
Quote only, built around accounting for mid-sized firms
Best for companies whose kept systems are unusual or industry-specific
When you keep systems, the integrations are the project. Black Badger publishes this guide and builds custom software, and connecting systems that were not designed to work together is much of what we do. A custom ERP ranks second because it is designed around the tools you keep. It reads from them, writes to them, and fills only the gaps between them, so you do not buy modules that duplicate what already works.
Watch for. Every system you keep needs a way to exchange data, such as an API or an export. We check that during discovery, before the scope is written.
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 replacing one area and keeping the rest for now
SAP S/4HANA Cloud ranks third because of how it is packaged. GROW packages are scoped by area, finance, supply chain or HR, and SAP says customers start with the area they need most and add more later. A company can put finance on SAP and keep its other systems running. SAP publishes a per-user rate for Finance Base at 25 to 39 users, with a 15 user minimum.
Watch for. SAP expects you to follow its preset processes inside the package you buy. The systems you keep have to work with those processes.
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
Best for companies whose kept systems are Microsoft tools
Business Central is fourth. Its best fit is a company that already runs on Microsoft tools, and if the systems you are keeping are those tools, this is the ERP from the same vendor. Essentials, billed per user and paid yearly, is the plan to price unless you need manufacturing or service management. For systems outside Microsoft, integration is a question for the partner you buy through.
Watch for. Microsoft sends buyers to a partner for consulting services. Have that partner quote each integration separately.
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 that will license only the modules they lack
NetSuite ranks fifth here. Modules are licensed separately, so in principle you take the core and add only what your kept systems do not cover. The difficulty is that the core already includes accounting, inventory, order management and tax management. If you are keeping a system that does one of those, you are paying for a function twice and integrating around it.
Watch for. Compare the core platform with the systems you plan to keep and mark every overlap before you ask for a quote.
How it charges
Quoted annual license by modules and users
Main limit
Quote only, and each module is licensed separately
Best for product companies adding cloud inventory to a kept ledger
Katana Cloud Inventory ranks sixth and is the narrowest product on this list. It is not a full ERP and has no finance ledger. That suits a company keeping its accounting system and wanting inventory and production tracking in the cloud beside it. The Advantage plan is one annual contract with unlimited SKUs, users and integrations, and it includes implementation. Its price is quoted.
Watch for. The Free plan stops at 30 SKUs and names only Shopify as a connected store. A company of 50 or more needs the quoted Advantage contract.
How it charges
Free plan to 30 SKUs, then one quoted annual contract
Main limit
Only a Free plan up to 30 SKUs or a custom Advantage contract
Best for companies that may replace kept systems later, app by app
Odoo is seventh for this question. One per-user fee covers a wide set of apps, so you can use only the areas you are replacing while your kept systems carry on. Over time you can retire those systems into Odoo without a new license. It ranks last because custom connections mean custom code, and Odoo does not include its maintenance in the plan price.
Watch for. Only the Custom plan can be hosted on Odoo.sh, and hosting custom developments there is charged outside the plan price.
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
We ranked for a company of 50 or more employees that is moving part of its business to a cloud ERP and keeping other systems. Those systems might be an industry application, a warehouse system or its accounting. The test was whether an option is designed to work beside other systems or to replace them, and whether you can buy only the part you need.
Vendors publish little about specific connectors, so this list does not claim any. Ask each vendor to name how it would connect to the systems on your list.
Questions buyers ask
Should a company replace all its systems with a cloud ERP or integrate with what it has?
Keep what works and what your people trust. Replace what causes re-keying, errors or delays. An ERP project that replaces a good system for the sake of tidiness adds cost and risk for no gain.
Which cloud ERP can be bought in parts?
SAP sells its GROW packages by area, NetSuite licenses modules separately on top of its core, and Sage Intacct covers finance alone. Odoo charges one per-user fee for a wide set of apps, so using only some of them costs the same.
What makes a cloud ERP integration hard?
A cloud ERP integration is hard when two systems disagree about what a customer, an item or an order is. Moving data is the easy part. Agreeing which system owns each record, and what happens when they differ, is the work. That is settled in discovery on a custom build and should be settled before signing with any vendor.