NetSuite Pricing Secrets: What You're Quoted Is Not What You'll Pay

When purchasing a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, price is only one factor. There are other key differences, particularly when looking at Sage Intacct vs Netsuite (Oracle NetSuite, or ONS), that people don’t realize until it’s too late. Unfortunately, we have many clients approach us who initially chose an ONS solution but later regretted their decision. What we’ve learned from these businesses, who reached out to us for help after struggling with ONS or NetSuite Pricing is important for you to know, especially if you’re in the market for a new ERP system and looking at them as a potential solution.

ONS is a popular choice, with 38,000 businesses globally using it to manage their operations, and we understand why. On the surface, NetSuite provides all the bells and whistles, features, and functionality that most businesses want, like built-in flexibility and fancy business intelligence capabilities. While it’s true that ONS offers enticing discounts especially when they know another competitor is involved, there are often strings (read: costs) attached that go unnoticed until after implementation.

What we’ve seen with ONS is that the initial price quoted is significantly lower than what customers end up paying in the end. That’s why we’re here though - to help you understand the full scope of what’s involved.

Annual Rates: Sage Intacct vs NetSuite Pricing

Both ONS and Sage Intacct follow a common pricing model in the SaaS industry, charging per user, per year. They both also provide the option to add extra features for extra costs. This is all very typical. However, ONS likes to call out Sage Intacct for charging extra for each entity added to the system, and while this is true, it’s misleading because they do the same - they’re just not upfront about it. ONS doesn’t mention their Service Tiers which can considerably increase pricing at the annual renewal.

Additionally, ONS Service Tiers limit your data storage and transaction count, and based on the SuiteSuccess edition, ONS users may be charged high fees if they want to add entities, especially in other countries. It’s at this point in the annual contract renewal that we’ve had a number of ONS customers reach out to us. ONS quotes a significantly higher renewal cost than what the client paid previously because they’ve scaled the business and added new entities.

Add Ons, Integrations, and Customizations

Not only does ONS fail to mention its Service Tiers, but they also don’t include the costs of add-ons, integrations, and customizations in the initial quote. For example, ONS's month-end close process relies on a strict checklist, and automating these steps to achieve a continuous close process demands extensive scripting and customization. Understandably, these issues often result in implementation delays.

ONS is known across the ERP ecosystem for dropping prices and giving big discounts up front, most notably at their year-end or when the pressure is on to make a sale. There are two problems with this:

1. As soon as you make a change, your original contract (with the significant discount) immediately gets thrown out and next year you can expect a large renewal fee with the discount no longer available. A current client of ours was on ONS and their renewal came in at triple their original contract, so they had to explore other ERPs again since that new cost was way out of their budget. They’re now happily partnered with Equation and running their business on Sage Intacct. With greater confidence in their renewals, they appreciate the predictability in pricing and avoid the surprise of unexpected annual cost increases.
   
   
2. The quote or contract that ONS provides is for the MOST basic implementation possible and any additional functionality, module, or tailoring, which almost everyone needs costs more. Any additional items added once the project has kicked off are a large change order with high costs.

We’re not here to complain or badmouth our competition because we don’t need to - our services and solutions speak for themselves. Our goal is simply to clear up any misinformation, so you can make an informed decision, especially when it comes to Sage Intacct vs NetSuite pricing. Stay tuned for our next blog, where we’ll discuss the ONS SuiteSuccess implementation, and explore if what you signed up for is actually what you’re getting.