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SAP B1 cloud · 47-91 EUR/user/mo · 2026

SAP Business One alternative for SMEs - custom ERP 15-35M HUF fixed price

SAP Business One cloud subscription 47-91 EUR/user/month (ERP Research 2025-2026). For a 30-user company over 5 years, that is 84,600-163,800 EUR in licences plus 8-25M HUF VAR implementation. Custom ERP 15-35M HUF initial + 2.5-6M HUF/year, with native NAV Online Számla 3.0 integration aligned to the Hungarian Accounting Act (Sztv.).

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TL;DR

  • SAP B1 cloud, 30 users, 5 years, licence only: 84,600-163,800 EUR. Custom ERP 5-year TCO: 15-35M HUF + 2.5-6M HUF/yr × 5 = 27.5-65M HUF (≈ €71k-€167k).
  • SAP B1 Hungarian Localization (NAV module) is a partner add-on with 4-8 weeks lag after NAV schema updates.
  • In a custom ERP, NAV Online Számla 3.0 is native, in the fixed price, with monthly maintenance tracking schema changes.
  • Break-even: SAP-running parent or 5+ country consolidation favours SAP B1. Hungary-only SMEs almost always win with custom ERP.
  • Sources: erpresearch.com SAP B1 pricing breakdown, appforge.hu/en/pricing.

5-year TCO comparison - 30-user Hungarian SME

The SAP B1 cloud subscription 47-91 EUR/user/month band is from the ERP Research 2025-2026 public pricing analysis. AppForge bands from the public pricing list.

LineSAP Business One CloudAppForge custom ERP
Per-user/month47-91 EUR0 EUR
5 yr × 30 user licence47-91 × 30 × 60 = 84,600-163,800 EUR-
VAR implementation (Y1)8-25M HUF (~€21k-€64k)15-35M HUF (~€39k-€90k)
Hungarian Localization add-on~30-100 USD/user/moin the fixed price
Annual maintenance~15-25% ARR2.5-6M HUF/yr
5-yr all-in TCO~€140k-€280k+27.5-65M HUF (≈ €71k-€167k)

Add-on caveat: SAP B1 Advanced (production planning, MRP), SAP HANA edition, B1 Service Layer extras; SAP Crystal Reports add-on; SAP Business One Mobile licence separately. The bands above exclude these.

The same five years, split by year, and where it crosses over

A single total is not much use in a board meeting. What matters is how much cash leaves the building in each year, and from which point the custom system costs less. Below are the same bands as in the table above, just spread across the five years. No new numbers were introduced.

Assumptions

  • · 30 users for all five years, with no headcount growth. If you grow, the SAP column grows with the headcount and the custom column does not.
  • · 390 HUF/EUR conversion. This is not a spot rate, it is the round number that keeps every conversion on this page consistent. Substitute your own central-bank mid rate on the day you decide.
  • · The SAP licence runs from month one, and the whole 8-25M HUF VAR implementation lands in year one.
  • · The 15-35M HUF custom build also lands in year one, and the 2.5-6M HUF/year maintenance is charged in all five years. Go-live takes 4-7 months, so in reality year one carries fewer maintenance months. Year one on the custom side is therefore an upper estimate.
  • · Net prices, without the SAP-side add-on licences, as the note under the table above already flags.
YearSAP B1, annual (EUR)SAP B1, cumulative (EUR)Custom ERP, annual (HUF)Custom ERP, cumulative (EUR)
Year 137,900-96,80037,900-96,80017.5-41M44,900-105,100
Year 216,900-32,80054,800-129,6002.5-6M51,300-120,500
Year 316,900-32,80071,700-162,4002.5-6M57,700-135,900
Year 416,900-32,80088,600-195,2002.5-6M64,100-151,300
Year 516,900-32,800105,500-228,0002.5-6M70,500-166,700

The custom cumulative column in forint: 17.5 / 20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5M HUF at the bottom of the band, 41 / 47 / 53 / 59 / 65M HUF at the top. The SAP annual licence row is the 47-91 EUR × 30 users × 12 months product, and the cumulative columns are plain sums of the annual ones, rounded to the nearest hundred. Check the arithmetic yourself.

Where the balance tips

SAP B1 is cheaper in year one, because a VAR rollout is a smaller line than a custom build. The order reverses during year two: the cumulative curves cross around month 20 at the bottom of the band and around month 18 at the top. The Hungarian Localization add-on is not even in this calculation yet, and it would push the SAP column up and the crossover earlier.

Migrating off an existing SAP B1 changes the picture. There the custom side also carries the 5-10M HUF migration fee in year one, and the crossover slides to roughly month 35 in both bands. Over five years that still pays back. On a three-year horizon it is genuinely a close call.

Do not mix the ends of the bands. Comparing the bottom of the SAP range with the top of the custom range measures nothing: bottom against bottom, top against top.

What this calculation leaves out

A TCO table is worth exactly as much as what you know about the missing lines. Here is what was deliberately left out.

  • Your own people. An ERP rollout takes weeks from your finance lead and your warehouse manager for requirements, data reconciliation and testing. Neither column includes it, and it is often the largest hidden line. I am not putting a number on it, because it varies by orders of magnitude between companies.
  • Data cleaning. The state of your master data decides how big the migration turns out to be. If twenty years of duplicates have piled up in the item master, most of the work is cleanup rather than development, and neither SAP nor we can do it for you.
  • Training and the dip that follows go-live. Your team works slower in the first weeks whichever system you pick. That has a real cost, I just cannot estimate it for your processes.
  • Hosting. The SAP cloud subscription includes it; with a custom ERP the cloud bill runs separately. I left it out because the load profile decides it, and without knowing your data volumes I would only be guessing.
  • Change requests. The 2.5-6M HUF/year maintenance covers keeping the system running: bug fixes, NAV schema changes, small adjustments. If you want production planning in year three, that is a new project with a new quote.
  • Price increases over five years. Both columns use today's list prices. I cannot tell you what SAP does by 2031, and the forint maintenance fee will not stay flat on its own either. Worth pinning down in the contract, in both directions.
  • Currency risk. The SAP licence is in euro and your revenue is most likely in forint. Measured in forint, a weakening currency makes the SAP column more expensive and leaves the custom one alone. This is one of the lines that can matter a lot over five years, and the table above does not handle it at all.
  • Project risk. A custom ERP can slip. Under a fixed-price contract most of the financial risk stays with the developer, but the time is gone for both sides. If your organisation cannot name an internal owner who is allowed to decide, this risk goes up materially.
  • VAT and the SAP-side add-on licences. Every figure is net, and the Advanced, HANA, Crystal Reports and Mobile licences are excluded per the note under the table above.

If any of these moves significantly, the month 18-20 crossover easily shifts to the end of year two. That changes little about the five-year outcome, but the number is not accurate to the decimal and I am not claiming it is. After a scoping call we rerun it with your own figures.

Feature parity - Hungarian-market context

Custom ERP - native

  • · NAV Online Számla 3.0 XML POST in the fixed price
  • · KSH (statistics) reporting in Hungarian breakdown
  • · EKAER integration (road freight)
  • · KATA / KIVA / TAO accounting options
  • · Hungarian Sztv. concepts (impairment, balance vouchers)
  • · Native Hungarian UX, Hungarian documentation
  • · Source-code escrow, on-prem deploy option
  • · No per-user licence fee

SAP B1 - partner module / SDK

  • · NAV: B1 Hungary Localization, 4-8 wk lag
  • · KSH: VAR custom script or third party
  • · EKAER: separate VAR add-on
  • · KATA / KIVA / TAO: VAR customisation
  • · Hungarian Sztv: localisation partner bundle
  • · Hungarian UX: base SAP, partial translation
  • · Source code: SAP-owned, no escrow
  • · Per-user/month cloud licence

When SAP Business One IS the right answer

SAP B1 is the right call for roughly 20-25% of Hungarian SME buyers. Concrete conditions below.

  • SAP-running parent: consolidated financial reporting into SAP S/4HANA, with B1 as the subsidiaries' ERP.
  • Multi-country (DE, AT, CH, IT): B1 localisations off the shelf, expensive to replicate in custom ERP.
  • 100+ employees, standard processes: manufacturing SME on standard finance and logistics, no customisation needs.
  • Complex multi-currency, multi-entity: SAP B1 Intercompany Integration Framework comes ready.

For 20-80 person Hungarian SMEs with Hungarian tax, EU-only data flow, custom ERP almost always wins on 5-year TCO.

SAP B1 migration - 5-step plan

Typical 30-100 seat deployment: 10-14 weeks parallel run. Migration fee 5-10M HUF on top of the 15-35M HUF custom ERP project.

  1. Wk 1-2: Discovery + DI API audit

    SAP B1 DI (Data Interface) API + Service Layer (REST) inventory, master data and transactional table mapping.

  2. Wk 3-4: Master data export (BP, Item, Account)

    Business Partner, Item, Chart of Accounts, Warehouse, Tax Code, Currency. CSV / JSON export via Service Layer.

  3. Wk 5-7: 3-5 years history transactions

    AR Invoice, AP Invoice, Goods Receipt, Goods Issue, Inventory Transfer, Journal Entry full history. Imported into Postgres.

  4. Wk 8-11: Custom ERP build + UAT

    AppForge custom ERP modules (Sales, Purchase, Inventory, Finance, NAV integration), Hungarian Sztv. validation, accountant review.

  5. Wk 12-14: Cutover + dual-run + 60-day backup

    Go-live, SAP B1 stays read-only for 60 days, daily reconciliation, then licence cancellation.

AppForge price - custom ERP, fixed

Bands below are taken directly from the public AppForge pricing list. Exact quote after a 30-minute scoping call.

  • · Custom ERP: 15-35M HUF initial (≈ €39k-€90k) + 2.5-6M HUF/year maintenance
  • · Time to deploy: 4-7 months to go-live
  • · NAV Online Számla 3.0, KSH, EKAER: in the fixed price
  • · SAP B1 migration project: 5-10M HUF separate (10-14 weeks)
  • · Source-code escrow: 0.5M HUF/year or one-time handover

Talk in person at our office

With a €100k+ 5-year SAP B1 decision on the table, a 30-minute scoping call always pays back. Call us at +36 30 098 0767, email balint@appforge.hu, or come in person.

Budapest office: 1054 Budapest, Szabadság tér 7. (Bank Center), 2nd floor office 217 · Mon-Fri 09:00-18:00 by appointment.

Sources

Last updated: 2026-08-14. Numbers are list prices; specific licence and implementation terms may be negotiated with SAP or a VAR. The year-by-year split is derived from the bands above at 390 HUF/EUR.

GYIK

SAP Business One alternative - FAQ

Per ERP Research 2025-2026 data, SAP Business One cloud subscription is 47-91 EUR/user/month. For a 30-user company over 60 months that is 84,600-163,800 EUR for licences alone. On top: VAR (Value Added Reseller) implementation, typically 8-25 million HUF Y1 in the Hungarian market, plus monthly support. Hungarian Localization (NAV Online Számla 3.0 partner module) is a separate add-on, with 4-8 weeks lag after NAV schema updates. Source: erpresearch.com SAP B1 pricing breakdown.

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