ERP software brings purchase, sales, inventory, production, accounts and HR into one system. Because it touches every department, it is one of the larger technology investments a growing business makes. Prices vary widely, so it helps to understand what goes into them.
Three Ways to Buy ERP
1. Cloud subscription (SaaS)
You pay per user per month or per year. Setup is faster, and updates are handled by the vendor. Costs grow with the number of users, and customisation is often limited.
2. Licensed or open-source ERP with an implementation partner
You pay for licences (or use an open-source edition) and pay a partner to configure, customise and support it. This gives more flexibility, but customisation and upgrades can become expensive over time.
3. Custom ERP
The system is built around your processes. You pay for development rather than per-user licences, and you own the software. This suits businesses with unique workflows or many users.
What Each Option Costs
These are indicative market ranges in India.
- SaaS ERP for small businesses: commonly a few hundred to a few thousand rupees per user per month, plus implementation fees.
- Licensed or open-source ERP with a partner: implementation can range from a few lakh for a small setup to much more for multi-plant manufacturing, plus annual support and licence renewals.
- Custom ERP: commonly ₹10 lakh to ₹50 lakh or more, depending on modules, users, integrations and data migration.
Cost Components You Should Ask About
- Licences or subscriptions.
- Implementation: requirement study, configuration and setup.
- Customisation: changes to fit your processes.
- Data migration: items, customers, vendors, opening stock and balances.
- Integrations: Tally or other accounting software, e-commerce, e-invoicing, biometric devices.
- Training for every department.
- Hosting: cloud servers or on-premise hardware.
- Annual support, maintenance and upgrades.
Get every one of these in writing before you decide.
What Pushes ERP Cost Up
- Number of modules and departments.
- Multi-location or multi-company operations.
- Complex production processes, such as multi-level bills of materials or job work.
- Heavy customisation of a ready-made product.
- Poor-quality legacy data that needs cleaning.
"ERP cost is not just the price on the proposal. It is everything you pay to make the system work for your business over the next five years."
Custom vs Ready-Made: A Quick Comparison
- Fit: ready-made ERP asks you to adapt to its process; custom ERP adapts to yours.
- Speed: ready-made can go live faster for standard processes.
- Long-term cost: subscriptions grow with users; custom has a higher upfront cost but no per-user fees.
- Ownership: with custom ERP, you own the code and data structure.
- Flexibility: custom ERP is easier to extend as the business changes.
How to Budget Sensibly
- Start with the modules causing the most pain, such as inventory or production.
- Phase the rollout by department.
- Keep 10–20% of the budget for changes discovered during implementation.
- Compare total cost over five years, not just the first-year price.
How ITELLIC Approaches ERP
We map your processes department by department, recommend the modules to start with, and estimate a phased rollout. That way the system goes live in stages and the team adopts it step by step.
Custom ERP Systems
One system for purchase, production, inventory, sales and accounts.
