NetSuite vs. Workday:
Choose the Best ERP

Given the far-reaching implications for operational efficiency, financial management, and long-term scalability, choosing the right enterprise resource planning, or ERP, system is a critical decision for any organization. An ERP serves as a central database for your entire company, offering valuable reporting and numerous ways to increase productivity and lower costs.

NetSuite and Workday are two leading cloud-based ERP solutions that are often on the shortlists of organizations looking to modernize their back-office systems. This article explores the key distinctions between Workday and NetSuite to help businesses make an informed decision based on their specific needs and strategic goals.

NetSuite vs. Workday: A Comparison

Most companies assessing ERPs now seek systems that are not only scalable and cloud-based but that offer the specialized features their industries need right out of the box. Besides easy integration of core business processes, from financials and HR to supply chain management and CRM, other key considerations include robust data analytics and real-time reporting capabilities to inform strategic decision-making and an intuitive, user-friendly interface to encourage adoption and minimize training time. Let’s compare two popular cloud-based offerings.

NetSuite

NetSuite is a comprehensive cloud-based ERP system that helps organizations operate more effectively by automating core processes and providing real-time visibility into operational and financial performance. NetSuite encompasses a range of features, making it a flexible, versatile system for diverse business types, industries, and sizes. Within the single, integrated platform, companies can manage accounting, orders, inventory, projects, production, supply chain, warehouse operations, and more. It currently serves more than customers in countries and dependent territories.

Workday

Workday is also a cloud-based ERP system. Unlike NetSuite, Workday started as a human capital management system before it began adding business functionality core to an ERP system, such as financial management and planning. As such, Workday has more of a focus on human capital capabilities, such as workforce management, planning, and analytics. This emphasis can make Workday a good fit for industries with heavy HR, payroll, and compliance needs such as healthcare, education, and professional services. Workday has more than 11,000 customers in around 175 countries.

NetSuite vs. Workday: Comparing Features

Given that the strategic drivers for implementing an ERP revolve around enhancing efficiency, gaining a competitive edge, and supporting sustainable growth without a hefty upfront investment, let’s look at some key features.

• Accounting
  

  NetSuite ERP includes robust, built-in accounting capabilities to simplify core accounting tasks, such as recording transactions, managing payables and receivables, and closing the books. NetSuite cloud accounting software delivers real-time visibility into metrics across entities and global transactions, minimizes manual effort, helps ensure compliance, and accelerates financial closes through embedded AI. Its tight integration with other ERP modules allows end-to-end control and smarter decision-making from a unified system.

  Workday’s financial management module includes accounting features such as a general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, and cash management. However, because Workday started as a human resources platform and extended into finance later, some accounting features, such as multi-entity or multibook accounting, aren’t as mature or flexible as those in systems purpose-built for finance from the beginning.

• Human Capital Management (HCM)
  

  NetSuite’s SuitePeople human resource management solution provides a suite of capabilities—including payroll, workforce management, HR analytics, and workforce planning—that make HR service delivery easier and more efficient across the organization. SuitePeople connects HR and payroll data with financial, project planning, budgeting, and procurement processes within a single tool, eliminating the need for multiple, disjointed systems.

  Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) also encompasses core HR functions such as workforce management, payroll, and analytics. While the system is robust in terms of human resource management capabilities, it is also complex and limited in workflow customization and reporting, often requiring significant training, technical expertise, and third-party support.

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
  

  NetSuite offers a robust, natively integrated CRM solution that spans the entire customer lifecycle. Capabilities include salesforce automation (SFA), customer service management, and marketing automation, plus the ability to manage quotes, commissions, sales forecasts, and partner relationships. With a single view of prospects, customers, partners, and vendors across channels, companies have the insight they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive sales.

  Unlike NetSuite, Workday does not have a standalone CRM system. Instead, businesses using Workday often have to integrate third-party CRM systems such as Salesforce or HubSpot to fill the gap.

• Supply Chain Management (SCM)
  

  NetSuite’s supply chain management solutions enable companies across industries to oversee the flow of goods from suppliers through manufacturing and into customers' hands. Through features such as supply planning, supply chain execution, and convenient mobile applications offering essential supply chain functionality, businesses can better balance supply and demand with the right combination of cost controls, lead times, and service levels.

  Unlike NetSuite, Workday only offers a niche supply chain management solution for the healthcare industry and is not suitable for most organizations needing end-to-end supply chain capabilities.

• Commerce
  

  NetSuite Commerce provides ecommerce and point-of-sale (POS) solutions, such as NetSuite SuiteCommerce, NetSuite SuiteCommerce InStore, NetSuite Inventory Management, and NetSuite Advanced Order Management, to manage every aspect of the commerce process. Built for both B2B and B2C businesses, NetSuite Commerce solutions unify multi-channel and multi-location businesses to help companies provide a seamless shopping experience.

  Workday does not offer a dedicated commerce or ecommerce solution. Instead, businesses will need to integrate their Workday instances with a third-party platform, such as Shopify or Adobe Commerce.

• Integrations
  

  NetSuite offers numerous integration options through a strong ecosystem of partners and prebuilt connectors. In addition to its prebuilt integrations, NetSuite also makes integrations with third-party software simpler with NetSuite SuiteCloud. SuiteCloud is a platform that helps companies extend the capability of NetSuite to other apps, customize user experiences, and integrate with third-party systems. SuiteCloud includes APIs that make it easier to connect NetSuite ERP with third-party apps to build custom workflows, dashboards and reports that are tailored to a business’s specific needs.

  Workday offers similar integration methods to NetSuite with prebuilt connectors and integration design tools. However, integration options are more limited, making it less flexible and more expensive for custom scenarios.

• Scalability
  

  NetSuite easily scales from small business to large enterprises, handling increasing volumes of data and workloads without impacting performance. With modular solutions across finance and accounting, procurement, inventory management, ecommerce, workforce management, and more, businesses can add the features it needs as it evolves.

  Workday is geared more towards large enterprises, especially organizations with substantial human capital management needs. Scaling can be expensive and require long deployment cycles and heavy reliance on consultants and partners.

• Technical Support
  

  NetSuite provides 24/7 global support through three offerings: Basic Support that's included in all NetSuite subscriptions, Premium Support, and Advanced Customer Support (ACS). Each option provides specific service levels and capabilities, from online case submissions to phone support to managed services.

  Workday offers one in-house support option. However, technical support beyond core Workday features, especially for integrations or customizations, often requires certified consultants or partners.

NetSuite vs. Workday: Pricing Models

Companies subscribe to NetSuite for an annual license fee. The license fee is made up of three main components: the core platform, optional modules, and number of users. There is also a one-time implementation fee for initial set up. As your business grows, you can easily add new modules and users.

Like NetSuite, Workday’s pricing model is subscription based and is typically charged on a quarterly or annual cadence. Prices are quoted on a case-by-case basis as they can vary significantly based on number of modules, employee headcount, organization size and complexity, and contract length.

NetSuite vs. Workday FAQs

Which ERP software is better for financial management?

While both ERPs offer financial management capabilities, NetSuite is generally better suited for financial management than Workday. NetSuite’s financial management solutions deliver comprehensive core accounting capabilities, strong multi-entity and global support, robust automation, and real-time visibility—all within a single ERP system. In contrast, Workday’s financial capabilities are less mature and not as comprehensive as NetSuite’s, with a stronger emphasis on financial planning rather than delivering a fully integrated suite of financial management tools.

Why do companies use NetSuite?

Companies use NetSuite because it provides a full cloud-based ERP suite for accounting, sales and customer service, supply chain, warehouse operations, professional services, HR, and more. Unlike other more niche solutions, NetSuite lets you manage your entire business on a single system. And, because of its cloud-based, modular infrastructure, NetSuite is highly flexible and scalable, making it a good fit for companies of all sizes and across industries.

Does Workday integrate with NetSuite?

Workday does integrate with NetSuite through several methods, including using Workday’s embedded integration platform to automatically import data, implementing third-party connectors, or manually importing and exporting data via spreadsheets.

Is Workday or NetSuite more scalable for growing businesses?

NetSuite is more scalable for growing businesses than Workday. Designed specifically for growing businesses, NetSuite can scale up with increasing volumes of data and workloads without impacting performance. Businesses can also easily add features and functionality as they need them instead of implementing an oversize solution with capabilities they don’t require. Workday is designed for larger enterprises, making it more difficult and expensive to expand functionality.