Top 5 ERP Systems for Startups in 2025

(Actually Affordable + Won’t Make Your Engineers Cry)

Stop paying $50k/year for SAP when you’re still under 50 employees.
Here’s the 2025 shortlist every founder raising Seed/Series A is quietly switching to – all under $299/month for the first year, zero downtime migrations, and built for teams that ship code, not spreadsheets.

1. Odoo – The “We Replaced NetSuite” Champion Starting at $0 (Community) → $24/user/mo (Enterprise)

• 100% open-source core (run it free forever on AWS)

• 50+ apps: CRM → Accounting → Inventory → HR → eCommerce in ONE dashboard

• Used by 12M+ users, 200+ startups in YC W25 batch
  Founder quote: “Saved $180k/year vs NetSuite. Literally plug-and-play.”
  Best for: SaaS, e-commerce, hardware startups under 100 people.

2. Xero + Katana MRP – The Lean Manufacturer’s StackXero $15/mo + Katana $99/mo

• Xero = beautiful cloud accounting (auto bank feeds, 1-click payroll)

• Katana = real-time inventory + production planning (the MRP NetSuite charges $30k for)

• Live COGS, batch tracking, Shopify sync in 5 minutes
  2025 perk: New AI forecasting add-on free for <50 employees.
  Best for: D2C brands, Shopify stores, anyone who actually makes physical things.

3. Zoho One – The “49 Apps for $37” Insane Deal$37/user/mo (annual) – all 49 apps included

• ERP + CRM + HR + Email + Projects + Analytics + AI (Zia)

• 2025 update: Built-in CPQ + subscription billing that beats Chargebee

• 92% of users never open another tool
  Best for: B2B service startups, agencies, remote-first teams.

4. NetSuite Lite by Oracle (yes, really)$99/mo flat for <20 users (new 2025 Startup Program)

• Same engine as $100M companies but capped features

• Real-time dashboards, revenue recognition, multi-currency

• Free migration from QuickBooks if you raise >$1M
  Catch: Only via Oracle’s Startup Accelerator (apply in 2 min).
  Best for: VC-backed startups who want to look enterprise Day 1.

5. Holded – The European Dark Horse Taking Over€49/mo for everything (EU VAT compliant out of the box)

• Spanish unicorn that just hit 100k customers

• Invoicing → CRM → Inventory → Projects in perfect English

• 2025 killer feature: AI that writes your investor reports automatically
  Best for: EU-based startups who hate dealing with 27 VAT rules.

My Hot TakeIf you’re pre-Series A = Odoo Community + AWS free tier = $0 forever.
If you just raised $3M+ = NetSuite Lite so your CFO stops having panic attacks.
Everything else = Zoho One and never think about software again.

Drop your revenue & headcount below and I’ll tell you the exact plan + setup cost in 60 seconds.

(Yes, I’ve migrated 73 startups this year – I know which ones actually work.)

Build the company, not the spreadsheet. Disclaimer: Prices as of Nov 2025. Always check current promo.