The verdict in three sentences
Sana Commerce is the fastest choice if your ERP is Microsoft Dynamics or SAP and your processes stay standard: budget EUR 30,000 to 60,000 per year, with no double data entry. OroCommerce suits distributors with complex pricing, account and workflow rules, at EUR 50,000 to 150,000 in licence and integration for year one. Custom (EUR 80,000 to 200,000 excl. VAT) pays off beyond 3 years or when your edge lies in the customer journey itself.
Three architectures, three cost logics
The problem is always the same: 3,000 business customers ordering by phone, email or field sales rep, and a sales-admin team re-keying everything into the ERP. The goal is a portal where each customer sees negotiated prices, available stock, credit balance and order history, and where the order lands directly in Dynamics or SAP.
Sana Commerce is a module that lives inside the ERP: prices, stock and customers are read in real time from Dynamics 365 Business Central, Finance & Operations or SAP S/4HANA. No product database to sync. OroCommerce is an open source B2B platform (paid Enterprise edition) with its own catalogue, price lists and workflows, connected to the ERP through connectors. Custom is a web application (for example Next.js, Node, PostgreSQL) built around your exact flows, with a dedicated integration layer.
| Criterion | Sana Commerce | OroCommerce Enterprise | Custom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence or subscription | EUR 30,000 to 60,000 / yr | EUR 35,000 to 80,000 / yr | EUR 0 (owned code) |
| Integration and rollout | EUR 25,000 to 70,000 | EUR 40,000 to 120,000 | EUR 80,000 to 200,000 (all-in) |
| Time to go live | 3 to 5 months | 5 to 9 months | 5 to 8 months |
| Compatible ERPs | Dynamics, SAP only | All, via connectors | All, via API or files |
| Real-time price and stock | Native (ERP read) | Scheduled sync or API | Depends on architecture |
| UX freedom | Medium (themes) | Good | Full |
| Hosting and maintenance | Included SaaS or EUR 5,000 / yr | EUR 8,000 to 20,000 / yr | EUR 10,000 to 25,000 / yr |
Total cost over 3 years, line by line
The licence price is often misleading. You need to add rollout, hosting, application maintenance, yearly enhancements and internal time (distributor-side project lead, sales-admin key users). Here is a 2026 order of magnitude for a EUR 60M distributor with 3,000 customer accounts and 25,000 SKUs.
| Item (3 years, excl. VAT) | Sana Commerce | OroCommerce | Custom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumulative licences | EUR 135,000 | EUR 165,000 | EUR 0 |
| Initial rollout | EUR 50,000 | EUR 90,000 | EUR 150,000 |
| Hosting and maintenance | EUR 15,000 | EUR 42,000 | EUR 54,000 |
| Enhancements (2 releases / yr) | EUR 36,000 | EUR 48,000 | EUR 54,000 |
| Valued internal time | EUR 30,000 | EUR 45,000 | EUR 50,000 |
| 3-year total | EUR 266,000 | EUR 390,000 | EUR 308,000 |
| 5-year total (projection) | EUR 420,000 | EUR 590,000 | EUR 410,000 |
How to read it: Sana stays the cheapest over 3 years when the ERP is compatible. Custom catches up with and overtakes licensed solutions between year 4 and year 5, because there is no recurring fee. OroCommerce is justified by functional depth (multi-site, approval workflows, quotes, segment catalogues), not by price.
The criteria that actually decide
- Your ERP: on Dynamics or SAP with clean data, Sana removes the sync project. On Sage X3, Cegid, Divalto or an industry ERP, Sana is ruled out.
- Pricing complexity: cascading discounts, annual contracts, net prices per family and customer, variable free-shipping thresholds. Anything already computed in the ERP is reused by Sana; logic outside the ERP points to Oro or custom.
- Multiple buyers: a key account with 40 buyers, per-user limits and an approval chain requires OroCommerce or specific development.
- Code ownership: custom keeps you in control of the roadmap with no vendor lock-in, provided you document and test.
- Volume: above 1,500 orders per day, check the ERP's API call limits whatever the option.
Mini case study
Nathalie, ecommerce director at an industrial supplies distributor in Lyon (EUR 60M revenue, Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations), handles 520 orders per day, 70% of them re-keyed by 9 sales-admin assistants. Target: 50% of orders online within 18 months.
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Estimated gain: 260 orders per day moved online × 6 minutes of entry saved = 26 hours per day, about 3.2 FTE. At EUR 42,000 fully loaded per FTE, savings reach EUR 134,000 per year, not counting fewer errors (about 1.8% of lines corrected today). With Sana at EUR 266,000 over 3 years, payback comes around month 24. Custom (EUR 308,000) breaks even around month 28 but becomes cheaper than Sana from year 5.
FAQ
Does Sana Commerce work without Dynamics or SAP?
No, Sana is built only for Microsoft Dynamics and SAP. With another ERP, look at OroCommerce, another B2B suite or custom, with an integration budget of EUR 15,000 to 40,000 depending on the available API.
Is OroCommerce Community enough for a distributor?
The Community edition is free but lacks several key features (multi-warehouse, some pricing rules, vendor support). For 3,000 customer accounts, the Enterprise edition, EUR 35,000 to 80,000 per year depending on volume, is the practical reference.
How long does a custom B2B portal take to launch?
Allow 5 to 8 months for a complete first scope: catalogue, customer pricing, cart, credit balance, history and ERP integration. An MVP limited to 300 pilot customers can ship in 12 to 16 weeks.
Should a B2B portal offer online payment?
Most B2B orders are still paid on invoice at 30 or 45 days. Still plan card payment for new customers or small accounts, i.e. EUR 3,000 to 8,000 to integrate a PSP.
What is the main risk of an integrated B2B project?
ERP data quality: incomplete item records, badly coded pricing conditions, duplicate customers. Set aside 10 to 15% of the budget for cleansing before any development.
Let's scope your project. We price your ERP-integrated B2B portal (Sana, Oro or custom comparison, budget EUR 80,000 to 200,000, 3 to 8 months) from your real order flows. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
