ERPNext or Tally?
Most Indian businesses have used Tally, the standard accounting software for decades. As a business grows, owners ask whether Tally is still enough, or whether it is time for a full ERP like ERPNext.
Here is how the two compare.
Feature comparison
Accounting and finance
Tally Prime:
- Excellent GST compliance
- Strong accounting features
- Bank reconciliation
- Financial reports
ERPNext:
- Full accounting module
- GST compliance
- Multi-currency support
- Bank reconciliation
- Budget management
- Cost centres
Verdict: Both are strong for accounting. Tally has an edge for pure accounting work. ERPNext has more features beyond it.
Inventory management
Tally Prime:
- Basic stock management
- Batch tracking (limited)
- Warehouse management (basic)
ERPNext:
- Detailed inventory management
- Multi-warehouse support
- Batch and serial number tracking
- Stock reconciliation
- Reorder levels
- Landed cost calculation
Verdict: ERPNext is clearly better for inventory.
Manufacturing
Tally Prime:
- Basic BOM support
- No work order management
- No production planning
ERPNext:
- Multi-level BOM
- Work order management
- Production planning
- Subcontracting
- Quality control
- Capacity planning
Verdict: ERPNext is designed for manufacturing; Tally is not.
Sales and CRM
Tally Prime:
- Sales invoicing
- Basic customer management
ERPNext:
- Full CRM module
- Lead management
- Opportunity tracking
- Sales pipeline
- Quotations and orders
- Customer portal
Verdict: ERPNext covers the whole sales process, from lead to order.
Pricing comparison
Prices are approximate. Check current prices before you decide.
Tally Prime
- Silver (single user) and Gold (multi-user): a one-time licence, plus a yearly renewal if you want updates
- Additional modules cost extra
ERPNext
- Self-hosted: no licence fee (you pay for hosting)
- Cloud hosting: a monthly fee to the hosting provider
- Implementation: one-time cost
Total cost analysis:
For a company with 10 users, compare costs over 3 years, not just the first year:
- Tally Gold: software cost only, with no manufacturing features
- ERPNext: implementation and hosting, with no licence fees
When to choose Tally
Tally is the right choice if:
- You only need accounting and GST compliance
- You have a small team (1-3 users)
- You don't need manufacturing features
- You prefer a familiar, established product
- Your business operations are simple
When to choose ERPNext
ERPNext is the right choice if:
- You're a manufacturing company
- You need more than basic inventory management
- You want CRM and sales management
- You plan to grow
- You want everything in one system
- You need to customise the system to your processes
Making the migration
If you decide to move from Tally to ERPNext, here's what to expect:
- Data migration: your masters (customers, suppliers, items) and opening balances can be moved across
- Learning curve: ERPNext looks different, but most users settle in within 2-4 weeks
- Timeline: a typical migration takes 4-8 weeks
- Parallel running: we recommend running both systems side by side for 1 month
Our recommendation
For manufacturing companies, ERPNext gives much more value: manufacturing features, better inventory management and a built-in CRM.
For small trading or service businesses that mainly need accounting, Tally is still a solid choice.
Need help deciding?
In a free consultation we'll look at how you work today and give you an honest recommendation on whether ERPNext suits your business.
Book a walkthrough of ERPNext set up for a plant like yours.