ERP Software Development Cost: Estimating Budget in 2025

Planning either an implementation or an upgrade for enterprise resource planning software is very much akin to the serious planning that goes with a major renovation project—one done on a house. You know well that the process is going to be very expensive, but the question always remains—how much is this going to set you back?

Just as in renovations, the answer depends on the wants and needs you have—are you just painting that one room or gutting the whole structure to rebuild, making an entirely new whole that meets your needs and wants? A very specific problem that many companies face in the year 2025 is making customized ERP software for themselves. As a matter of fact, companies struggle to keep control and get through the costs that vary greatly, just like the cost of different home renovation works.

Understanding ERP Costs

If ever curious about how much it costs for the ERP software, this comprehensive guide covers all aspects: from initial investments to get the process up and running to ongoing expenses that will continue to build up with time. You’ll find a great deal of good tips that will help you budget more appropriately and make the best possible financial decisions.

What is ERP, and Why is it Important?

Picture operating a busy restaurant, with all sorts of different disparate communications tools, and a phone system that works great for the chefs, waitstaff, and delivery drivers to do their jobs. Orders fall through the cracks, tables get double-booked, and mayhem quickly ensues in general.

Just like that restaurant, this is what business operations can look like when there is no end-to-end ERP system to funnel processes through seamlessly. It’s the thread that stitches your business together: Enterprise Resource Planning software unifies everything to a single system, be it finances and inventory or even HR and customer management. Be it a small proprietorship or large global enterprise, ERP software puts everyone on the same page.

But here’s the catch: great tools come at a price, and ERP isn’t any different.

The Total Cost of Ownership: An In-depth Analysis of ERP Costs

The direct question “How much does ERP software cost?” can very often be as decipherable as a prediction of what the weather will be in two days’ time. Largely because ERP software costs do vary greatly depending on:

1. Type or Category of ERP Solution Required

Off-the-Shelf ERP: Like buying ready-to-use furniture, it works fine, though it may not exactly fit. Cheaper, yet less flexible.
Custom ERP Software Development: This is your tailored solution made explicitly for the needs of your company. Consider this as hiring a master tailor to make a suit to order—high initial investment, but an ideal fit.
Cloud ERP: This would be subscription-based, like when one rents an apartment. One does not own the system, but it is maintained for him or her.
On-premises ERP: Just like buying a house. You fully own it and are in complete control but at the same time you also bear all the responsibilities for upkeep or repairs.

2. Features, Functional Characteristics, and Personalization Options

Want your ERP system to do payroll automation, track global supply chains, and also do some sales forecasting? Those are nice-to-have things that jack up the price. Which brings us to probably the most contributing factor towards the cost in ERP software: feature customization.

3. The Dimension of Business

This investment could even go below US$50,000 for just a basic system in smaller businesses, while for larger corporations, it usually goes up to millions for something a bit more powerful that would have complex integrations and features.

4. Implementation of Instructional Design and Plan

Yet, not even the best ERP system will help if your team does not know how to use it. Quite often, the costs of training have a tendency to creep up on the company—like when you start to count what’s left in the bank after house renovation and find out that you forgot to account for light fixtures.

5. Hidden Costs and Expenses

Integration Costs: The costs associated with integrating ERP with already existing tools.
Data Migration: Transferring many years of data is far from easy and surely is not an effortless task.
Scalability: When organizations plan for future growth and scaling, that might often imply an increase in overall cost.

Realistic Ranges of ERP Costs

Business Scale	Estimated Cost Range
Small Business	$10,000–$50,000 to implement basic systems
Medium Business	Between $30,000–$500,000 customizable
Large Enterprises	$500,000–$2,000,000+, highly customized

The solutions delivered over the cloud could start from as low as $500 to as much as $2,000 per user a year, while on-premises requires huge upfront investment and another 20% per year in maintenance.

Making the ERP Budget Journey More Relatable and Approachable

If you’ve ever booked a family vacation, you’ll recognize this pattern:

You set the budget.
You find the perfect resort—but then discover excursions, meals, and gratuities are not included.
The costs spiral upwards.

It’s like putting a rabbit through a maze. And budgeting ERP seems to become equally fancifully creepy. Here’s how to avoid those twists and turns:

Step-by-Step Guide to Budgeting ERP

Focus on What Counts
Focus on what your business is really going to need, not “shiny object syndrome” with fancy features. Do you really need that AI-powered chatbot, or is it better inventory tracking?
Getting the Big Picture
ERP is an investment, not a patchwork. Consider how the software will scale with the growth of your business. Think about this like buying a car: it is much better to get the one that can handle major road trips instead of just the daily commute.
Partner with the Right Companion
While it comes to the ERP software vendor, it is responsible for making a lot of differences between a headache-free launch and a nightmare project. So, find the partners that would emphasize transparency as their priority, together with successful case histories of custom ERP software development.

Common Mistakes While Budgeting an ERP and How to Avoid Them

ERP Implementation Time Underestimation: It is not all about money; the implementation of ERP eats up time. Rushing with implementation is much like not sanding the wall before painting.
Neglecting Training Costs: The cost of training is neglected, and there is no worth of even an advanced ERP system if the team doesn’t know how to use it.
Ignoring Maintenance: The financial obligations associated with ERP software extend far beyond the initial implementation phase. In fact, the costs related to necessary upgrades, ongoing support services, and troubleshooting issues represent continuous expenditures that must be accounted for over time.

Why ERP is Worth the Investment

Yes, ERP systems are expensive. However, not having one is about the same as running a marathon with untrained people—incremental ineptitude will catch up with you.

Here is why ERP is worth every penny:

Efficiency Gain: Let automation do the routine tasks and thereby free your resources for more value-added strategic work.
Smarter Decision Making: Centralized data has much insight and information that is not really possible or reproducible from disorganized, scattered spreadsheets.
Scalability: ERP grows with the growth of your business.

Conclusion

Getting the estimated cost of ERP software in the year 2025 may be an uphill task. If done properly, however, it need not be overwhelming. ERP is not just software; rather, it is a fundamental building block for the success of your business. Whether it is a small startup looking to save resources with a basic system or a large enterprise ready to invest in custom ERP software development, much like planting a tree, most of the hard work is upfront, while the shade, fruit, and value over the long haul make it well worth the effort.

Besides, if you are still now thinking, “How much does ERP software cost?” just remember that simple fact: it depends on what kind of tree you want to grow.

This post may contain affiliate links. Financial Panther has partnered with AwardWallet and CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Financial Panther, AwardWallet, and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact on how and where card products appear on the site. The site does not include all card companies, or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.

More Recommended Ebike/Scooters

Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:

Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
Hiboy S2 Scooter – The Hiboy S2 is an excellent entry-level commuter scooter that's perfect for someone looking to save some money in transportation costs and improve their commute. Check out my Hiboy S2 Review.
Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.

More Recommended Investing App Bonuses

For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:

M1 Finance ($100) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with just $10 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
Webull (20 free stock shares) – Webull's current promotion gives you 20 free shares valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free shares using Webull.
Moomoo (15 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 2 different referral bonuses if you open an account using a referral link. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.

More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses

If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.

Upgrade ($200) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $200 referral bonus if you open an account and complete a direct deposit. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $200 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
Fairwinds Credit Union ($175) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
US Bank Business ($900) – This is a fairly easy bank bonus to earn, since there are no direct deposit requirements. In addition, you can open the Silver Business Checking account, which comes with no monthly fees. Check out how to earn this big bonus here.
GO2Bank ($50) - GO2Bank is an easy bank bonus that I recommend people take advantage of if they have an easy way of meeting the direct deposit requirement. I like that it’s easy to open the account and that the bonus pays out quickly. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your GO2Bank $50 referral bonus.
Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link. Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
Varo ($25) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $25 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.

Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $900 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $100 for opening an account.
Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.

Feel free to send Kevin a message here.