Almost every ERP enquiry starts with the same question, and almost every vendor answers it with "it depends". That is technically true and practically useless. Here are the real numbers we quote in 2026, and — more importantly — the line items that turn a ₹4 lakh project into an ₹11 lakh one.
The three pricing models
ERP in India is sold three ways, and they are not comparable on price alone.
| Model | Typical cost | Best when |
|---|---|---|
| Per-user SaaS | ₹600 – ₹2,500 / user / month | Under 25 users, standard processes |
| One-time licence | ₹1.5 L – ₹8 L + 18% AMC | You want a fixed asset, not a subscription |
| Custom build | ₹4 L – ₹25 L one-time | Your process is the competitive advantage |
SaaS looks cheapest on day one and is usually the most expensive by year four. At 40 users and ₹1,200 a seat, you are paying ₹5.76 lakh a year — more than a custom build costs once.
What a custom ERP actually costs
For a custom system, price tracks the number of distinct modules and the number of user roles, not the number of users. A single-branch trading business with sales, purchase, inventory and GST billing lands around ₹4.5 to ₹7 lakh. Add manufacturing with bill of materials and job work and you are at ₹9 to ₹14 lakh. Multi-branch with consolidated MIS adds roughly 30%.
The three costs that are usually missing
- Data migration. Moving eight years of ledgers, item masters and outstanding balances out of Tally or a legacy system, then validating it, is 15 to 25% of the project. If a quote does not mention migration, it is not in the quote.
- Training and parallel running. Budget two weeks of running the old and new systems together. Skipping this is the single most common reason a go-live gets rolled back.
- Year-two changes. Tax rules change, you add a branch, a workflow shifts. Ask what an out-of-scope change request costs per day before you sign, not after.
Questions that move the price
- How many distinct user roles need separate permissions?
- How many years of historic data must come across, and in what condition?
- Do you need offline capability at any location?
- Is there a mobile app for field staff, or is browser access enough?
- Which existing systems must it integrate with — Tally, a payment gateway, a courier API?