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ERP · head to head

Epicor vs Zip

Epicor logo

Epicor

ERP

A portfolio of separately acquired ERP products, not one system

From
$750/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zip logo

Zip

ERP

Procurement intake and orchestration that sits on top of the systems you already run

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Epicor epicor is a portfolio of separately acquired products rather than one system, so reviews, references and analyst coverage about Epicor as a brand can be misleading about the specific product you are being sold.; Zip it is a layer on top of systems you already pay for, so the business case rests on adoption and cycle time rather than replacing a licence, and that is harder to defend to a finance director cutting software spend.
  • They diverge on capability: Epicor covers Kinetic, Zip covers Unified intake.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Epicor and Zip actually diverge.

Attributes where Epicor and Zip differ
AttributeEpicorZip
Starting price$750/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsCloud, On-premise, HybridWeb, iOS
Founded1972Unknown

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (ERP).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Epicor

  • Kinetic
  • Prophet 21
  • Eclipse
  • BisTrack
  • Cloud deployment
  • Extensibility tooling
  • Manufacturing execution
  • Industry compliance

Only in Zip

  • Unified intake
  • Approval orchestration
  • Vendor onboarding
  • Contract repository
  • ERP write-back
  • Renewal management
  • Spend visibility
  • AI request handling

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Epicor

  • A discrete manufacturer moving off spreadsheets and an accounting package onto a system that models routings and job costsnot Zip
  • A wholesale distributor whose pricing, rebate and purchasing rules exceed what a general ERP handles without customisationnot Zip
  • An electrical or plumbing distributor needing counter sales and trade-specific workflow out of the boxnot Zip
  • A building materials dealer needing yard operations, delivery scheduling and configured product ordering in one systemnot Zip

Zip

  • A company that owns a source-to-pay suite nobody uses because employees cannot navigate itnot Epicor
  • An organisation where every software purchase needs security, legal, privacy and finance sign-off and currently does it in email threadsnot Epicor
  • A finance team that keeps discovering contracts that auto-renewed because nobody owned the renewal datenot Epicor
  • A business needing an auditable record of who approved a third-party engagement and on what evidencenot Epicor

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Epicor

  • Epicor is a portfolio of separately acquired products rather than one system, so reviews, references and analyst coverage about Epicor as a brand can be misleading about the specific product you are being sold.
  • The products are highly customisable and are routinely customised, and heavily customised installations become expensive to upgrade, which is why long-standing customers frequently run versions several releases behind current.
  • Cloud delivery is single-tenant hosting rather than multi-tenant SaaS, so you still own an upgrade decision and the regression testing that comes with it, and buyers who expected the SaaS model of no upgrades are surprised.
  • Sales and delivery run through a mix of direct staff and partners depending on product and region, so accountability for a failed implementation can be genuinely ambiguous unless it is fixed in the contract before signature.
  • The strongest coverage is in North American manufacturing and distribution, so an international group needing statutory compliance and local support across many countries has to test that coverage carefully rather than assume it.

Zip

  • It is a layer on top of systems you already pay for, so the business case rests on adoption and cycle time rather than replacing a licence, and that is harder to defend to a finance director cutting software spend.
  • Value depends entirely on integration depth into your specific ERP and ticketing tools, and a shallow connector reduces it to a workflow tool that someone rekeys out of.
  • Pricing is not published and is structured around company size and integration scope, so buyers cannot benchmark without peer references.
  • If procurement policy itself is unclear, Zip encodes the confusion: the tool routes requests according to rules someone must first write, and organisations without that clarity see slow implementations.
  • It does not do sourcing, auctions or spend analysis, so organisations expecting a full procurement capability will still need a suite or specialist tools alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Epicor

$750/month
  • Starter$750/month
    • Core ERP
    • Manufacturing
    • Financial management
  • Professional$1500/month
    • Advanced ERP
    • Advanced CRM
    • Analytics

Zip

On request
  • Zip$undefined/year
    • Intake and approval orchestration
    • Vendor onboarding and diligence workflows
    • Integrations with ERP, contract and ticketing systems

Which should you pick?

Choose Epicor if

  • You need kinetic.
  • You work on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
  • You also want prophet 21.
Epicor review

Choose Zip if

  • You need unified intake.
  • You work on Web, iOS.
  • You also want approval orchestration.
Zip review

Questions people ask

Is Epicor or Zip better?
Neither clearly leads. Epicor starts at $750/month and Zip at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Epicor or Zip?
Epicor starts at $750/month and Zip at On request.
Does Epicor or Zip run on more platforms?
Epicor runs on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid. Zip runs on Web, iOS.
What is Epicor best used for?
Epicor is most often used for a discrete manufacturer moving off spreadsheets and an accounting package onto a system that models routings and job costs, a wholesale distributor whose pricing, rebate and purchasing rules exceed what a general erp handles without customisation, an electrical or plumbing distributor needing counter sales and trade-specific workflow out of the box, a building materials dealer needing yard operations, delivery scheduling and configured product ordering in one system. Of those, a discrete manufacturer moving off spreadsheets and an accounting package onto a system that models routings and job costs and a wholesale distributor whose pricing, rebate and purchasing rules exceed what a general erp handles without customisation are not what Zip is typically brought in for.
What can Epicor do that Zip cannot?
Epicor covers Kinetic, Prophet 21, Eclipse, BisTrack. Zip covers Unified intake, Approval orchestration, Vendor onboarding, Contract repository.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Epicor: Which Epicor product am I actually being sold?

Ask explicitly, by name. Kinetic, Prophet 21, Eclipse and BisTrack are different systems with different roadmaps. Then ask for references on that specific product, in your industry, at your size.

Zip: Is this the buy now pay later company?

No. This is Zip at ziphq.com, a procurement orchestration platform, unrelated to the payments company of the same name.

Epicor: Is Epicor Kinetic a true SaaS product?

It is delivered as a hosted single-tenant service on Azure. You get vendor-managed infrastructure, but you do not get the multi-tenant model where the vendor upgrades everyone at once and no upgrade project exists.

Zip: Does it replace Coupa or Ariba?

No, and that is the point. It sits in front of them, providing the intake and approval experience employees actually use, and writes back into the suite.

Epicor: How much should I customise?

Less than you will want to. Every modification is something to retest and potentially rework at each upgrade, and the accumulation of them is the main reason customers get stranded on old versions. Push hard on whether a requirement is genuinely a differentiator before building for it.

Zip: What does it cost?

Not published. Quoted by company size, modules and the integrations you need. Get peer benchmarks before negotiating.

Epicor: Direct or partner implementation?

Both exist. The partner's track record on your product and industry matters more than the vendor's, so ask who will staff the project, request their references, and put named staff into the statement of work.

Zip: What is the prerequisite for success?

A written procurement policy. Zip automates the routing rules you give it; if nobody can say who approves what, implementation stalls.

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