Softwr

Software · head to head

Sage 50 vs BlackLine

Sage 50 logo

Sage 50

Software

Powerful desktop accounting for small businesses

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
BlackLine logo

BlackLine

Software

Finance & accounting automation

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Sage 50 sage 50 tiers as captured in 2022: Pro Accounting $595/year for 1 user, Premium Accounting $970/year for 1-5 users with multi-company support, Quantum Accounting $1,610/year for larger teams; BlackLine listed on UK G-Cloud 13 at £1,150 to £2,160 per user per year for the public sector, with no free trial offered, per BlackLine's Finance Operations Management Solution pricing document
  • They diverge on capability: Sage 50 covers General ledger, BlackLine covers Account reconciliation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Sage 50 and BlackLine actually diverge.

Attributes where Sage 50 and BlackLine differ
AttributeSage 50BlackLine
PlatformsWindowsWeb
Founded19812001

Identical on both: starting price ($29/month), pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Sage 50

  • General ledger
  • Invoicing
  • Inventory management
  • Job costing
  • Budgeting
  • Microsoft 365
  • Salesforce
  • Local encryption

Only in BlackLine

  • Account reconciliation
  • Journal entries
  • Task management
  • Variance analysis
  • Financial close
  • SAP
  • Oracle
  • NetSuite

What people use each for

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

Sage 50

  • Desktop accountingnot BlackLine
  • Job costingnot BlackLine
  • Inventory trackingnot BlackLine

BlackLine

  • Financial closenot Sage 50
  • Reconciliationnot Sage 50
  • Continuous accountingnot Sage 50

Where each one falls short

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

Sage 50

  • Sage 50 tiers as captured in 2022: Pro Accounting $595/year for 1 user, Premium Accounting $970/year for 1-5 users with multi-company support, Quantum Accounting $1,610/year for larger teams

BlackLine

  • Listed on UK G-Cloud 13 at £1,150 to £2,160 per user per year for the public sector, with no free trial offered, per BlackLine's Finance Operations Management Solution pricing document

Pricing, plan by plan

Sage 50

$29/month
  • Pro Accounting$50/month
    • Core accounting
    • 1 user
    • Basic reports
  • Premium Accounting$85/month
    • 5 users
    • Job costing
    • Inventory

BlackLine

$29/month
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Custom pricing
    • Account reconciliation
    • Task management

Which should you pick?

Choose Sage 50 if

  • You need general ledger.
  • You work on Windows.
  • You also want invoicing.
Sage 50 review

Choose BlackLine if

  • You need account reconciliation.
  • You also want journal entries.
BlackLine review

Questions people ask

Is Sage 50 or BlackLine better?
Neither clearly leads. Sage 50 starts at $29/month and BlackLine at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Sage 50 or BlackLine?
Sage 50 starts at $29/month and BlackLine at $29/month.
Does Sage 50 or BlackLine run on more platforms?
Sage 50 runs on Windows. BlackLine runs on Web.
What is Sage 50 best used for?
Sage 50 is most often used for desktop accounting, job costing, inventory tracking. Of those, desktop accounting and job costing are not what BlackLine is typically brought in for.
What can Sage 50 do that BlackLine cannot?
Sage 50 covers General ledger, Invoicing, Inventory management, Job costing. BlackLine covers Account reconciliation, Journal entries, Task management, Variance analysis.
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on Sage 50

More on BlackLine

Keep looking

Other head to heads