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ERP · head to head

SYSPRO vs Unanet

SYSPRO logo

SYSPRO

ERP

Long-established mid-market manufacturing ERP, sold through a partner channel

From
$1200/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unanet logo

Unanet

ERP

Project ERP and CRM built for government contractors and architecture and engineering firms

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: SYSPRO sYSPRO is sold and implemented mainly through partners, so implementation quality varies more than the software does, and the reference you need is the partner's on a project like yours rather than the vendor's customer list.; Unanet no pricing is published for any Unanet product; every line is quoted per user per month with separate implementation fees, so a small contractor cannot budget the first year without a full sales cycle.
  • They diverge on capability: SYSPRO covers Inventory management, Unanet covers DCAA-oriented timekeeping.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which SYSPRO and Unanet actually diverge.

Attributes where SYSPRO and Unanet differ
AttributeSYSPROUnanet
Starting price$1200/monthOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsCloud, On-premise, WebWeb, Cloud, iOS, Android
Founded1978Unknown

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 SYSPRO

  • Inventory management
  • Manufacturing
  • Requirements planning
  • Financials
  • Purchasing
  • Quality and traceability
  • Deployment choice
  • Partner channel

Only in Unanet

  • DCAA-oriented timekeeping
  • Indirect rate management
  • Contract type support
  • Project accounting
  • Resource planning
  • Unanet CRM
  • Compliant invoicing
  • Unanet ERP AE

What people use each for

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

SYSPRO

  • A mid-sized manufacturer that cannot accurately state inventory value or job cost from its current systemsnot Unanet
  • A distributor needing lot traceability for regulated or perishable goods without a tier one budgetnot Unanet
  • A make to order engineering business tracking work in progress across several concurrent jobsnot Unanet
  • A company that wants an established ERP with a long support history rather than a recently launched productnot Unanet

Unanet

  • A federal contractor moving from QuickBooks and spreadsheets because it has won its first cost-reimbursable contract and needs an accounting system that survives a DCAA adequacy reviewnot SYSPRO
  • A services firm that must calculate and true up provisional indirect rates each year and cannot do it credibly in Excel any longernot SYSPRO
  • An architecture and engineering practice tracking utilisation and project profitability across dozens of concurrent jobsnot SYSPRO
  • A government contractor consolidating a separate CRM, timekeeping tool and accounting package into one system so pipeline and backlog reconcilenot SYSPRO

Where each one falls short

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

SYSPRO

  • SYSPRO is sold and implemented mainly through partners, so implementation quality varies more than the software does, and the reference you need is the partner's on a project like yours rather than the vendor's customer list.
  • The cloud offering is hosted single-tenant infrastructure rather than multi-tenant SaaS, so you continue to own the upgrade project and the testing it requires, and buyers expecting the vendor to handle version changes for them are mistaken.
  • Payroll and human resources coverage varies substantially by region and is absent or partial in several markets, so a buyer assuming a complete back office in one licence will be adding a separate vendor and an integration.
  • Adjacent capability such as customer relationship management, advanced planning and business intelligence is thinner than in the larger suites, so most installations end up with third party products alongside and the integration cost belongs in the business case.
  • The user interface and reporting reflect a long product history rather than current design conventions, which raises training effort and makes the product a harder sell internally to staff who use consumer-grade software elsewhere.

Unanet

  • No pricing is published for any Unanet product; every line is quoted per user per month with separate implementation fees, so a small contractor cannot budget the first year without a full sales cycle.
  • Implementation is a project rather than a signup, involving chart of accounts design, indirect pool structure and data migration, and third parties report implementation fees reaching five figures for mid-sized deployments, an amount easily missed when comparing per-user rates.
  • The interface is dated compared with modern SaaS finance products, which raises training time for staff who only touch it to enter a timesheet and increases the support burden on the finance team.
  • ERP and CRM are separate products with separate contracts, so a firm that wants pipeline, backlog and actuals in one place pays twice and still deals with an integration boundary between them.
  • Its value is concentrated in United States federal and state contracting compliance, so a firm that does no public-sector work is paying for indirect rate machinery and DCAA audit behaviour it will never use, and a non-US firm gets almost nothing from the product’s main differentiator.

Pricing, plan by plan

SYSPRO

$1200/month
  • Standard$1200/month
    • Financial management
    • Manufacturing
    • Supply chain
  • Premium$2500/month
    • Advanced modules
    • Analytics
    • Priority support

Unanet

On request
  • Unanet ERP GovCon$undefined/year
    • Project accounting with indirect rate pools
    • DCAA-oriented daily timekeeping and audit trail
    • Cost-plus, T&M and fixed price contract billing
  • Unanet ERP AE$undefined/year
    • Project accounting configured for architecture and engineering firms
    • Resource planning and utilisation reporting
    • Priced per user per month, quoted
  • Unanet CRM$undefined/year
    • Pursuit and opportunity tracking
    • Proposal content library and reuse
    • Sold separately from ERP; quoted

Which should you pick?

Choose SYSPRO if

  • You need inventory management.
  • You work on Cloud, On-premise, Web.
  • You also want manufacturing.
SYSPRO review

Choose Unanet if

  • You need dcaa-oriented timekeeping.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
  • You also want indirect rate management.
Unanet review

Questions people ask

Is SYSPRO or Unanet better?
Neither clearly leads. SYSPRO starts at $1200/month and Unanet at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, SYSPRO or Unanet?
SYSPRO starts at $1200/month and Unanet at On request.
Does SYSPRO or Unanet run on more platforms?
SYSPRO runs on Cloud, On-premise, Web. Unanet runs on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
What is SYSPRO best used for?
SYSPRO is most often used for a mid-sized manufacturer that cannot accurately state inventory value or job cost from its current systems, a distributor needing lot traceability for regulated or perishable goods without a tier one budget, a make to order engineering business tracking work in progress across several concurrent jobs, a company that wants an established erp with a long support history rather than a recently launched product. Of those, a mid-sized manufacturer that cannot accurately state inventory value or job cost from its current systems and a distributor needing lot traceability for regulated or perishable goods without a tier one budget are not what Unanet is typically brought in for.
What can SYSPRO do that Unanet cannot?
SYSPRO covers Inventory management, Manufacturing, Requirements planning, Financials. Unanet covers DCAA-oriented timekeeping, Indirect rate management, Contract type support, Project accounting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

SYSPRO: Is SYSPRO a cloud ERP?

It is available hosted on Azure, but as your own instance rather than as shared multi-tenant software. That gives you control over when you upgrade and leaves the upgrade work with you and your partner.

Unanet: What does Unanet cost?

Nothing is published. Pricing is per user per month and quoted, with implementation fees charged separately on top of the subscription.

SYSPRO: Who implements it?

Regional partners in most markets, with the vendor's own offices involved to differing degrees by country. Establish which entity holds your contract and who provides first-line support before you sign.

Unanet: Does Unanet make you DCAA compliant?

No software does. Unanet provides the timekeeping controls, audit trail and indirect rate accounting that an adequacy review looks for; the policies and their enforcement are still yours.

SYSPRO: What size of company is it for?

Small and mid-sized manufacturers and distributors, roughly in the tens to low hundreds of millions in revenue. Below that it is more system than most businesses need. Well above it, the multi-country and consolidation demands usually push buyers to a larger suite.

Unanet: Is Unanet CRM included with the ERP?

No. Unanet CRM, built on the acquired Cosential platform, is a separate product with its own contract.

SYSPRO: Does the licence tell me the project cost?

No. As with most mid-market ERP, the partner services and data migration bill commonly matches or exceeds the first year of software, and the subscription usually begins before go live, so plan for both from the start.

Unanet: How does it compare with Deltek?

Unanet typically targets smaller contractors than Deltek Costpoint and is quicker to implement, but has less depth for very large multi-segment organisations.

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