myfactory versus Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

myfactory and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are two cloud-capable ERPs that frequently end up on the same German Mid-Market shortlist, but they come at the market from very different directions. myfactory is a DACH-native SMB ERP designed from the ground up for German trade, services and light-manufacturing businesses of roughly twenty-five to two hundred users. Dynamics 365 Business Central is Microsoft's global SMB ERP, the cloud successor to Dynamics NAV (Navision), with a worldwide partner ecosystem and a much wider scope of localisations and add-ons. Both are GoBD-aware, both can be integrated with DATEV, and both are credible choices for a German Mid-Market of one hundred users. The decision divides on three axes: DACH-native fit versus Microsoft-stack alignment, partner-ecosystem scale, and whether the operation has any international expansion ambition. This comparison sets out where each genuinely belongs and how to read a head-to-head proposal.

Overall positioning

myfactory: a DACH-native cloud SMB ERP from myfactory International GmbH in Munich, in market since the early 2000s. Customer base concentrated in German Mid-Market operations (the mid-market segment of roughly twenty-five to two hundred employees that sits between micro-business and SAP enterprise). Sold through a focused DACH partner network. Industry concentration in trade, distribution, services and light manufacturing. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central: Microsoft's global cloud SMB ERP, evolved from Dynamics NAV (originally Navision, acquired by Microsoft in 2002). Several hundred thousand customers worldwide and a very dense DACH partner network including All for One, Sycor, COSMO CONSULT and KUMAVISION. Marketed as the Microsoft answer for organisations below 500 users that want a cloud ERP integrated with Microsoft 365 and Power Platform. Where they overlap: both serve the same DACH customer-size segment, both ship a DATEV interface, both carry GoBD compliance through partner localisations. The deciding buyer-mindset divide: organisations wanting a DACH-only Mid-Market product with deep local fit gravitate to myfactory; organisations standardised on Microsoft 365 — or with international ambition — gravitate to Business Central.

Functional comparison

Both products cover the standard SMB ERP scope: financial accounting, AR/AP, inventory, purchasing, sales, light manufacturing, basic CRM and electronic invoicing. myfactory strengths: very natural German financial accounting with GoBD compliance built in rather than bolted on through a partner localisation, native DATEV bridge used in day-to-day workflows, German-trade-style price lists and rebate handling, integrated e-commerce connectors (Shopware, Shopify, Magento) that are common in DACH SMB stacks. Business Central strengths: substantially deeper manufacturing functionality (multi-level BOMs, capacity planning, work centres, routings) than myfactory, multi-entity and multi-currency handling that scales beyond the DACH region, much deeper integration with Power BI, Power Automate, Teams and the wider Microsoft cloud, and a vastly larger third-party add-on ecosystem covering vertical industries from food production to professional services. Where parity exists: core financials, basic inventory, ZUGFeRD and XRechnung handling, GoBD compliance with reasonable effort. The functional divider: myfactory is more out-of-the-box right for a pure DACH Mid-Market operation; Business Central is more capable in absolute terms but typically requires a more substantial DACH-localisation and partner implementation to reach the same out-of-the-box GoBD/DATEV polish that myfactory ships with.

Architecture and deployment

myfactory architecture: a genuinely browser-based, multi-tenant cloud ERP hosted in German data centres. Private-cloud and partner-hosted variants are available. Extensibility via a documented REST API and a structured customisation framework. Pricing starts around forty-nine euro per user per month for the Mid-Market cloud edition. Business Central architecture: a cloud-native ERP hosted on Microsoft Azure (with selectable EU regions including Germany), with an on-premises option still maintained. Extensibility via AL (the modern application language), per-tenant and AppSource extensions, and deep integration with Power Platform. Pricing is typically seventy to one hundred euro per user per month for the Premium SKU. Implementation effort: a typical fifty-user myfactory implementation runs three to six months and 80,000 to 200,000 euro all-in; Business Central in the same scope runs six to twelve months and 150,000 to 500,000 euro depending on customisation depth. Cloud posture: both are genuinely cloud-capable; myfactory is the simpler implementation, Business Central the deeper platform with a longer runway.

Selection considerations

Choose myfactory if: you are a DACH-only Mid-Market operation of twenty-five to one hundred users with no international expansion plans, your operational pattern is German trade, distribution or services, you want GoBD compliance and DATEV integration that work out of the box, and you are not already standardised on Microsoft cloud. Choose Business Central if: you are already heavily invested in Microsoft 365, Azure and Teams; you have international subsidiaries or expansion plans where a global ERP matters; your manufacturing scope goes beyond what myfactory can credibly cover; you need a much larger partner-and-add-on ecosystem; or you anticipate growing past two hundred users. Cost framing: Business Central is typically twenty to forty per cent more expensive than myfactory for comparable DACH scope — the extra cost buys the Microsoft ecosystem and a longer runway. Partner-ecosystem reality: Business Central's DACH partner network is far larger and more industry-specialised than myfactory's. Editorial framing: neither is "better"; they serve different buyer-mindsets in the same headcount band.

Related Topics

• myfactory
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
• ERP comparison overview