NetSuite Has Become a Monopoly
You don’t need to be an accountant to know that NetSuite (and other ERPs) are broken. It’s riddled with twisted incentives with implementers, and the software is clunky, expensive, and antiquated. As one of old-tech’s dearest, most entrenched monopolies, NetSuite hasn’t innovated – or had to innovate – in nearly two decades. The customer is the one who ends up losing.
But why does NetSuite have the monopoly? Why are there so few true alternatives? After all, it’s not as if the market were small.
Why Does NetSuite Have the Monopoly?
Building a NetSuite Competitor Is Challenging
Building software as large as NetSuite is a challenge. To compete, an aspiring startup must rebuild the entire general ledger and make it auditable, compliant, and secure. It needs to account for multi-currency, multi-entity, multi-book operations, and then create all the special modules – from fixed-asset accounting to revenue recognition – that customers might need.
Targeting smaller-business customers is hard because their go-tos, QuickBooks and Xero, are so cheap, not to mention well-established with external SMB accountants. It’s difficult for customers to justify leaving QuickBooks or Xero, given their low costs, until they’ve grown enough to need NetSuite’s more comprehensive features.
So aspiring software builders need to turn to investors. After all, NetSuite was seeded with $100M.
Funding for NetSuite Competitors Is Limited
Investing tens of millions into rebuilding the suite is very risky. Most early-stage companies are not yet proven teams. When such a business-critical software is concerned, speed and quality cannot be a trade-off. It’s risky for seed investors to bet money on a build that will likely take years and signal zero revenue by the time to raise the Series A. It’s a large moat to jump.
And when early venture capitalists live up to their adventurous names and back ambitious startups, if more institutional Series A investors don’t follow suit, companies are left to die or pivot – which reinforces the notion that it is impossible to compete.
Most NetSuite Competitors Pivot to Building NetSuite Add-Ons
Some startups begin (or pivot into) building an adjacent tool – a glorified “wedge” – that integrates with NetSuite, which reinforces a broken ecosystem while tabling any aspirations to offer a true alternative. Some startups table these aspirations forever.
Others, as they gain traction and ambition to replace the ledger, end up finding out that most of their customers are too locked into NetSuite by the time they want to start using alternatives. It’s either too late or too difficult to pursue that revenue.
These reasons, among others, have given NetSuite – similarly to SAP – such a profitable monopoly.
The Result: The End User Pays the Price
And we all know how monopolies go. When faced with no competition, there are hardly reasons to innovate. Why change a software made in the 1990s if there’s no real challenger? It’s not hard to see the difference in quality between NetSuite and the more modern finance and banking tools that have launched in recent years.
To reiterate: the clear loser in the NetSuite monopoly is the customer, who is forced to settle for old, expensive, time-consuming technology.
How We Built DualEntry Differently
At DualEntry, we want to offer a different approach to accounting ERP software. Ever since our founders were faced with a 1+ year NetSuite implementation and were left feeling trapped, our goal has been to produce a true NetSuite alternative.
Instead of building an adjacent tool, we’ve created a full NetSuite replacement: an AI-first, modern, full general-ledger solution. We make your finance team maximally effective with time-saving
automations powered by custom AI models, delivered in a customizable, user-friendly interface.
With DualEntry, you can unlock unparalleled insights – not only through AI suggestions and forecasting, but also with 15,000 seamless native integrations that give you time back to focus on strategic work.
We don’t make money from implementation and our customer-obsessed, CPA-led team promises to get you live within four weeks.
You only start paying when DualEntry is set up and ready to use. Set up a demo call to discover what DualEntry can do for your business.
Disclaimer
The content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and reflects the personal views and opinions of the authors. It is not intended to serve as professional accounting, financial, or legal advice. While we strive to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, we make no guarantees regarding its completeness or relevance to specific situations. Always consult with a certified accountant, financial advisor, or legal professional before making decisions based on the information provided. For authoritative guidance, refer to official sources, such as the IRS, FASB, or your local regulatory bodies.
