HashMicro vs Dynamics: How Licensing Shapes Cost

The price of an ERP is rarely one number. For Microsoft Dynamics 365, a large part of the bill comes from how licences are structured: who counts as a full user, who qualifies for a cheaper tier, and what happens when the team grows. Those rules can change the total cost more than the headline price per user.

This article explains how Business Central licensing works, walks through two worked examples, looks at costs beyond the licence, and shows where HashMicro’s approach differs. It does not quote current prices as fact, because they vary by region, partner, and date.

How Business Central Licensing Works

Microsoft’s licensing guidance and partner guides describe the same basic structure. Business Central is sold as a subscription priced per user per month, with these licence types:

• Essentials: a full user licence covering core financial, sales, purchasing, and inventory functions.

• Premium: everything in Essentials plus manufacturing and service management.

• Team Member: a cheaper licence for light use, such as viewing data, approving documents, or entering time, and it requires an Essentials or Premium subscription.

• Device: a licence tied to a shared device rather than a named person.

Two rules deserve attention. Essentials and Premium full users cannot be mixed within the same Business Central environment, so one choice applies to every full user in it. Partner guides note that separate environments can use different tiers, so confirm the setup with your partner. And Business Central is sold through certified Microsoft partners, which means pricing and services often come bundled in a partner’s quote.

What Published Prices Look Like

Prices have ranged from roughly US70toUS110 per full user per month at different times. According to one partner guide, Microsoft’s US list prices rose in late 2025 to about US80forEssentialsandUS110 for Premium, with Team Member licences at about US$8. Figures differ by currency, term, and partner, and they are revised over time, so treat any number in an article as a pointer rather than a quote.

For Singapore businesses, two practical checks apply. Confirm whether quotes are in Singapore dollars or US dollars, since a USD-priced subscription moves with the exchange rate. And confirm whether the figures include GST, currently 9%, so that comparisons between vendors are made on the same basis.

Worked Example: The Value of Tiering

Take a company growing from 25 to 60 people who need some access to the system. Assume, for illustration only, that a full user costs $80 a month and a Team Member $8. Suppose 15 people need full access, such as finance, purchasing, and sales operations, and the other 45 only need to approve requests, view data, or enter time.

• Everyone on a full licence: 60 × $80 = $4,800 a month, or $57,600 a year.

• 15 full users and 45 Team Members: (15 × $80) + (45 × $8) = $1,560 a month, or $18,720 a year.

Tiering saves about $38,880 a year in this example, which is why the first licensing task is sorting people by what they actually do. The catch is that Team Member rights are limited, so the saving depends on how many of those people genuinely fit that profile. The prices are assumptions, so use your own quote.

Worked Example: The Premium Question

Now suppose three of those 15 full users need manufacturing features, which sit in Premium. Because Essentials and Premium cannot be mixed, all 15 full users move to Premium. Assume Premium costs $110 against $80 for Essentials.

• Extra cost per full user: $110 − $80 = $30 a month.

• Extra cost for all 15: 15 × $30 = $450 a month.

• Extra cost over a year: $5,400, to give three people capabilities the other twelve do not use.

That is a real trade-off, and it is worth asking a partner whether the manufacturing needs justify a deployment-wide step up, or whether part of the work can be handled another way.

Costs Beyond the Licence

The licence is only one line of the total. Others to account for:

• Partner services: implementation, configuration, data migration, and training are usually billed separately.

• Extensions: specialised needs are often met by add-on applications, each with its own subscription.

• Additional Dynamics 365 apps: customer-facing apps such as Sales or Customer Service carry their own licences, sometimes at a reduced add-on price for existing users.

• Customisation and upgrades: tailored features need maintenance and retesting whenever the platform updates.

• Internal time: the hours your own team spends on the project and afterwards.

Where Per-User Pricing Works Well

Per-user models can be efficient when:

• the number of people needing full access is small and stable

• most other staff only need light, supervised access

• a trusted partner manages the licence mix and reviews it regularly

• the business wants a clear link between users and cost

Where Per-User Pricing Gets Harder

The model becomes harder to manage when:

• warehouse, store, or field staff all need access to the system

• headcount swings with seasons, as with peak-period temporary staff

• the line between a full user and a Team Member is unclear for some roles

• one team’s need for Premium raises the cost for everyone

How HashMicro Approaches Cost

According to HashMicro’s Dynamics comparison page, it offers unlimited users at no cost, so teams can scale without adding seat cost at each stage of growth. The page also says its ERP is more cost efficient than Dynamics for growing businesses and invites visitors to compare everything transparently with a price comparison calculator.

That is a different model, not a free pass. Cost then follows the modules you need, the scope of the implementation, and the support you choose, instead of the number of people logging in. Ask for the same details you would from any vendor: what is included, how future modules are priced, and what support covers. The page’s cost-efficiency claim is the vendor’s own, so test it with your own user count and module list.

What to Confirm in Writing

Whichever vendor you consider, ask for these points in the quote:

• which licence type each group of people would need, and why

• the price per user per month, in Singapore dollars, before and after GST

• what happens when users are added or removed during the term

• which services and extensions are included, and which are billed separately

• how prices can change at renewal

Comparing quotes on the same five points shows differences that headline prices hide. Then run the numbers for three scenarios:

• today’s headcount

• the team you expect in a year

• your seasonal peak

For each vendor, record the monthly total and what drives any change between scenarios. Per-user models tend to move with headcount, while module-based models move with scope, so the shape of the line matters as much as its starting point.

Add the one-off costs, such as implementation and training, so the comparison covers the first three years rather than only the first invoice. Keep the assumptions identical for every vendor, and write them down, so any difference in the result comes from the vendor’s model and not from a different guess.

Count the Cost You Will Have

A licence model is only as cheap as it is for the team you will have in three years, not the one you have today. Sort your people by what they actually do, price the growth scenario, and include the costs outside the licence.

When you are ready to run the numbers across both options, you can look at HashMicro vs Dynamics pricing and test it against your own headcount and module list.

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