Research Team Insight
Published
Research Team Insight
Published
Coupa and SAP Ariba are both business spending management platforms that help businesses track payments and spending across the procurement lifecycle. Though the products offer very similar functionality, SAP Ariba focuses more on process improvement while Coupa focuses more on responsible spend management and visibility (though each solution addresses both of these problems). On TrustRadius, both Ariba and Coupa tend to be preferred by midsize businesses and enterprise organizations.
Features
There are several reasons large businesses rely on Coupa or SAP Ariba to manage their procurement processes. However, each product offers a few unique features as well.
According to end-users on TrustRadius, Coupa’s employee expense and invoice tracking are well-liked and produce clear results, mirroring the company’s goal of creating expense transparency and oversight. When used for procurement, Coupa makes it easy to create requisitions and place orders. Users also report Coupa is easy to integrate with third-party business systems like ERP platforms.
Reviewers on TrustRadius like SAP Ariba for its customizable purchase order workflow, with status updates and reminders to create process visibility. SAP Ariba also provides robust, customizable reporting. Users especially value the platform’s ability to handle complex or manufacturing-related procurement needs and environments where things could otherwise get out of hand.
Limitations
Before deciding to purchase either solution, consider the limitations associated with each product.
SAP Ariba users report that the product is not the most appropriate choice if the business only needs to process orders simply and directly, in real-time. Even users that like SAP Ariba overall note that it can be complex and difficult for new users to set up. Relatedly, SAP Ariba’s documentation is lacking in detail and does not provide new users with much assistance.
On the other hand, Coupa users on TrustRadius report that the platform’s mobile application is not very user-friendly. The mobile app’s expense management functionality is also quite limited, users can snapshot receipts but not much else. Overall Coupa’s users state its desktop (or laptop) experience is better than the mobile experience. Some users have commented that Coupa’s overall user interface is not visually appealing.
Pricing
Both SAP Ariba and Coupa are enterprise-level platforms that are designed to provide control, oversight, and process efficiency in complex procurement environments. As such, they have an expensive price tag. Because of this, these platforms are not ideal for smaller businesses that are budget conscious. Neither SAP nor Coupa publicly disclose pricing information on their websites but will provide a quote upon request.
