Sana Commerce vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Commerce: Which B2B e-commerce platform is right for your business?

If you already run Microsoft Dynamics, your natural assumption may be that Microsoft's own commerce product is the best fit for your online store. But it's worth being precise about what's actually being compared: "Microsoft Dynamics" is the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, so the real comparison is against Dynamics 365 Commerce, Microsoft's storefront product built on top of it.

Being from the same vendor is not the same as being purpose-built for B2B manufacturing, and it doesn't make a commerce product a native part of your ERP. The real decision is whether you want an all-from-one-vendor stack or a B2B-specialist commerce layer running on top of the Dynamics ERP you already have. In the following guide, we’ll discuss how well the platform fits B2B manufacturing, what the buying experience feels like day to day, and what it costs in time and money to get there.

Dynamics 365 Commerce at a glance

Dynamics 365 Commerce is Microsoft's commerce storefront, distinct from the Dynamics ERP itself. Commerce runs on its own Commerce Scale Unit, hosted on Microsoft Azure, with its own channel database, kept in sync with the ERP rather than reading from it directly. That's true even though Commerce is built on the same underlying Microsoft platform as the ERP, since sharing a platform vendor isn't the same as sharing a live data layer.

Dynamics 365 Commerce grew out of Microsoft's retail and point-of-sale heritage, and that shows in its architecture: strong storefront and in-store tooling with a consistent user interface across POS and online channels, with B2B capability built on top of the same commerce engine that runs B2C retail sites.

Sana Commerce at a glance

Sana Commerce is an integrated B2B e-commerce solution that creates a new future of connected commerce. Purpose-built for manufacturing, it anchors your store in real-time ERP data, connects that ERP across your wider systems, brings every buyer and seller touchpoint together, and adds guided intelligence that turns insight into action. It comes as a complete store out of the box, built to handle complex product offerings, with content management, a self-service portal, order management, and guided buying tools that pull live ERP data straight into the storefront. Sana has been named in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Commerce four years running, and its customers around the world span manufacturing, industrial equipment, spare parts, construction, chemicals, medical supplies, and electronics.

Sana Commerce Cloud is a SaaS platform, backed by enterprise-grade security and compliance practices, including GDPR compliance for European operations, and a certified Microsoft partner. Its Business Central integration was the first officially recognized e-commerce app in Microsoft AppSource, and it offers native ERP integration for Microsoft Dynamics, built on the same connector and integration technology Sana uses across every ERP it supports, spanning legacy on-premise systems and current cloud deployments alike, including:

• Microsoft Dynamics AX
• Microsoft Dynamics F&O / SCM
• Microsoft Dynamics NAV
• Microsoft Dynamics Business Central

The first difference: One vendor's full stack, or a specialist on top of your ERP

Dynamics 365 Commerce gives you one vendor, one contract, and one roadmap, with commerce sold alongside the rest of the Microsoft stack. For an organization already standardized on Microsoft, that consolidation is a real, tangible benefit.

But being Microsoft's own product doesn't make Dynamics 365 Commerce a native extension of the ERP. It's still a separate application with its own implementation, built on the same modules as Microsoft's B2C retail sites, with B2B capability configured on top rather than built in from the start. Sana takes the opposite approach with a commerce layer built specifically for B2B manufacturing and wholesale. It runs directly on your existing Dynamics ERP and its business logic, with no rip-and-replace and no second system of record.

What this difference means in practice

• Fit

  Dynamics 365 Commerce is retail-first, with B2B configured on top of the same engine that runs B2C storefronts and point-of-sale. Sana is B2B-manufacturing-native, with account structures, quoting, and reorder behavior as the starting point.

• What you're buying

  With Dynamics 365 Commerce, you're buying a broad retail commerce platform and implementing it toward a B2B model. With Sana, you're buying a specialist commerce layer on the ERP you keep, purpose-built for B2B manufacturing and wholesale.

• Team and partner load

  Sana's certified connector is one thing your team maintains, built and supported by Sana. A Dynamics 365 Commerce implementation is owned by your team and, typically, a Microsoft partner, across Commerce Scale Unit setup, configuration, and B2B customization.

• Does "same vendor" mean native?

  Not automatically. Dynamics 365 Commerce runs on its own Commerce Scale Unit and channel database, kept in sync with the ERP through Commerce Data Exchange, Microsoft's own synchronization mechanism, rather than reading the ERP directly.

The second difference: ERP integration architecture

Now, let’s get into architecture. Dynamics 365 Commerce runs as Microsoft's commerce engine, with its own channel database that has to stay aligned with the Dynamics ERP through Commerce Data Exchange (CDX). CDX includes a real-time service for select scenarios. Depending on configuration, pricing, inventory, and customer records may be handled through that real-time service or distributed to the channel database on a schedule, rather than read directly from the ERP on every request.  

Sana is built with the ERP as its foundation, reading directly from Dynamics at the moment a buyer requests it, so pricing, inventory, and account data are always current without a separate commerce data layer to keep in sync.

What this difference means in practice

• Pricing accuracy

  Sana reads each customer's price live from the ERP on every product list, product page, and at checkout. Dynamics 365 Commerce pricing typically lives in the channel database and is refreshed through CDX distribution jobs. CDX also supports real-time pricing for select scenarios, so accuracy depends on which model is configured.

• Data maintenance

  With Sana, there's one database to maintain: the ERP you already run, covering pricing, inventory management, and order data in one place. With Dynamics 365 Commerce, your team maintains a channel database that has to stay aligned with the ERP through CDX, on top of the ERP itself.

• Integration maintenance

  Sana's certified connectors are built and maintained by Sana, so staying current through ERP updates is the vendor's job. Dynamics 365 Commerce's CDX configuration needs attention through ERP and platform updates, typically owned by your team or a Microsoft partner.

• Implementation

  Sana arrives with certified, pre-built connectors across Dynamics NAV, AX, F&O/SCM, and Business Central. A Dynamics 365 Commerce implementation means standing up a Commerce Scale Unit and configuring CDX distribution schedules, usually with partner support.

The third difference: Cost, time, and what your team carries

The all-from-one-vendor route is a heavier implementation, especially since Dynamics 365 Commerce is built for retail and point-of-sale scenarios with B2B configured on top. Standing up a Commerce Scale Unit, configuring CDX, and building out B2B behavior means a longer time to launch, more developer and partner dependency, and a higher total cost of ownership (TCO) than a purpose-built B2B layer. Sana's out-of-the-box B2B store and certified connectors shorten that path, since there's no retail engine to reconfigure first.

What this difference means in practice

• Time to launch

  Sana ships as a ready-to-use B2B store built on your existing Dynamics ERP. A Dynamics 365 Commerce implementation is a retail-platform build configured for B2B on top.

• Team requirements

  Sana is configured and supported directly by Sana. Dynamics 365 Commerce depends on developers and, in most implementations, a Microsoft partner to stand up and maintain the Commerce Scale Unit and CDX.

• Cost profile

  Sana is a focused B2B platform with certified connectors included. Dynamics 365 Commerce carries its own license costs on top of a configuration and integration project to get it to B2B fit.

• B2B depth

  Parts buying, reorder behavior, and account hierarchies are built into Sana from the start. On Dynamics 365 Commerce, that depth is configured on a retail base, and how far it goes depends on the implementation.

Sana Commerce vs. Dynamics 365 Commerce: Feature comparison

Here's a full look at how the two B2B commerce platforms and their ERP integrations compare:

Where Dynamics 365 Commerce has an edge

Plenty of retailers run on Dynamics 365 Commerce for good reason, and those reasons deserve a fair hearing:

• A single vendor across your stack

  For a business already standardized on Microsoft, buying commerce from the same vendor means one contract and one roadmap, connected to the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem.

• Native connection to the wider Microsoft stack

  Dynamics 365 Commerce ties directly into Dynamics 365's customer relationship management (CRM) apps like Sales and Customer Service, Customer Insights, Power Platform, and the broader Microsoft 365 (Office 365) productivity suite, which is a real asset for teams already invested there.

• Breadth across retail, POS, and B2B

  Built on Microsoft's retail commerce engine, it has genuine depth for businesses running physical stores and point-of-sale alongside a B2B channel.

• A large partner ecosystem

  A long track record in the Microsoft channel means a wide bench of certified partners who know the platform.

Where Sana Commerce has an edge

For manufacturers and wholesalers on Dynamics, the gaps Dynamics 365 Commerce leaves are the ones Sana was built to fill.

• Parts buying that ships ready to use

  Visual and guided part search, exploded views, and reorder tools come standard. On Dynamics 365 Commerce, that kind of buying experience is built on top of a retail engine, and typically means custom development.

• A connector Sana owns end to end

  Certified, native integration across Dynamics NAV, AX, F&O/SCM, and Business Central, with no Commerce Scale Unit to host and no CDX schedule to configure.

• Data that matches the ERP without a distribution job in between

  Every price, stock level, and account term matches Dynamics at that exact moment, on every product list, product page, and at checkout, not as of the last CDX sync.

• Less infrastructure between the buyer and the ERP

  There's no channel database to stand up and no distribution schedule to monitor, since the storefront reads the ERP directly.

• Growth tooling that comes with the platform

  Commerce Console and Insights surface reorder and replenishment patterns from day one, not as a separate Power BI project to scope and build.

• A single source of truth

  Prices, stock, and customer data live in one place, so there's nothing to reconcile between the ERP and a separate commerce database.

Which platform matches how you sell?

The right choice depends on how much of your business runs through retail and POS, and how much value you place on staying inside the Microsoft ecosystem for commerce specifically.

When to choose Sana Commerce

• You sell equipment, parts, or consumables that need reordering on a predictable cycle. Buyers can track down the exact filter, belt, fitting, or anything in between by machine or image, and reorder in seconds, no part number memorized, no phone call.
• You want a commerce layer built for B2B manufacturing on the Dynamics ERP you already run, without adopting a retail platform and configuring it toward B2B.
• You want faster time-to-value with less to maintain, without standing up a Commerce Scale Unit or managing CDX schedules.
• You want to minimize integration and implementation overhead, with a certified connector instead of a channel database to configure.
• You want a single source of truth in the ERP, with no separate commerce data layer to reconcile.

When to choose Dynamics 365 Commerce

• You want a single-vendor stack across retail and B2B, tied directly into the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem.
• You run significant retail or point-of-sale operations alongside your B2B channel and want them on one platform.
• You have the developers and budget for a full implementation across the Microsoft stack, including Commerce Scale Unit hosting and CDX configuration.

Questions to ask on demo calls

Ask for a scripted demo and you get a scripted answer. Manufacturers and wholesalers on Dynamics should steer the conversation toward these:

• "Does the commerce product read live from our Dynamics ERP, or does it keep its own commerce data?" For Dynamics 365 Commerce, ask specifically how the channel database and CDX distribution schedule work in practice.
• "What does implementation actually involve, and who owns it after go-live?" Ask what portion of that work is Commerce Scale Unit setup versus core configuration.
• "What's a realistic time to launch for our Dynamics setup?" Be wary of ranges that don't account for CDX and channel database configuration time.
• "Can you show customer-specific pricing flowing from our Dynamics ERP at the point of purchase?" Ask for a live demo, not a description.
• "Can you demo guided part-finding on a real part with variants?" This shows whether there's genuine part search or just a search bar.
• "What's genuinely built for B2B versus configured on a retail base?" For Dynamics 365 Commerce specifically, ask which B2B features are native versus layered onto the retail engine.
• "How often does Commerce Data Exchange sync, and what happens to pricing or inventory accuracy in the gap between syncs?" A vendor with real Dynamics experience should have a direct answer.

Why B2B manufacturers on Dynamics choose Sana Commerce

Strip away the feature lists and what's left is a choice between one vendor for everything and a commerce layer built for B2B manufacturing on the Dynamics ERP you already run.

Sana leaves Dynamics as the system of record and builds the store on top of it, so your team launches faster, maintains one connection instead of a Commerce Scale Unit and a CDX schedule, and gets a buying experience shaped around parts and reorders instead of retail checkout. If your business runs SAP, including S/4HANA, alongside or instead of Dynamics, Sana supports that ERP natively as well.

Ready to see your own Dynamics data running the storefront instead of a sample environment? Request a demo and find out.