Head to head
Sage 50cloud Pastel vs Sage Accounting
Both products assessed against the same checklist, with ratings drawn from 743 verified reviews.
Sage 50cloud Pastel
Accounting Software
3.9
331 verified reviews
R520
per month, from, excl VAT
Sage Accounting
Accounting Software
4.2
412 verified reviews
R220
per month, from, excl VAT
- Rating gap
- 0.3
- Reviews behind this
- 743
- Monthly price gap
- R300
- Features they share
- 1
Side by side
How they compare
Ratings computed from published reviews, and the specifications that change what a product costs to run. The washed column is the higher rated of the two.
| Compared on | Sage Group plc | Higher rated overall |
|---|---|---|
| What reviewers say | ||
| Overall rating | 3.9 | 4.2, higher |
| Ease of use | 3.8 | 4.0, higher |
| Value for money | 3.9 | 4.1, higher |
| Customer service | 3.8 | 3.9, higher |
| Functionality | 4.0 | 4.1, higher |
| Verified reviews | 331 | 412 |
| What it costs | ||
| Starting price | R520per month, from | R220per month, from |
| VAT basis | Excl VAT | Excl VAT |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Published plans | 2 | 3 |
| Vendor and support | ||
| Vendor | Sage Group plc | Sage Group plc |
| Founded | 1989 | 1981 |
| Support channels | Telephone, Email, Partner network, Knowledge base | Telephone, Email, Live chat, Knowledge base, Partner network |
| Integrations listed | 6 | 10 |
| Local bank feeds | 5 | 7 |
The local yardstick
South African compliance
Amber marks a gap rather than a feature. This is usually where the decision is actually made.
Sage 50cloud Pastel
- VAT201 at 15%
- Zero rated and exempt supply handling
- IT14SD supporting schedules
- Annual statutory update releases
- Data held on premises, POPIA responsibility sits with you
Sage Accounting
- VAT201 at 15%
- SARS eFiling transfer
- Zero rated and exempt supply handling
- IT14SD supporting schedules
- POPIA operator agreement
- CIPC annual return support via accountant
What they cost
Pricing, compared properly
Check the VAT basis on each. Vendors are not consistent, and the difference is 15%.
Sage 50cloud Pastel
Listed excluding VAT
- R520/mo
Pastel PartnerPopular
1 user, additional seats charged separately
- R780/mo
Pastel Partner Advantage
1 user, additional seats charged separately
Sold as an annual licence with a monthly payment option. Prices exclude VAT and additional user seats are charged separately.
Sage Accounting
Listed excluding VAT
- R220/mo
Start
1 user
- R495/mo
StandardPopular
Up to 3 users
- R735/mo
Premium
Up to 10 users
Sage publishes South African list prices excluding VAT. Add 15% for the figure that lands on your invoice.
Capability
The full feature matrix
Every feature either product offers, and whether the other one has it.
| Compared on | Sage Group plc | Higher rated overall |
|---|---|---|
| 27 features across both products | ||
| Age analysis | Not included | Included |
| Audit trail on every transaction | Not included | Included |
| Bank feeds and automatic matching | Not included | Included |
| Basic inventory | Not included | Included |
| Bill of materials | Included | Not included |
| Budgeting and cash flow forecasts | Not included | Included |
| Cloud backup and offsite storage | Included | Not included |
| Customer and supplier ledgers | Not included | Included |
| Fixed asset register | Included | Included |
| Free accountant and auditor access | Not included | Included |
| Full general ledger | Included | Not included |
| Invoicing and quoting | Not included | Included |
| Job costing | Included | Not included |
| Landed cost tracking | Included | Not included |
| Mobile app for iOS and Android | Not included | Included |
| Multi company | Included | Not included |
| Multi currency | Included | Not included |
| Multi currency invoicing | Not included | Included |
| Multi warehouse inventory | Included | Not included |
| Point of sale add on | Included | Not included |
| Project and job costing | Not included | Included |
| Purchase orders | Not included | Included |
| Recurring invoices and debit orders | Not included | Included |
| Report writer | Included | Not included |
| Serial and lot tracking | Included | Not included |
| VAT201 and SARS reporting | Included | Not included |
| VAT201 and VAT reconciliation | Not included | Included |
Our verdict
Which one you should buy
We name a winner. Listing differences and leaving the decision to the reader is not a verdict.
Same vendor, genuinely different products, and the choice is not about old against new.
Pastel is deeper. Multi warehouse inventory, serial and lot tracking, bill of materials, landed costs, a report writer that will produce almost anything. It runs locally, so month end survives a power cut or a dead fibre node, which for a manufacturer in an industrial area is an operational argument rather than nostalgia.
Sage Accounting is easier, cheaper to run, accessible from anywhere and has no network to maintain. Its inventory is adequate for a small retailer and not good enough for a distributor.
Buy Pastel if you have real inventory complexity or unreliable connectivity, and accept the training cost and the hosted desktop for remote access. Buy Sage Accounting for anything else. Note that Sage is investing in the cloud products, so Pastel is a mature choice rather than a growing one.
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