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COBUS ERP/3 vs Salesforce

Last updated October 2026

Looking for a European alternative to Salesforce? Here's how COBUS ERP/3 compares, on EU hosting, GDPR and what it does.

Our pick for a European buyer: COBUS ERP/3. We weight data residency, GDPR and EU jurisdiction above everything else — that is the constraint this directory exists to solve.

What it is
German ERP for mid-market manufacturing with DMS, BI and CRM
Cloud-based CRM platform for sales, service, marketing, and more.
Headquarters
🇩🇪 DE
🇺🇸 US · 1999
EU data residency
not established
Available on some plansEU data residency available in Frankfurt on request or specific plans.
DSGVO / GDPR
Yes
Yes
Certifications
No
ISO 27001, BSI C5
Price from
No
No
Free plan
No
No
Open Source
No
No
Ratings
No
No
Integrations
SolidWorks, Microsoft products, CAD/CAM systems, CNC machine control
Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, DocuSign, QuickBooks +3

Where each one wins

COBUS ERP/3

Salesforce

Strengths

  • +Highly scalable for enterprises
  • +Extensive customization options
  • +Strong ecosystem with AppExchange
  • +Reliable uptime and performance

Limitations

  • −Steep learning curve for new users
  • −High cost for small businesses
  • −Complex setup and configuration
  • −Limited transparency in subprocessors

Data residency & compliance

COBUS ERP/3
Salesforce
EU data residency
not established
Available on some plansEU data residency available in Frankfurt on request or specific plans.
Transfer mechanism
not established
Standard Contractual Clauses
DPA
not established
Sub-processors
not established
not established
Certifications
No
ISO 27001, BSI C5

Features

COBUS ERP/3

Core ERP
Covers sales, purchasing, manufacturing and accounting, Supports make-to-order and series manufacturing, Industry-specific functions available
Production and planning
Defines production structures and workflows with bills of materials and work plans, Supports nested bills of materials for design, manufacturing, planning, costing and purchasing, Capacity planning and scheduling across orders with multiple capacities per workstation
Costing and analytics
Records preliminary costing data for production orders, Supports planned-versus-actual comparisons, Multidimensional BI analysis with 50+ graphical views (ABC analyses, portfolios, trends, target achievement)
Document management and CRM
Integrated document management with archiving, retrieval and access permissions, Multi-tenant support for document management, CRM/XRM with activity and relationship management
Sales and e-commerce
Online shop with prices and stock levels synchronized with ERP, Industry-specific sales functions

Salesforce

Core CRM
Lead and opportunity management, Contact and account tracking, Customizable dashboards, Activity and task automation
Data & Security
Role-based access control, Field-level encryption, Audit trails, Compliance with GDPR
Integration & Extensibility
REST and SOAP APIs, AppExchange marketplace, Custom objects and fields, Third-party app integrations
Analytics & Reporting
Custom report builder, Real-time analytics, Forecasting tools, AI-driven insights
Collaboration
Chatter for team communication, File and document sharing, Mobile access, Team workspaces