RISE with SAP vs. GROW with SAP: Choosing Your Path to the Cloud in 2026

As SAP accelerates its push toward an AI-native, cloud-first future, businesses are faced with a critical decision: how best to transition to SAP S/4HANA. To streamline this journey, SAP offers two primary bundles: RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP.

While both offerings are built on the foundation of SAP S/4HANA Cloud and provide access to the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), they are designed for entirely different types of customers, deployment models, and business needs. Understanding the distinction is essential to avoiding costly missteps and ensuring a successful digital transformation in 2026.

What is RISE with SAP?

Launched in 2021, RISE with SAP is a comprehensive "Business Transformation as a Service" package. It is primarily built around the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Private Edition.

RISE is designed for SAP's existing installed base—typically mid-to-large enterprises that currently run SAP ECC or older ERP systems. These organizations often have highly complex, customized business processes that cannot be easily forced into a rigid, standardized cloud model.

Key Features of RISE with SAP

• Private Cloud Deployment: Offers a dedicated, single-tenant environment hosted by a hyperscaler of choice (AWS, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure).
• High Customization: Allows organizations to retain necessary legacy customizations and complex configurations.
• Comprehensive Toolset: Includes business process intelligence tools (like SAP Signavio), the SAP Business Network Starter Pack, and advanced AI capabilities.
• Migration Focus: Built to support complex Brownfield (system conversion) or Bluefield (selective data transition) migrations.

What is GROW with SAP?

Introduced in 2023, GROW with SAP is targeted at a completely different audience: small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), or net-new customers (Greenfield) who have never used an SAP ERP before.

GROW is built exclusively around the SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition. It is a true Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, designed for speed, simplicity, and standardization.

Key Features of GROW with SAP

• Public Cloud Deployment: A multi-tenant SaaS environment where all customers share the same infrastructure and receive automatic, mandatory updates [2].
• Preconfigured Best Practices: Relies on industry-standard best practices out-of-the-box, meaning businesses must adapt their processes to the software, not the other way around.
• Rapid Implementation: Designed for speed, allowing businesses to go live in a matter of weeks or a few months, significantly faster than a traditional ERP rollout.
• Cost-Effective: Offers lower upfront costs and a simpler subscription pricing model, making it highly accessible for growing companies.

Key Differences at a Glance

To help clarify the decision-making process, here is a comparison of the two offerings:

Which Solution is Right for Your Business?

The choice between RISE and GROW ultimately comes down to your organization's size, complexity, and current IT landscape.

You should choose RISE with SAP if:

• You are an existing SAP ECC customer looking to move to the cloud while preserving past investments and critical custom code.
• You operate in a highly regulated industry that requires the security and control of a private cloud environment.
• Your business processes are highly complex and provide a unique competitive advantage that cannot be replaced by standard out-of-the-box processes.

You should choose GROW with SAP if:

• You are a fast-growing SME looking to implement a robust ERP system for the first time.
• You want to adopt industry best practices and are willing to standardize your business processes to fit the software.
• You need a rapid implementation with a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and want the simplicity of a true SaaS model.

The 2026 Perspective: AI and Continuous Innovation

In 2026, both RISE and GROW are evolving beyond simple cloud hosting to become platforms for AI-driven innovation. SAP is embedding generative AI (Joule) and advanced analytics deeply into both editions. However, the path to leveraging these technologies differs. GROW users will receive AI updates automatically as part of the public cloud release cycle, while RISE users will need to strategically manage their private cloud upgrades to adopt new "AI-native" capabilities.

Ultimately, whether you RISE or GROW, the destination is the same: a modern, agile, and intelligent enterprise ready for the future.