Stocksmith vs Katana
We give Stocksmith and Katana the same GPA: 2.4 out of 4.0. Stocksmith grades higher on value for money. Katana grades higher on features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Stocksmith
Materials, recipes and costing for makers and small manufacturers
Katana
Inventory and production software for makers and manufacturers
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAStocksmithFair | 2.4GPAKatanaFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro's 25 order lines and one sales channel won't stretch to a shop and an online store, so the figure is Studio: $41 a month billed yearly ($490 a year), with 250 order lines and unlimited channels, users and locations. Inside the cheaper quarter of this category. | CA shop with an online store will pass the free plan's 30 SKUs fast, since every variant and material counts. After that it's Advantage, quoted after a scoping call on one yearly contract, so there's no monthly figure to set against other tools. With no published price, it sits in the middle. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 14-day free trial on any plan with no credit card required. Long enough to enter your materials and see a real cost per product. | CFree for up to 30 SKUs with every feature, unlimited users and the API, plus 15 days of unlimited SKUs with no card. A real way to try it, but 30 SKUs is a cap most makers will hit, and support on free is the AI assistant only. |
| Features | CMaterials with unit conversion, single and multi-level recipes, cost of goods from materials and labour, and channel imports that deduct materials. It does the maker's costing job fully, but the listing shows no barcode scanning, batch tracking starts on Indie and automatic stock sync on Business. | BMulti-level bills of materials, routings and work orders, live stock across locations, batch and serial tracking, sales and purchase orders and AI reorder suggestions. That's the whole job for a maker. There are no native phone apps, but the browser warehouse app handles scanning. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You'll enter materials, unit conversions and recipes before the cost figures mean anything, which is real setup for a busy maker. | CNo store rating on record to go by. Before it earns its keep you'll set up materials, bills of materials, routings and locations, and the paid plan comes with guided setup for a reason. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Shopify, Etsy, Amazon, WooCommerce, Square, Faire, Wix, Squarespace, QuickBooks and Xero. No phone or desktop app is listed. | BWeb only, with no native phone apps. It connects to Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, QuickBooks Online, Xero, ShipStation and HubSpot, has an API, and links to Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini over MCP. |
| Best for | makers costing materials and recipes | makers who build their own products |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Stocksmith and Katana. How we grade
Where they differ
- Katana has a free plan. Stocksmith does not, though it has a free trial.
- Stocksmith also covers reports and expense tracking.
- Katana also covers barcode scanning.
At a glance
| Stocksmith | Katana | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $20 per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly) | Not published |
| Free plan | None | Free plan for up to 30 SKUs with unlimited users, integrations and locations, every Katana feature and API access. Support is the AI assistant and knowledge base only. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial on any plan, no credit card required | A new free account can use unlimited SKUs for 15 days, no card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Stocksmith Pty Ltd | Katana Technologies OÜ |
| Price read from | stocksmith.io | katanamrp.com |
| Checked | Oct 18, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Stocksmith
- Etsy and Shopify makers who want to know what each product costs to make
- Small-batch makers that need batch and lot traceability
- Small manufacturers that sell direct and wholesale through Faire
Katana
- Small manufacturers that make their own products from raw materials
- Shopify brands that also run production in-house or with co-manufacturers
- Food, cosmetics and other businesses that must trace batches
Worth knowing
Stocksmith
- The plan you need is set by order lines a month, and each product in an order counts as a separate line.
- Pro allows 1 user and one sales channel; a second, different channel needs Studio or higher.
- Batch tracking and traceability start on Indie, and production scheduling and Amazon start on Business.
Katana
- No price is published beyond the free plan: Advantage is quoted after a scoping call and sold as one annual contract.
- The free plan stops at 30 SKUs, counting each product or material variant, and has no live support.
- There are no native phone apps; the warehouse app runs in a mobile browser at wh.katanamrp.com.
Key features
Stocksmith
- Materials and recipes
- Track raw materials and components, convert purchase units to the units you use, and build single or multi-level bills of materials.
- Cost of goods and labor
- Works out COGS from material and internal labor costs on every plan, with pricing guidance and expense records with attachments.
- Sales channel imports
- Pulls orders from Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, Etsy, Square, Faire, Wix and Squarespace and deducts the materials behind each sale.
- Production runs
- Automated production assemblies from Indie and production scheduling from Business, with production reports.
- Batch tracking and compliance
- Batch and lot tracking with traceability, compliance and audit reports from the Indie plan.
- Accounting connections
- Sends expenses, supplier invoices and COGS to Xero or QuickBooks, with full QuickBooks inventory sync on Growth.
Katana
- Production planning
- Multi-level bills of materials, routings and work orders, with materials assigned to orders and finished goods returned to stock when production ends.
- Live inventory across locations
- Stock for products and materials across warehouses, production sites and partner locations, with transfers and a real-time availability planner.
- Batch and serial traceability
- Track lot numbers, serial numbers and expiry dates from supplier to customer to answer recalls and audits.
- Sales and purchase orders
- Orders from Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce and wholesale in one list, purchase orders with landed costs, price lists and multiple currencies.
- Warehouse app and barcode scanning
- A browser-based warehouse app for receiving, picking, packing and stocktakes with a phone camera or a rugged scanner.
- AI replenishment and MCP
- AI purchase-order suggestions based on demand history, and an MCP connection to query and update Katana from Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini.
Plans
Stocksmith
Pro$20
per month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly)
$240 a year. Up to 25 order lines a month, 1 user and 1 sales channel, with single-level bills of materials and COGS.
Studio$41
per month, billed annually ($49 billed monthly)
$490 a year. Up to 250 order lines a month, unlimited users and sales channels, locations and daily order imports.
Indie$83
per month, billed annually ($99 billed monthly)
$990 a year. Up to 1,000 order lines a month, multi-level BOMs, automated production assemblies, batch and lot tracking and traceability reports.
Business$166
per month, billed annually ($199 billed monthly)
$1,990 a year. Up to 5,000 order lines a month, hourly imports, automatic stock sync, production scheduling and Amazon.
Growth$291
per month, billed annually ($349 billed monthly)
$3,490 a year. Over 5,000 order lines a month, QuickBooks inventory sync with automatic COGS and priority support.
Katana
Free$0
Up to 30 SKUs, unlimited users, integrations and inventory locations, all features and API access, with self-serve setup.
AdvantageCustom
Unlimited SKUs on one annual contract that includes guided setup, custom integrations and reports, a success manager and 24/7 live support.
Ways to pay less
Stocksmith
- Annual discount
Save about 17% with annual billing
Paying yearly saves about 17%: Indie is $990 a year instead of $99 a month, and every plan's yearly price equals ten months.
Katana
No public discounts listed.
