Inventory Planner vs Katana (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Inventory Planner if

• Fits if you already run Shopify, Brightpearl or similar and need better reorder planning
• Works for teams with many SKUs to forecast

Look elsewhere if

• Not for you if you want to start this week, as go-live takes 5 to 6 weeks
• Skip it if you want a price, as it asks for a request
• Too light for an inventory system, since stock and orders live in another platform
• Skip it if you want to try free, as no trial is listed

Pick Katana if

• Fits if you make your own products and need bills of materials and work orders
• Works for food and cosmetics makers who must trace batches for recalls

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want to see a price before booking a sales call
• Tight if you're staying free, as the 30 SKUs count every variant and material
• Not for you if your team wants native phone apps rather than a browser app
• Watch out: the paid plan is sold as one yearly contract, with no monthly option on record
• Watch out: the free plan has no live support, only the AI assistant and knowledge base

Inventory Planner

• No prices are published; the pricing page says cost is based on the volume of inventory managed and asks for a request.
• Unlimited users are included at no extra cost, per the pricing page.
• The vendor quotes 5 to 6 weeks to go live, so onboarding is not instant.
• It plans and generates purchasing; stock and orders are held in the connected platform.

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.

Inventory Planner

Demand forecasting

Predicts what customers will buy, SKU by SKU, as the basis for purchasing decisions.

Replenishment and purchase orders

Suggests what to order, when and where, and builds purchase orders from the recommendations.

Multi-location planning

Tracks stock across all warehouses and stores to avoid over-ordering.

Inventory reporting and analytics

Planning metrics from top level down to SKU, with retail analytics that match marketing spend to what is in stock.

Sage Copilot and Sage AI

An AI assistant for retail insights and the AI behind the recommendations, per the site's feature menu.

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.

Inventory Planner

Pricing could not be confirmed. See inventory-planner.com.

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.