Katana vs MRPeasy
Independent comparison. Pricing checked August 20, 2026 — always confirm current plans on each vendor's site before buying.
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Quick Verdict
Choose Katana when Shopify and multichannel inventory are central to the business and you want one price that does not increase with every user. Choose MRPeasy when production complexity is central and you need deeper MRP functions such as multi-level BOMs, finite-capacity scheduling, subcontracting, or quality control. If neither description is decisive, trial both with the same SKU, BOM, purchase order, and production order before choosing.
Choose Katana if...
You sell primarily through Shopify or other ecommerce channels, want inventory and sales orders visible quickly, and prefer unlimited users over per-seat pricing. Katana is the clearer first trial for a D2C maker whose main problem is keeping stock, orders, and production aligned.
Try Katana free →Choose MRPeasy if...
You need deeper MRP, multi-level BOMs, finite-capacity scheduling, subcontracting, quality control, or traceability. MRPeasy is the stronger first trial when production complexity—not ecommerce order flow—is the reason the spreadsheet is failing.
Try MRPeasy free →Comparison Table
| Katana | MRPeasy | |
|---|---|---|
| Best fit | D2C / wholesale makers: food & beverage, apparel, cosmetics, artisanal goods | Growing manufacturers: electronics, machinery, medical devices |
| Pricing basis | Free tier; paid Core plan with unlimited users | Per user, with functions varying by plan |
| Decision driver | Ecommerce and inventory flow | Manufacturing planning depth |
Pricing
The pricing models are fundamentally different. Katana uses a free tier plus a usage-based Core plan; MRPeasy charges per user and gates advanced functions by tier. Treat these figures as a budgeting baseline, not a quote.
| Katana | MRPeasy | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free up to 30 SKUs; Core starts at $299/month | Starter $49/user/month |
| Pricing model | Unlimited users and SKUs on paid plans | Per-user, tiered by feature (quality control, subcontracting, multi-location); SKU caps rise by tier |
| Free trial | Free plan, no credit card; 15-day unlimited-SKU grace period | 15 days plus up to 15 earned extension days; no credit card |
Official sources checked August 20, 2026: Katana pricingand MRPeasy pricing.
Because Katana bills per account rather than per user, it tends to be more predictable for small teams that expect to add users. MRPeasy's per-user pricing means costs scale directly with headcount, but its volume pricing (a flat rate for each additional block of users past the first ten) softens that as you grow.
Inventory Management
Katana emphasizes real-time availability across products, materials, locations, and sales channels. Its Core plan includes one inventory location, while traceability, warehouse workflows, and advanced planning are paid add-ons. MRPeasy combines inventory, purchasing, warehouse management, and lot traceability in its Starter plan; multiple stocks and sites appear on higher tiers. Check the exact tier against your warehouse count before comparing headline prices.
Production Planning
Both handle bills of materials and production orders, but they package production depth differently. Katana offers routings, planned-versus-actual material and time insights, and shop-floor reporting through manufacturing add-ons. MRPeasy includes multi-level and phantom BOMs, routing, shop-floor reporting, and finite-capacity scheduling in its manufacturing-focused plan structure; subcontracting and quality control begin on Professional.
Shopify / Ecommerce
Katana's real strength is multichannel sales — it was built with e-commerce sellers in mind, so Shopify and similar integrations feel native rather than bolted on. MRPeasy covers multichannel too, but its deeper feature set (multi-location warehousing, lot/batch traceability) is aimed more at manufacturers who need to prove where a component came from than at reconciling storefronts.
MRP
MRPeasy explicitly includes material requirements planning, multi-level and phantom BOMs, routing, production calendars, Gantt charts, and finite capacity scheduling. Katana allocates materials to sales and manufacturing orders and offers routings and shop-floor reporting through manufacturing add-ons, but it is better understood as a visual inventory and operations platform than a traditional deep MRP system.
Ease of Use
Ease of use depends on the workflow you need to model. Katana puts sales, inventory, purchasing, and visual production control at the center. That narrower decision surface can make it the easier evaluation for a Shopify-first team. MRPeasy exposes more manufacturing controls from the start, including routing, scheduling, shop-floor reporting, warehouse, purchasing, and CRM functions.
That does not make Katana universally easier or MRPeasy unnecessarily complex. It means the trial should match your operation. Test who creates a sales order, who releases a production order, how shortages are handled, and what the shop floor reports. The product requiring fewer workarounds for those tasks is the easier one for your company.
Best for Small Manufacturers
| User | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Shopify-first D2C manufacturer | Katana |
| Business needing full MRP and complex production control | MRPeasy |
| First manufacturing SaaS implementation | Trial both with the same real workflow |
| Moving from Excel | Trial both with a representative SKU, BOM, and purchase order |
| Under 30 simple SKUs | Start with Katana Free or keep the spreadsheet until complexity justifies migration |
Reporting & Forecasting
Neither tool is built primarily as a business-intelligence platform, but both cover the reports a small manufacturer actually checks day to day: stock on hand, production status, and open purchase orders. Katana's reporting is lighter and leans on its visual dashboards; MRPeasy's is more detailed, in keeping with its broader ERP scope, including cost-of-goods tracking that ties back to its production and procurement modules. If margin analysis by SKU matters to you day one, MRPeasy's reporting depth is the more direct fit; if you mainly need a clear at-a-glance view of what's running low, Katana's simpler dashboards do that job with less setup.
Switching Costs & Data Migration
Moving off a spreadsheet — or off another system — always costs some setup time, and it's worth budgeting for regardless of which tool you pick. Expect to spend real hours re-entering or importing your SKU list, BOMs, and supplier data; both vendors support CSV import, and both offer onboarding support, though MRPeasy's is more structured given its steeper learning curve. Trial the tool with a subset of your real SKUs rather than a demo dataset — that's the fastest way to find out whether your specific BOM structure and supplier setup map cleanly onto either system before you commit to a full migration.
Pros & Cons
Katana
Pros
- Clear fit for Shopify-first inventory and production workflows
- Strong e-commerce / Shopify integration
- Unlimited users and SKUs on paid plans
Cons
- Pricing has changed significantly over time — confirm the current rate before committing
- Less depth for multi-level BOMs and subcontracting
MRPeasy
Pros
- Deep BOM, subcontracting, and traceability support
- Production, purchasing, inventory, CRM, and reporting in one system
- 15-day trial plus optional extension days, no credit card required
Cons
- More workflows and configuration to evaluate during setup
- Per-user pricing scales with headcount
- Less polished interface than Katana
Final Recommendation
- D2C or wholesale brand selling on Shopify: Katana — the e-commerce integration and fast setup outweigh MRPeasy's deeper feature set for this use case.
- Multi-stage production, subcontracting, or regulated traceability (electronics, medical devices): MRPeasy — the extra onboarding time pays off once your BOMs have more than one level.
- Still under 100 SKUs and one sales channel: Neither yet — see the reorder point guideand revisit once the checklist says otherwise.
How this comparison was verified
Pricing, plan limits, manufacturing functions, and integrations were checked against both vendors' official pricing, feature, and Shopify documentation on August 20, 2026. The recommendations above are our editorial interpretation of those published capabilities—not vendor rankings or paid placement. Reconfirm the exact plan before purchasing.
FAQ
Can I switch from Katana to MRPeasy later, or vice versa?
Yes, but treat it as a real migration project, not a settings change — you'll re-map your BOMs, SKUs, and supplier data rather than transfer them directly. Most manufacturers who switch do so because their operation outgrew one tool's depth (moving to MRPeasy) or because they wanted a faster, more visual workflow than they needed at a larger scale (moving to Katana). Budget a parallel-run period where both systems are live before fully cutting over.
Do I need both inventory and accounting software?
Yes — neither Katana nor MRPeasy replaces QuickBooks or Xero, and neither tries to. They handle production, inventory, and purchasing; your accounting software handles the books. Both integrate with QuickBooks Online and Xero specifically so you don't have to double-enter data between the two systems.
Is either tool overkill if I'm under 100 SKUs?
Possibly. SKU count alone isn't the whole picture — a shop with 40 SKUs but multiple sales channels, BOM management, and frequent purchase orders can outgrow a spreadsheet faster than a shop with 150 simple SKUs and one channel. The checklist on the calculator page walks through the actual signals worth checking before you commit to either system.
Ready to look closer? Start a free trial with either vendor: