Katana Cloud Inventory vs Timly

Fishbowl

NetSuite

Odoo 

Designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind, Fishbowl’s complete manufacturing and inventory management solution transforms the inventory process and uses automation to help growing businesses make strategic and precise decisions based on real-time data and cut costs.

NetSuite is an AI-powered cloud-based business management suite. It helps organizations streamline their operations and gain real-time insights into their performance. The suite caters to a range of industries such as manufacturing, retail, and professional services.

Odoo is an all-in-one, open-source business platform covering CRM, Sales, Accounting, Inventory, Manufacturing, and Projects. It’s fully integrated, customizable, and scalable for companies of any size or budget.

Production Manager

The only true complaint is that it doesn't support fractions.

Director

Read all reviews from recently and you will see very cleary how this greedy corperate company has failed their customers.

Operations Specialist

Customer service is very outstanding as well, I have asked them multiple questions and they always get back quickly with a well detailed response.

Operations Manager

The support is always helpful - they've been quick to answer and they have always been able to answer our questions.

Katana’s cloud inventory platform covers the live inventory, production, accounting, and reporting features that give businesses the knowledge they need to make the right decisions. 

Access Controls/Permissions

Accounting

Accounting Integration

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

AI Copilot

Alerts/Notifications

Asset Tracking

Audit Trail

Availability Management

Backorder Management

Barcode/Label Management

Barcode Printing

Barcode Recognition

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Barcoding/RFID

Billing & Invoicing

Bill of Material Analysis

Bill of Materials

Bills of Material

BOM Creation

Capacity Planning

Change Management

Channel Management

Check-in/Check-out

Chemical Management

Collaboration Tools

Components Tracking

Contact Database

Cost Management

Cost Tracking

Customer Accounts

Customer Database

Customer History

Customizable Fields

Customizable Reports

Customization

Dashboard

Data Analysis Tools

Data Catalog

Data Entry

Data Import/Export

Data Linking

Data Management

Data Synchronization

Data Visualization

Delivery Management

Demand Forecasting

Discount Management

Document Management

Drag & Drop

eCommerce Management

ERP integration

Estimating

Expiration Date Management

Financial Management

Food Costing

Food Traceability

For Aerospace Industry

Forecasting

For Manufacturers

For Metal Fabrication

For Small Businesses

Gantt/Timeline View

Generative AI

Historical Database

Historical Reporting

Integrated Business Operations

Inventory Auditing

Inventory Control

Inventory Management

Inventory Optimization

Inventory Replenishment

Inventory Tracking

Item Management

Job Costing

Job Management

Kitting

KPI Monitoring

Labeling

Label Printing

Label Templates

Location Tracking

Lot Tracking

Manufacturing Inventory Management

Marketplace Integration

Material Requirements Planning

Materials Management

Mobile Access

Mobile Commerce

Monitoring

Multi-Channel Management

Multi-Channel Marketing

Multi-Currency

Multi-level BOM

Multi-Location

Reviewers appreciate Katana Cloud Inventory’s integration and flexibility, and some users report it is affordable compared to traditional MRP systems. However, some reviewers feel pricing is high, with unpredictable hikes, mandatory fees, and disappointing discount options.

Value for money

The Katana Cloud Inventory integration most frequently cited by reviewers is Shopify, an eCommerce product rated 4.7 out of 5 for its integration with Katana Cloud Inventory.

Integrations

Reviews for Katana Cloud Inventory come from a wide variety of industries, including food & beverages (10% of reviewers), retail (10%), and consumer goods (9%). The most frequent use case for Katana Cloud Inventory cited by reviewers is inventory management (69% of reviewers).

Katana Cloud Inventory

Web-based

Android

iPhone

iPad

MRPeasy

Cin7 Core

QuickBooks Enterprise

Zoho Inventory

ERPAG

JobBOSS²

monday.com

Sage 100

Cin7 Omni

Free

Core plan

Owner

In the beginning, Katana delivered exactly what we needed - solid functionality, reasonable pricing, and an easy-to-use interface that worked well for a small manufacturer like us with modest sales order volume.

We’ve also experienced price changes mid-subscription period without meaningful notice, and being forced into annual negotiations simply to keep our plan.

Initially, the pricing was fair and manageable. But once Katana began taking on outside investment and aggressively scaling, things started to change.

That switch has been night and day for our team - not only financially but also operationally.

We really didn't appreciate that but all the manufacturing data of our company was inside Katana, our employees were trained and used to the software, so we swallowed the pill.

It is faster, easier to use, and roughly ¼ of the cost of Katana’s current pricing.

The production operation feature should allow you to set a default number of labor hours per task so that it isn't required with each manufacturing order setup.  

Katana tries by any mean to charge you with another 1 month subscription (899$) after your cancel it.

The Excel templates allow for bulk uploads of all of the required data categories which doesn't need to be uploaded manually.

Now in 2024, that price has increased to $399, BUT they took away several features we had become reliant upon and put them into separate "add-on" packages at $199 EACH—bringing my monthly all the way to $797!

President

It is very good, it allows me to have a complete vision of my business and make informed decisions based on the updated data.

You just lost another 7800$ overnight (per year, 23400$ for 3 years usage).

Founder

This escalation meant our expenses on Katana's services skyrocketed from around 100 USD to over 500 USD monthly – a fivefold increase in just two years.

An absolute disgraceful method to squeeze any $ left in your wallet.

it starts at 179$ per month, if you take the annual billing, which I don't recommend unless you know it very well , the monthly paiement starts at 199$

This company is being run like it's an open source "best effort" outfit, but charging premium monthly rates for a software that feels barely out of beta.

Production Engineer

The previous MRP system used required us to build a unique BOM for every variant, which took significant time.  

It was able to track when I needed to re buy items from my suppliers.

owner

I even told my friend who is a UX/UI for Meta to go look at the only software that I like using (compared to the FB ads nightmare wormhole of dashboard:))

We also anticipated the benefit of batch tracking, a feature crucial for our operations.

I would like to be able to process payments through eCommerce in Katana, those need to be done manually.

There are only 2 user levels "Superusers" with access to all levels of creative and destructive features, and warehouse operators, with access to make to BOM instructions.   

I love the way that you can upload information through Excel and the system is flexible with the upload.

Having used other systems, like inFlow, it has refreshing clean visually cued interface.

Basic functions disappear and appear later as a paid add on for hefty monthly fee.

We are not just numbers on a spreadsheet; we are a small business striving to survive and grow.

I was considering keeping these add-ons, but their serial number system doesn't work very well at all.

Ability to reject/second quality part of a manufacturing lot.  

Systems and Projects Coordinator

it has answers to all questions and resourceful tutorial on how to manoeuvre the system.

Head of Operations

This has been a very easy product to use - we came from a Netsuite operational backend but having a system that easily links to other products we use (Quickbooks, Shipping Platforms) was much easier to deploy.

The concepts of scheduling and general "idea" behind the katana system are good

OWNER

manufacturing and inventory management.integration with quick books

Katana wins hands down. And without charging you lots of extra fees to do things like multiple locations.

Our products have a lot of variants, and Katana makes it very easy to manage them all simultaneously.  

We're still in the implementation stage, but Katana has met the majority of our business requirements with ease.  

This was a significant blow to our finances, but we reluctantly accepted it, hoping for cost stability in the future.

Customer service has been outstanding to help me learn features and problem solve.

We regularly have to contact support with issues in their system.

They have increased prices by 523% since we started using this service.

ecommerce manager

We like having the ability to make manufacture orders so everyone involved can see what's been planned and when it's due.

It didn't work as originally sold, but they did improve it throughout the first year.

Now at the money grabbing stage before they implode, would be my guess.

I do receive some feedback, but sometimes it takes a while to receive it.

Our customer service team has to click individually into each order to see if any items are ready to ship.

We are making a sincere request to Katana: please reconsider your pricing strategy.

Pricing

Among reviewers who comment on Katana Cloud Inventory's pricing, 59% feel negative. Reviewers say Katana offers useful cost tracking and integration features. However, they report frequent, unannounced price increases, unexpected add-on fees, removed features, and billing issues. They also mention dissatisfaction with cancellation policies and user charges.

Katana Cloud Inventory vs Timly Comparison (2026)

Katana Cloud Inventory

Timly

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives