Fishbowl vs Total ETO

Sortly

NetSuite

Odoo 

Sortly is an easy inventory solution that helps businesses track and manage their inventory from any device, in any location.

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.

Electronic Systems Manager

Working with complex electronic manufacturing processes, I have yet to find a need that fishbowl does not meet. When I'm having trouble configuring fishbowl to my liking the support team is very helpful and has successfully aided me in achieving our business goals.

ITAdmin

Great support structure when product expectation is not meeting identified needs or when question arises that is not readily available n documentation.

Automate your inventory management with real-time data in a cloud-based or on-premise solution that is simple to deploy and easy to use. Fishbowl streamlines the manufacturing process to increase throughput, accuracy, efficiency, and profitability.

3D Modeling

3PL Management

Access Control

Access Controls/Permissions

Accounting

Accounting Integration

ACH Payment Processing

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

Add & Edit Photos

AI/Machine Learning

Alerts/Escalation

Alerts/Notifications

Approval Process Control

Approval Workflow

Asset Categorization

Asset Kitting

Asset Lifecycle Management

Asset Planning

Asset Tracking

Audit Management

Audit Trail

Automated Scheduling

Availability Management

Backorder Management

Backup and Recovery

Barcode Generation

Barcode/Label Management

Barcode Printing

Barcode Recognition

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Barcoding/RFID

Barrel Management

Batch Printing

Batch Processing

Billing & Invoicing

Bill of Material Analysis

Bill of Materials

Bills of Material

BOM Creation

Budgeting/Forecasting

Business Intelligence

Business Process Automation

CAD Tools

Calendar Management

Capacity Management

Capacity Planning

Catalog Management

Cellar Management

Channel Management

Check-in/Check-out

Chemical Management

Commission Management

Components Tracking

Contact Database

Cost Analysis

Cost Estimating

Cost Management

Cost Tracking

Credit Card Processing

Customer Accounts

Customer Database

Customer History

Customer Management

Customizable Branding

Customizable Fields

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Customization

Custom Pricing Rules

Dashboard

Data Analysis Tools

Data Catalog

Data Collection

Data Import/Export

Data Security

Data Synchronization

Data Visualization

Delivery Estimate

Delivery Management

Delivery Record

Delivery Tracking

Demand Forecasting

Discount Management

Disposal Management

Document Management

Dropshipping Services

eCommerce Integration

eCommerce Management

Electronic Payments

Employee Management

Employee Time Clock

Equipment Management

Equipment Tracking

Estimating

Exchange Management

Expense Management

Reviews for Fishbowl come from a wide variety of industries, including electrical/electronic manufacturing (13% of reviewers), food & beverages (7%), and consumer goods (6%). The most frequent use case for Fishbowl cited by reviewers is inventory management (68% of reviewers).

Users and use cases

Some reviewers find Fishbowl offers comprehensive features at a reasonable price and appreciate the modular pricing and budget flexibility. However, some users report confusing pricing, unexpected ongoing costs, and say it can become expensive for small businesses.

Value for money

The Fishbowl integrations most frequently cited by reviewers are: QuickBooks Online (an accounting product rated 4.7 out of 5 for its integration with Fishbowl), QuickBooks Enterprise (an enterprise resource planning product, 4.5), and Shopify (an eCommerce product, 4.4).

Integrations

Fishbowl is an inventory management solution with key features that include inventory management, inventory control, reporting and analytics, purchase order management, inventory tracking, order management, and more.

Fishbowl

Web-based

Windows

iPhone

Linux

iPad

Android

QuickBooks Enterprise

Zoho Inventory

Katana Cloud Inventory

SkuVault Core

inFlow Inventory

Finale Inventory

Acctivate Inventory Management

SAP Business One

Cin7 Core

MRPeasy

Thrive by Shopventory

Wasp Inventory

Basic Inventory

Advanced Warehousing

Advanced Manufacturing

Fishbowl Commerce Suite

Challenging data import/export

Ecommerce and Customer Relations Manager

I find that most of the time I am exporting large reports that are slow to generate to transform in excel to get the information I am looking for.

58% of reviewers feel negative about Fishbowl’s data import and export functions. Some users report difficulties exporting data to QuickBooks, frequent errors, and slow report generation. Reviewers indicate that exported files often require extensive manual cleanup, and importing historical or fulfilled orders is not supported. Many users find the process unreliable, with recurring failures and limited support for troubleshooting, which complicates integration with other systems and daily reconciliation tasks.

Slow and unreliable phone support

60% of reviewers feel negative about Fishbowl’s phone support. Some users report long wait times, difficulty reaching live representatives, and frequent reliance on voicemail or callbacks that may take hours or days. Reviewers indicate that urgent issues are not addressed promptly, leading to operational delays. Many users feel frustrated by the lack of immediate assistance and inconsistent follow-up, which can leave businesses without timely solutions during critical problems.

Accounting integration and refund issues

78% of reviewers feel negative about Fishbowl’s accounting and refund processes. Some users report frequent problems with integrating Fishbowl and QuickBooks, including account mapping errors and transaction discrepancies. Reviewers indicate refund policies are strict and difficult to navigate, with many expressing frustration over non-refundable purchases and lack of flexibility. Users say customer service is often unresponsive regarding refunds, and some feel misled about satisfaction guarantees and post-purchase support.

Limited and inflexible reporting

IT assistant

Reports provided are too basic,  no help documentation to create your own reports. If you need a detailed or custom reports you have to purchase them apart.

60% of reviewers feel negative about Fishbowl’s reporting capabilities. Users say standard reports are basic and lack customization options, making it hard to generate the specific insights they need. Some reviewers mention that modifying or creating custom reports often requires additional costs or technical expertise. Many users find the reporting interface unintuitive, with exported data needing significant cleanup, and they express frustration over the inability to easily tailor reports to their business requirements.

Frequent software bugs and glitches

65% of reviewers feel negative about Fishbowl’s bugs and technical issues. Users say the software frequently freezes, crashes, or requires server restarts, disrupting daily operations. Some reviewers mention persistent sync problems with integrations, difficulty undoing mistakes, and limitations in correcting errors. Many users report that bugs can cause significant workflow interruptions, and they find the process of troubleshooting and resolving these issues time-consuming and frustrating.

Scalable for growing businesses

86% of reviewers feel positive about Fishbowl’s support for small business growth. Some users say the software is cost-effective for startups and small companies, allowing them to scale without major platform changes. Reviewers indicate Fishbowl’s tools and updates help businesses adapt as they expand, and many appreciate that the system is robust enough to handle increasing complexity. Users find it suitable for companies transitioning from basic solutions and value its affordability and adaptability.

Versatile feature set

Project Manager

Fishbowl has so many features that our company is still learning and find ways to better our processes.

CNC Technician

Fishbowl is a very expansive program with many features to help run a business whether you manufacture or not.

81% of reviewers feel positive about Fishbowl’s features. Some users report that the software offers a wide range of functionalities, including inventory and order management, dashboard overviews, and seamless integration with QuickBooks. Reviewers appreciate the availability of advanced features that can be tailored to specific business needs, and many say the program continues to add new tools and improvements. Users value the flexibility to utilize features as their business grows and their processes evolve.

Simple and accessible operation

CONTROLLER

AWESOME IT EASY TO GET AROUND AND FIND THE INFORMATION THAT YOU MIGHT NEED TO MAKE A GOOD EASY TO USE HELPFUL

92% of reviewers feel positive about Fishbowl’s ease of use. Reviewers appreciate that the system is straightforward, with a clear interface that simplifies daily tasks and reduces training time. Some users say they can quickly find and manage information, while others highlight that even those new to inventory software can learn it easily. Many users find the software makes their work more efficient and less stressful, emphasizing the time saved in routine operations.

Senior Production and Logistics Manager

Fishbowl is an easy solution that allows us to track inventory, manufacturing, and order fulfillment from the most basic parts and components, to finished and shipped product.

General Manager

Manufacturing has BOM's, Work Orders, Manufacture Orders, and has options for custom MO's as well as reverse MO's.

President

It has way more inventory functionality than Quickbooks and our e-commerce store and really does a great job for us when it comes to managing inventory.

Estimator and purchaser

It’s frustrating that common methods aren’t supported, and the lack of seamless billing integration makes managing subscriptions and transactions more time-consuming than it should be.

Accountant

It is amazing how much we are able to accomplish in just the warehousing license and the workarounds we created to manufacturing in a warehouse limited database.

Director of Corporate Operations

We were not able to link their system to our QuickBooks accounting software and online store (Shopify) to pull location of inventory available or shipping quotes prior to full sync.

VP of Operations

I would like more granularity and data analytics capabilities, for example, to drill down to individual raw material costs per sales order over time.  

I wish Fishbowl was able to split a sales order when parts of the order will be fulfilled at facility A and the rest of the order will be fulfilled at facility B.

Owner

Having an automotive based business, there are many combinations of parts we can put together, so kits has been very valuable to our business.

Customer Service Representative

I feel like there are some things that fall on shoulders of the CSR's that should be handled by the production team/warehouse (ie: picking and shipping) but that might not be a FB issue, that could be the way my company has decided to do things.   Because of that, I can't take away a star since that might not be a system issue.

Service Manager

Fishbowl has an end user friendly UI that makes creating orders, and purchase orders seamless.

warehouse manager

It’s a robust inventory management system that has helped bring structure and visibility to our warehouse operations.

Warehouse and Sales Admin Specialist

The system delivers strong functionality and integrates well with our existing processes, but some areas of the interface can feel less intuitive than we’d like.

Manager, Supply Chain

The real-time tracking of parts and assemblies, along with automated reorder points, has saved us from running into stockouts.

The ability to track inventory in real time and integrate with accounting systems is especially valuable.

Production Operations MGR

reports for venders and customers lack standard ISO 9001 performance, on time delivery and returns and defects.

Its real-time visibility ensures accurate stock levels, reducing the risk of overstocking or stockouts.

VP Operations - CSR Manager

Recently FB has been little troublesome in maintaining stock count, we face errors of pick stuck, unable to close short order etc.

I also appreciate how customizable it is for different workflows, allowing it to adapt to our specific operational needs.

We worked with developers to create a customer report for us that they just were not able to do (create a production list).

The system’s ability to integrate seamlessly with other platforms makes managing complex inventories effortless.

Fishbowl vs Total ETO Comparison (2026)

Fishbowl

Total ETO

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives