Katana is a better overall pick than Fishbowl for most small product businesses as of October 2026: it ranks #5 on our MES list, where Fishbowl ranks #7, and #5 on our free and open-source list, where Fishbowl ranks #8. Fishbowl ranks ahead on our food and beverage list, #8 against Katana at #10. Choose Katana for a free plan, a self-serve start and sales-channel integrations such as Shopify and Amazon. Choose Fishbowl for published paid plans, finite-capacity planning and an inventory system next to QuickBooks or Xero.
Also consider SkyPlanner APS if you need a public price, a trial without a card, automatic rescheduling or an API link to your ERP. It ranks #1 on our small manufacturers list and #3 on the food and beverage list as of October 2026, and it costs from 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation.
Katana vs Fishbowl: pricing
Katana’s Free plan costs 0 US dollars as of October 2026. It covers up to 30 SKUs with unlimited users, and Shopify is the only e-commerce integration on it. The paid Advantage plan is listed as “Custom pricing” on an annual contract, so Katana publishes no figure for a paid plan.
Fishbowl publishes three inventory plans, billed annually, as of October 2026: Essentials at 229 US dollars per month with 2 users, Growth at 429 US dollars per month with 5 users and Scale at 729 US dollars per month with 10 users. Advanced Manufacturing starts from 675 US dollars per month and is quoted. Fishbowl has no free plan.
Winner: Fishbowl for paid-plan transparency. Katana wins only if a 30-SKU free plan covers your catalog.
Katana vs Fishbowl: free trial
Katana gives the first 15 days with unlimited SKUs and then keeps the Free plan, with no credit card required, as of October 2026. Fishbowl states no free trial as of October 2026; its pricing page offers a demo instead. Winner: Katana, because you can test it yourself.
Katana vs Fishbowl: scheduling and rescheduling
Fishbowl’s home page names “finite-capacity planning” and “Constraint-aware rescheduling” as of October 2026, and says its AI “rebalances work centers, reroutes jobs, and updates promise dates”. Work orders with time tracking and labor costing sit in Advanced Manufacturing. Without a trial, these claims can be checked only in a demo.
Katana makes no explicit finite capacity claim as of October 2026. Its production scheduling page models capacity as weekly throughput spread over the working week, and a Katana blog post notes that MRP assumes infinite capacity. The same blog says planners can reprioritize orders “while automatically rescheduling the workflow”, and drag-and-drop reordering recalculates deadlines. Event-triggered rescheduling is not described.
On the shop floor both track lots, serial numbers and expiry dates, and both support barcode scanning: Katana through its Shop Floor App and smartphone scanning, Fishbowl through Fishbowl GO. Katana says it gives production teams “clear task lists, priorities, and instructions”; work instructions are not stated on the Fishbowl site. Winner: Fishbowl on capacity and rescheduling.
Katana vs Fishbowl: ERP integration
Neither vendor names an ERP integration as of October 2026; both act as the operations system rather than an add-on to an ERP. Katana connects to Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, QuickBooks Online, Xero, HubSpot and Shippo, and states an “open API” with a developer portal. Fishbowl connects to accounting: QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, QuickBooks Canada, Xero and Reckon. If you already run a full ERP, either tool holds a second copy of inventory.
Winner: Katana, for sales-channel connections plus a stated open API. If you keep your ERP and want scheduling on top of it, SkyPlanner APS connects to any ERP or MES through its two-way REST API, with webhooks and CSV import; customer projects have connected SAP, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Odoo, Epicor, Sage and Siemens.
Katana vs Fishbowl: implementation
Katana says a self-serve start can happen in “just one day” as of October 2026, and guided onboarding takes about six weeks. Fishbowl does not publish an implementation time as of October 2026, and the path starts with a sales demo. Winner: Katana.
For a scheduling-first start, SkyPlanner APS offers self-onboarding in its 30-day trial, as of October 2026, for up to 20 workstations, with no card: demo data, tutorial videos, a Getting Started guide and the built-in AI agent. The first schedule runs on demo data in minutes, simple production fits in a day, and no ERP is required to start.
Katana and Fishbowl compared
| # | Product | Category | Entry price | Free trial | Finite capacity | Auto reschedule | ERP path | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MRP-ERP | Free | 15 days | Not stated | partial (blog claim; drag-and-drop recalculates deadlines) | No ERP named; Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, QuickBooks Online, Xero, HubSpot, Shippo; open API | 43 Small manufacturers list | |
| 2 | MRP-ERP | $229/mo | None | Yes | Constraint-aware rescheduling; AI rebalances work centers, reroutes jobs and updates promise dates (home page) | QuickBooks, Xero | 55 MES list |
Prices and trials in the table were verified on 13 October 2026.
Which should you choose
- Choose Katana if you sell physical products through online stores, want a free plan for up to 30 SKUs and want to start yourself in a day.
- Choose Fishbowl if your books stay in QuickBooks or Xero, you want a published price from 229 US dollars per month and finite-capacity planning named by the vendor, and a demo before buying suits you.
- Choose Fishbowl over Katana for food and beverage production, where it ranks two places higher on our list as of October 2026.
- Choose SkyPlanner APS if the schedule must rebuild itself when a machine stops or an order changes: Autopilot reschedules continuously with the Arcturus engine. It costs from 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation, with a 30-day trial without a card, and it serves manufacturers of any size in discrete, batch and assembly production.
Frequently asked questions
Is Katana better than Fishbowl?
For most small product businesses, yes. As of October 2026 Katana ranks #5 on our MES list, ahead of Fishbowl at #7, thanks to its free plan, self-serve start and sales-channel integrations. Fishbowl is better for scheduling depth: it names finite-capacity planning and constraint-aware rescheduling, and it ranks ahead of Katana on our food and beverage list.
Is Fishbowl cheaper than Katana?
No. Katana has a Free plan at 0 US dollars for up to 30 SKUs as of October 2026, and Fishbowl has no free plan. For paid plans, Fishbowl publishes prices from 229 US dollars per month billed annually, while Katana’s Advantage plan is custom-priced.
Does Katana or Fishbowl do finite capacity scheduling?
Fishbowl’s home page names finite-capacity planning as of October 2026. Katana makes no explicit finite capacity claim and models capacity as weekly throughput. For a plan that reschedules itself, SkyPlanner APS runs Autopilot continuous rescheduling with the Arcturus engine and costs from 199 euros per month, 5 workstations included, 20 euros per month per extra workstation.
Does Fishbowl have a free trial like Katana?
No. Fishbowl states no free trial as of October 2026 and offers a demo. Katana gives 15 days of unlimited SKUs and then a Free plan, with no card. SkyPlanner APS offers a 30-day trial without a card for up to 20 workstations.