MRPeasy vs Katana MRP compared on pricing, scheduling and what each costs at your headcount

Both vendors publish their prices, and both lists were checked against the vendors' own pricing pages before this was written. Many comparison pages still quote Katana tiers at 179 or 359 USD a month that Katana no longer sells.

The full breakdowns, with every tier and add-on, are in our MRPeasy pricing and Katana MRP pricing articles.

Katana's bill does not move with headcount. MRPeasy's does, until the bulk rate flattens it past ten users. Here is the monthly software cost for a manufacturer that needs routings and operation steps.

On MRPeasy Starter the same four teams pay 147, 294, 569 and 648 USD. The Katana column is Core at 299 USD plus the Manufacturing Management add-on at 199 USD.

Three things fall out of that table.

• At three users MRPeasy wins on every tier. A three person team on Professional pays 207 USD, less than half of Katana's floor
• The crossover depends on the tier. Katana's 498 USD undercuts MRPeasy Enterprise from the sixth user, Professional from the eighth and Starter from the eleventh
• Katana's number is a floor. Sales orders are billed by delivered volume at rates Katana does not publish, so the real bill is higher in exactly the months you ship the most

If you need lot tracking on Katana, add 249 USD and the floor becomes 747 USD a month. If you need quality control or serial numbers on MRPeasy, you are on Professional at 69 USD a seat whether you like it or not.

This is where the two products differ most, and it matters more than the price if your orders ship late.

MRPeasy is the stronger of the two for a plant with real routings. Production planning ships in the 49 USD tier, and the schedule sits inside a full MRP with purchasing and stock. Katana is an inventory platform first. It plans by material availability and order priority, it is excellent at keeping stock right across Shopify and other sales channels, and it treats routings as an extra.

Neither one is a dedicated finite capacity scheduler. Scheduling is one module among many in MRPeasy, and in Katana it is a priority list. Plants with shared machines, long setups and two shifts tend to find that out after the purchase, when the software says an order is on time and the floor knows it is not.

• Buy MRPeasy if you have up to about ten office users, real routings, and want purchasing, stock, CRM and production in one system for a per seat price you can calculate today
• Buy Katana if you make products to stock and sell them online, inventory accuracy across channels is the daily problem, and many people need access without a seat count
• Look hard at the tier gates on MRPeasy. Barcodes, multiple sites and backward scheduling are Enterprise at 99 USD a seat, and API access is Unlimited at 149 USD
• Ask Katana for the sales order rate at your current volume and at double it, in writing, before you budget. That one unpublished number decides whether 498 USD is your bill or half of it

Both connect to QuickBooks Online, Xero and Shopify, so accounting rarely decides this. Where an export does not line up with your books, for example a marketplace payout file that will not import, you can convert the CSV into a QBO file instead of retyping it.

A lot of manufacturers comparing these two already have their stock and their books under control. What they lack is a plan the floor can run to. If that is you, both products are a large purchase for a small part of what they do.

ProductionPlanning.ai loads every machine against its real shifts, gives each open order a projected finish date and names the week's bottleneck. Line is 149 USD per plant a month for up to 10 work centers and 500 open orders. Plant is 429 USD with unlimited work centers, setup times and shop floor status. Every person in the plant can log in on both, and there is no usage fee. The side by side pages are MRPeasy alternative and Katana MRP alternative, and the plans are on the pricing page.

MRPeasy is better for a small manufacturer with real routings that wants MRP, purchasing, stock and production planning in one system, because all of that is included from 49 USD per user. Katana is better for product brands selling online that need accurate inventory across channels and unlimited users. Neither is a dedicated finite capacity scheduler.

Only for larger teams. Katana with the Manufacturing Management add-on costs 498 USD a month before usage fees, whatever the headcount. MRPeasy costs less than that up to five users on Enterprise, seven on Professional and ten on Starter. Past those points Katana's flat fee is lower, although its unpublished sales order fees narrow the gap.

No. Katana's Core and Advantage plans include unlimited users. It charges a platform fee from 299 USD a month, add-ons for manufacturing, traceability and warehouse management, and usage fees for sales orders and extra inventory locations. MRPeasy is the one that charges per user.

MRPeasy. It includes routings, production planning and drag and drop rescheduling on every tier, with backward scheduling and a master production schedule on Enterprise. Katana needs a 199 USD add-on for routings and plans mainly by material availability and order priority. For finite capacity on every machine and shift, a dedicated scheduler does more than either.

Yes, and many plants do. Keep stock, purchasing and orders where they are, export open orders with their operation steps and run times, and schedule them in a dedicated tool. The finished plan exports back as a spreadsheet, so promise dates stay consistent. Our best production scheduling software roundup compares the options.