Katana

Katana is a browser-based inventory and order tool for businesses managing stock and routine purchasing and sales. Its free tier covers small catalogs, while paid Core removes the SKU limit but keeps inventory to one location. The lack of mobile apps and Core’s location cap narrow its fit.

Overview

Katana brings stock alerts, barcode scanning, purchase orders, and sales orders into a web platform. Those functions suit teams that need to coordinate everyday inventory activity from a browser. The permanent free tier is unusually open on users, integrations, and locations, but its 30-SKU ceiling limits its usefulness as a catalog grows.

Core lifts that ceiling to unlimited SKUs, yet allows just one inventory location. That trade-off is consequential: it favors a larger catalog kept in one place over a smaller operation spread across sites. Without mobile apps, teams that need a dedicated phone or tablet app should look elsewhere.

Key features

Stock and order workflows

Barcode scanning gives stock handling a practical tool, and stock alerts can help teams keep track of inventory needs. Purchase and sales orders cover both buying and selling workflows. Together, these features make Katana a focused choice for inventory and order work, though the available platform is web only.

Location and catalog limits

Free permits 30 SKUs and unlimited inventory locations, which can suit a small catalog distributed across locations. Core permits unlimited SKUs but only one location. Businesses with both a broad catalog and multiple locations face a poor fit between those plan limits.

Pricing

Free

Free costs nothing and is a permanent tier with no credit card required and no expiry date. It includes 30 SKUs, unlimited users, unlimited integrations, and unlimited inventory locations. That makes it a viable ongoing option for a small catalog, not merely a short trial; the SKU cap is the main constraint.

Core

Core starts at $299/month, scales with usage and add-ons, and costs $299 a month. It includes unlimited SKUs, users, and integrations, but only one inventory location. It suits teams whose catalog has outgrown Free and whose stock can be managed at a single location. The location limit is a significant compromise for multi-site operations, and scaling with usage and add-ons means the starting price is not necessarily the full cost.

Advantage

Advantage has custom pricing. It adds custom integrations, dashboards and reports, automations and workflows, a dedicated Solutions Engineer, SLA-backed maintenance, and regular CSM check-ins. Those additions are aimed at organizations needing tailored workflows and ongoing support; teams that do not need them can start with Free or Core.

Platforms

Katana runs on the web and has no mobile apps. It works for teams comfortable using a browser, but is not the right choice when mobile apps are a requirement.

Who it's for

Katana suits businesses that want barcode scanning, stock alerts, and purchase and sales orders in a web-based inventory workflow. Free is the better fit for a small catalog or a workflow that benefits from multiple inventory locations. Core is for a larger catalog managed from one location. Teams that need mobile apps or unlimited SKUs across several locations should consider another option.

Pros and cons

• Pros: The permanent free tier has no expiry or credit-card requirement, with unlimited users, integrations, and inventory locations; it can support an ongoing small-catalog workflow.
• Pros: Barcode scanning, stock alerts, and purchase and sales orders cover several practical inventory tasks in one web platform.
• Cons: Free stops at 30 SKUs, so a growing catalog requires a paid plan.
• Cons: Core’s one-location limit makes it unsuitable for managing inventory across multiple sites on that plan.
• Cons: No mobile apps are available for teams that need app-based access.

Alternatives

For a broader set of choices, compare inventory management software, material requirements planning software, production planning software, bill of materials software, and cost accounting software.

Odoo CRM is worth considering for teams that want an open-source option with a free one-app tier, unlimited users, and platforms including mobile, desktop, and web. webERP may suit teams seeking free, open-source software they can self-host across web and desktop platforms.

Global Shop Solutions ERP is a paid option with tailored pricing and an upfront plus ongoing quarterly cost. Trimble Viewpoint Vista offers cloud-hosted and on-premises deployments with pricing through sales. abas ERP is another paid option, with implementation costs varying by users, process complexity, data migration, functions, and adjustments. Epicor Kinetic offers platform-core, cloud-package, concurrent-user-license, and industry-bundle choices.

JOBPOWER is another paid option. TimeSuite is also a paid option.

Verdict

Choose Katana for web-based inventory and order workflows when its free 30-SKU tier or Core’s single location matches your operation. Its stock alerts, barcode scanning, and purchasing and sales orders provide a focused toolset, but the mobile-app gap and the mismatch between Core’s unlimited SKUs and one-location limit give multi-site or mobile-dependent teams good reason to look elsewhere.