FactoryOS vs Katana

The factoryos vs katana decision often comes down to whether you manufacture custom orders or repeat batches of the same products.

FactoryOS excels when your shop handles custom fabrication work with unique specifications per order. Its job-centric workflow lets you track materials, labor, and costs against individual customer projects rather than generic production runs.

• Custom order management: Purpose-built for make-to-order and engineer-to-order workflows where every job has different requirements
• Project-level costing: Track actual vs. estimated costs per job, critical for custom fabricators bidding on future work
• Flexible BOMs: Easily modify bills of materials per job without disrupting master data
• Fabrication focus: Designed around the realities of metal fabrication, woodworking, and custom manufacturing rather than consumer product assembly

If you quote custom work, manage one-off projects, or rarely make the same thing twice, FactoryOS aligns better with your production reality.

Katana shines for product-based manufacturers who produce inventory for stock and sell through multiple channels. Its strength is real-time inventory visibility across sales platforms and production facilities.

• E-commerce integration: Native connections to Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon, and other sales channels with automatic inventory updates
• Batch production: Optimized for making repeated runs of the same SKUs with consistent recipes and routings
• Multi-location inventory: Track raw materials and finished goods across warehouses and production sites in real-time
• Visual production planning: Drag-and-drop scheduling for production orders with material availability checks
• Broader integrations: Connects with more accounting platforms and third-party logistics tools

Choose Katana if you manufacture products for inventory, sell through online channels, or need tight integration between production and e-commerce platforms.

Both FactoryOS and Katana use subscription pricing models scaled by user count and feature access, but their pricing structures reflect their different target markets.

FactoryOS typically prices based on the number of active users and jobs managed, with plans designed for small fabrication shops (usually 5-50 employees). Pricing is generally customized based on shop size and specific module needs. Most small manufacturers report monthly costs in the range appropriate for job shop management software.

Katana offers tiered public pricing starting with essential plans for small makers and scaling to professional and enterprise tiers. Plans are priced per user per month, with higher tiers unlocking advanced features like multi-location inventory, priority support, and API access. They typically offer a 14-day trial to test the platform.

When evaluating the factoryos vs katana pricing question, factor in implementation time, training requirements, and whether you need custom integrations—these often exceed the software subscription cost in year one.