BOMIST vs Katana

BOMIST manages inventory and bills of materials for hardware teams and electronics manufacturing. It tracks parts, locations, usage, specifications, datasheets, and stock across multiple locations. Users can revise and compare BOMs, estimate batch costs, and identify missing parts for production. The software can create purchase lists when builds need inventory and combine them into supplier orders. Production tools cover reservations, kit lists, inventory adjustments after production, and customer and sales-order tracking. Supplier pricing and availability integrations include Octopart and distributor APIs such as DigiKey, Mouser, and TME. Data tools include CSV imports, CSV, JSON, HTML, and PDF exports, barcode printing and scanning, and a local REST API. Data remains locally accessible offline, while workspaces can sync through the cloud in real time. BOMIST lists Linux, macOS, and Windows, alongside API and self-hosted options. A free plan is available, as is a 14-day trial. The MAKER plan is $180 a year, billed annually at $15 a month; other paid plan details vary by tier.

Katana is web-based inventory and order management software with barcode scanning, purchase orders, sales orders and stock alerts. Its permanent Free tier costs nothing, requires no credit card and has no expiry date. Free includes 30 SKUs, unlimited users, unlimited integrations and unlimited inventory locations. Core starts at $299 a month, scales with usage and add-ons, and includes unlimited SKUs, users and integrations with one inventory location. Advantage has no listed price and offers custom integrations, custom dashboards and reports, custom automations and workflows, a dedicated Solutions Engineer, SLA-backed maintenance and regular CSM check-ins. Katana is available on the web, with no mobile apps listed. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia. The tiers create a clear capacity trade-off: Free allows unlimited inventory locations but limits SKUs to 30, while Core removes the SKU limit and provides one location.