Cascadia PLM vs Katana
Cascadia PLM
cascadiaplm.com
Katana
katanamrp.comSide by side
| Figure | Cascadia PLM | Katana |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $254.17/mo | $299/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 11 | 5 |
| Spec score · Bill of Materials Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.7 (#5) |
| Integrations | The pricing page lists optional Solid Edge and SolidWorks add-ins, and configurable ERP, MES, or CRM connectors including Epicor, Global Shop, and Odoo. | Native, partner and community integrations include Xero, Shopify, ShipStation, WooCommerce and ChatGPT, with additional tools available through the ecosystem. |
| Licence | The core PLM is licensed under GNU AGPL-3.0-or-later; commercial licensing is offered for organizations that cannot use AGPL or need enterprise capabilities. | Katana is delivered as proprietary hosted software; its official terms grant service access rather than publishing source code under an open-source licence. |
| Security controls | Documented controls include secure SameSite cookies, hashed session tokens, login lockout after ten failures, CSRF checks, same-origin CORS defaults, and upload path sanitization. | Katana states that data is TLS-protected in transit, encrypted at rest, access-controlled with RBAC and hosted primarily on AWS with backups and disaster-recovery procedures. |
| System requirements | The FAQ lists Node.js 20+, PostgreSQL 18+, 4 GB RAM, and 20 GB storage as minimums; production guidance is 8 GB or more RAM and 100 GB or more storage. | The Shop Floor application is browser-based rather than a native mobile app and supports current Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Edge browsers; camera access is needed for QR and barcode scanning. |
| What it does | Cascadia PLM is a product-lifecycle system for hardware companies managing parts, documents, engineering changes, requirements, tasks, and traceability. | Katana is cloud manufacturing resource-planning and inventory software aimed at small and midsize manufacturers. |
Plans
Cascadia PLM
- Self-Hosted CoreFree
- Self-Hosted CoreFree
- Managed Cloud$850 a month
- Managed Cloud — up to 20 editors$850 a month
- Managed Cloud — up to 50 editors$1,750 a month
- Commercial License — Pilot$2,090, paid once
- Managed Cloud — up to 100 editors$3,000 a month
- Commercial License — Growth$3,050 a year
- Commercial License$30,000 a year
- Commercial License — Enterprise$60,120 a year
Katana
- FreeFree
- Core$299 a month
- AdvantagePrice not published
- Core (Capterra listing)$299 a month
- AdvantagePriced on request
In their own words
Cascadia PLM
Cascadia PLM connects requirements, parts, bills of materials, engineering changes, and work orders in a product lifecycle record for manufacturers. Its core includes documents, multi-level BOMs, workflows, lifecycles, revision schemes, a file vault, search, import and export, APIs, and a 3D viewer. Engineering change orders can have separate workspaces for review before a team merges them. Item types, workflows, lifecycles, and permissions can be configured in TypeScript files and reviewed through pull requests. Documentation describes converting STEP and IGES files to STL and GLB for browser-based 3D viewing. Cascadia is self-hostable, with documented Docker Compose, single-server, distributed high-availability, and Kubernetes deployments; managed cloud is also offered. The free core includes REST and SysML v2 APIs, while managed-cloud API access is an optional paid add-on. Self-Hosted Core costs nothing. Managed Cloud — up to 20 editors costs $850 a month, billed $10,200/yr annually, and includes up to 20 editor seats and unlimited viewers. The maker describes the product as built for engineering and manufacturing teams.
Katana
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.