Cascadia PLM vs PartsBox

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.

PartsBox manages electronic parts inventory, BOM pricing, purchasing, production builds, and lot traceability for companies that build electronics. It tracks stock, storage locations, prices, and history, with quantities expressed in units such as pieces, length, weight, and area. BOM imports from KiCad, Altium, EAGLE, or CSV can be priced using distributor offers, price breaks, minimum order quantities, order multiples, and currency conversion. Production builds can be recorded in one pass or stages, including consumed stock and lots; additional tools include attrition, kitting, pick lists, and device serial numbers. Lot control tracks quantities, locations, costs, and production usability, with forward and backward traceability and an audit trail. Teams share an organization database with role-based access and can export entered data as one JSON file. Integrations include KiCad, Altium, a public API, and Zapier. PartsBox is cloud deployed and available through web and API. A free Maker plan is listed for personal projects; paid plans start at €49/mo when billed annually, and a 14-day trial is available.