I would love to know what software people use to manage their maker-type business. Especially for CNC, 3d printing and embroidery.
Alright, I’m going to have to go around and answer all of my own questions. 
I’m looking at:
- Katana (https://katanamrp.com)
- Prodio (https://getprodio.com)
- Fulcrum (https://fulcrumpro.com)
Fulcrum is perfect, but it’s also very expensive. Because that’s how much perfect costs. Katana and Prodio are at the right price point for starting out. Katana is probably the best fit for now. But, I love Fulcrum!
| Feature/Question | Prodio | Fulcrum | Katana |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target Customer | Small | Small to Mid | Small to Mid |
| Pricing | $129/mo | $3,500 setup, $10,000/yr | $99/mo, $299/mo |
| Invoicing | No | Yes | Yes* |
| Embroidery-specific Features | No | No | No |
| 3d Printing-specific Features | No | No | No |
| CNC-specific Features | No | No | No |
| Inventory Waste | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| Board Waste | Not specific | Not Specific | No** |
| Board Inventory | Not specific | Not Specific | No** |
| Inventory Barcode | Yes | Yes | Yes*** |
| Inventory Updates via Barcode | Not sure | Yes | Yes** |
| Notes | They are a start-up and are very open to feedback from their customers. A Polish company with some minor English disfluencies in software. | They have customers who are just starting and have only one person in the shop. So we aren’t too small for them. I really like this software. It reminds me of the benefit of a mac over pc: It’s powerful, but it also gets out of your way so you can do your job. | * Integrates with Xero. You create the order in Katana and it creates invoices in Xero. ** Through partner integrations, there are many solutions. This is due to their OpenAPI *** Barcodes are part of the higher plan. |
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