MRPeasy vs Katana for a job shop
MRPeasy and Katana are built for companies that make and stock their own products: bills of material, inventory, reorder points, online-store integrations. MRPeasy publishes per-user prices from $49 a month; Katana has a free plan up to 30 SKUs and a custom-priced annual plan. A build-to-print machine shop works differently: every PO is a customer's part to the customer's drawing, routed through your machines and outside processors. That's what job-shop software like Tehdo is for.
MRPeasy and Katana compared
| MRPeasy | Katana | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | "small and medium-sized manufacturers and distributors (up to 200 employees)" | Makers and brands managing products, stock and sales channels |
| Price | $49, $69, $99 or $149 per user per month; from the 11th user, $79 per 10 more users | Free up to 30 SKUs; Advantage is custom-priced, one annual contract, unlimited users |
| Trial | 15 + 15 days, no credit card | Unlimited SKUs for 15 days, then 30 SKUs on Free |
| Setup | Self-serve | Free: self-serve. Advantage: implementation manager included |
| Strong at | MRP, bills of material, cost and lead-time estimates for quotes, integrations (QuickBooks Online, Xero, Shopify and more) | Inventory, Shopify and e-commerce, QuickBooks Online and Xero |
Sources: mrpeasy.com/pricing, katanamrp.com/pricing, checked October 30, 2026.
Where both get awkward in a build-to-print shop
- Every part is the customer's. A job shop's "products" are customer part numbers at a revision. Setting each one up as a stock item with a bill of material is overhead for a part you may make once.
- The route is the job. Saw, Op 10, Op 20, deburr, anodize at an outside vendor, inspect. What you need to see is which step every PO line is at and what's sitting at the plater.
- Buyers want status, not a shipment notice. Your customer wants to know if their 120 brackets are on track, mid-job.
- Paperwork follows the job. Travelers, certs with heat numbers, C of Cs and partial packing slips.
What Tehdo does instead
Tehdo starts from the customer's PO: forward it and Tehdo reads the lines. Each part moves through your own steps on your own machines, each person sees their tasks on a phone, the planning board shows what's late, and travelers, packing slips and invoices print from the order. Your buyer gets a link that shows where their order is. It's $500 a month for the whole shop, setup included.
Where MRPeasy and Katana are stronger: if you make and stock your own product line, need MRP or sell through an online store, they're built for that and Tehdo isn't.
| For a 12-person shop | Per month |
|---|---|
| MRPeasy Professional (12 users) | $769 |
| Katana Advantage | Custom quote, annual contract |
| Tehdo (whole shop) | $500 |
Questions
Is MRPeasy good for a machine shop?
It can work for a shop that makes and stocks its own products. For pure build-to-print work, its strengths (bills of material, stock, MRP) matter less than routing every customer PO through your machines and outside processors and keeping buyers updated.
Is Katana free?
Katana's Free plan is $0 with no card for up to 30 SKUs. The Advantage plan has custom pricing under one annual contract with unlimited users and implementation included.