FerroSync vs Katana

Katana is a well-known manufacturing and inventory platform — and it deliberately leaves accounting to QuickBooks or Xero. FerroSync takes the opposite bet: your production and your general ledger belong in the same system.

	FerroSync	Katana
Accounting	Built in: double-entry GL, statements, periods, year-end close	Via QuickBooks / Xero integration — a second system to buy and reconcile
Production	BOMs, production orders with costing, work centers, MRP → draft POs	BOMs, make-to-order/stock workflows, visual scheduling
Traceability	Lots + expiry with FEFO picking, serial numbers	Batch/lot tracking on higher tiers
Procurement	POs with approval thresholds, partial receiving, 3-way match, landed costs	Purchase orders; approvals and matching are lighter
Banking & AR/AP	Bank reconciliation with auto-match, AR/AP aging, credit limits, statements	Lives in your accounting package, not in Katana
E-commerce connectors	Not yet — CSV import/export today	Strong: Shopify, WooCommerce and marketplace integrations
Deployment	Your own isolated instance and database	Shared multi-tenant SaaS
Pricing	$500/mo + $50/user — every module included	Tiered per-plan pricing (typically from ~$199/mo) + your accounting subscription
Free trial / demo	Instant live demo with sample data, no card	Trial available

Competitor details summarized from public materials and may change — verify current capabilities and pricing with the vendor.

Why manufacturers pick FerroSync

Your books live where your production lives

Katana’s answer to accounting is an integration: production in one system, the ledger in another, and a sync you get to babysit. In FerroSync every receipt, production run, shipment, and payment posts to a real double-entry GL automatically — trial balance, P&L, and balance sheet included. Those four shop-floor events — receipt, consume into WIP, finish, and ship/COGS — are walked through as journals in How shop-floor events post to the general ledger.

One subscription, not two

The true cost of Katana is Katana plus QuickBooks or Xero, plus the hours reconciling them. FerroSync is one flat price — $500 a month plus $50 per user — with accounting, banking, and procurement already in the box.

Traceability an auditor will accept

Lots with expiry dates and FEFO picking, serial numbers, and cycle counts that post to the ledger. Lot/serial, FEFO, production orders, and the ledger are documented together on Features. If you make food, cosmetics, or anything with a recall risk, ‘which lot went to which customer’ is a query, not an archaeology project.

Your own instance, your own data

Every FerroSync customer runs an isolated instance with its own database — not a row in a shared system. It's the difference between renting a seat and owning the workshop.

When Katana is the right choice

Honesty makes better customers. Pick Katana if drag-and-drop visual production scheduling is your daily driver, if your business runs on Shopify or marketplace channels and you need those connectors today, or if you’re happy in QuickBooks/Xero and only want a manufacturing layer on top. Pick FerroSync if you want the whole operation — floor to financial statements — in one system you own. If the other tab on your shortlist is self-serve MRP rather than a visual scheduler, see FerroSync vs MRPeasy.

See all comparisons — Katana, MRPeasy, NetSuite, and spreadsheets.

See your production and your ledger in one place.

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