Best Project Management Software for Small Manufacturers

Website: https://katanamrp.com

Best for: Inventory and production in one place

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan covers up to 30 SKUs with all features; unlimited users on every plan

Cons: No published price, since Advantage is a custom annual contract; only Shopify integrates on the free plan

Katana is built for small manufacturers that make and sell physical products. It combines inventory, manufacturing, purchasing and sales orders in one system, with bills of materials that update stock as components are used. The shop floor app shows work orders, and the free plan includes all features within a 30 SKU limit, with unlimited users and locations. A new account can work with unlimited SKUs for the first 15 days.

Katana is now sold as Advantage, a custom annual contract, and the vendor publishes no dollar figures. The price covers the setup, integrations and dashboards in the agreed scope. A small manufacturer should ask for a quote and compare it with MRPeasy, which publishes its prices. Katana suits a maker with a small catalog.

Website: https://www.mrpeasy.com

Best for: Small factory MRP and planning

Starting price: $49 per user/month

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: True MRP with bills of materials and routing; no contracts and no module pricing

Cons: Per-user cost scales fast with a bigger team; API and webhooks need Unlimited at $149 per user

MRPeasy is a cloud MRP system built for small and medium manufacturers. It covers production planning, shop floor control, inventory, purchasing, CRM and reporting, with bills of materials, routing and lot traceability. The vendor charges per user each month, with no contracts or module pricing, and annual billing gives one month free. The free trial runs 15 days plus 15 more, with no credit card needed.

Starter costs $49 per user each month, Professional costs $69, Enterprise costs $99, and Unlimited costs $149, with a 2-user minimum on Unlimited. After the first 10 users, extra users are added in bundles of 10 for $79 a month. A 5-person team on Starter would pay $245 a month. The API needs the Unlimited tier. For a small factory that wants real MRP, MRPeasy is a strong fit.

Website: https://www.fishbowlinventory.com

Best for: Inventory with QuickBooks sync

Starting price: $229 per month (billed annually)

Free plan: No

Pros: Deep QuickBooks and Xero sync; barcode scanning and lot traceability built in

Cons: Essentials costs $229 a month for only 2 users; an implementation package is part of every purchase

Fishbowl is inventory software for businesses that make and sell physical products, with two-way QuickBooks sync built in. The Essentials plan costs $229 a month billed annually and includes 2 users, with real-time inventory tracking, reorder points, mobile barcode scanning and QuickBooks Online and Xero sync. Growth costs $429 a month for 5 users and adds fulfillment, automated reordering and multichannel selling. Scale costs $729 a month for 10 users and adds lot traceability and audit trails.

Price is the main drawback for a small shop. Essentials at $229 a month covers only 2 users, and an implementation package is part of every purchase, with data migration and 6 to 8 weeks of training. Demand forecasting is an add-on on Growth and included on Scale. Fishbowl suits a manufacturer that already runs QuickBooks and needs serious inventory control.

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: Visual boards across jobs

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Flexible boards and dashboards; easy sharing with suppliers and customers

Cons: Time tracking and budgets need higher tiers; seats sell in fixed buckets starting at 3

monday.com gives a small manufacturer a visual board for each job, with columns for phase, owner, deadline, cost and customer. A dashboard shows every active job at once, with status and spend. Timeline and workload views show who is free for the next job and who is already at full capacity. Files and approvals live on each item.

The Basic plan costs $9 per user each month on annual billing, and the free plan covers up to two seats. Every plan starts at a 3-seat minimum, and seats sell in fixed buckets, so a 4-person team pays for 5 seats. Time tracking and budgets need the Standard or Pro tiers, so a manufacturer that tracks hours and job costs should price the Pro tier before deciding. monday.com has no MRP or stock tools.

Website: https://www.smartsheet.com

Best for: Phased plans with Gantt charts

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Spreadsheet style that office staff learn fast; strong Gantt and critical path views

Cons: Pro caps at 10 members, so larger teams pay Business at $19 per member; no free plan for new signups

Smartsheet feels like a spreadsheet with project tools built in, which suits manufacturers whose office staff already work in rows and columns. A factory can plan each job as a phased schedule with Gantt charts, then share views with customers and suppliers. Automated alerts flag late tasks. The Pro plan costs $9 per user each month on annual billing, with a 30-day free trial and no credit card needed.

The limits are real. Pro caps at 10 members, so a growing team must move to Business at $19 per member each month, more than double the per-seat price. The free plan has been closed to new signups since August 2024, so a manufacturer starts on the trial and then pays. Smartsheet has no MRP or stock tools, so it works best beside a specialist system such as MRPeasy or Fishbowl.

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: All-in-one tasks, docs and goals

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Docs, tasks, whiteboards and goals in one place; generous free plan

Cons: Free plan caps storage at 60 MB and allows only 1 form; timesheets need Business at $17 per user

ClickUp combines tasks, documents, whiteboards and goals, so a manufacturer can keep a job plan and a supplier list in one workspace. Custom fields track job type, budget and hours, and dashboards roll those numbers up for the owner. Templates for a typical production job cut setup time. Time tracking is built in, which helps manufacturers who bill by the hour for custom work.

The free plan is generous, with unlimited tasks and members, and the Core plan costs $9 per user each month on annual billing. The free plan caps storage at 60 MB and allows only 1 form, and timesheets need the Business plan at $17 per user each month. ClickUp offers many settings, so a manufacturer should build templates before rolling it out. The low entry price makes it a good fit for a small team.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: Multi-job tracking and timelines

Starting price: $10.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clean portfolios and workload views; strong templates

Cons: Free plan caps at 2 users; native time tracking needs Advanced at $24.99 per user

Asana suits a manufacturer that runs several jobs in parallel and wants a clean view of all of them. Portfolios group jobs by customer or product line, and the timeline view shows how jobs overlap on the shop floor. Workload views show which staff are overloaded. Templates for a standard production run keep every job consistent.

The Starter plan costs $10.99 per user each month on annual billing, and the free Personal plan covers up to 2 users. Native time tracking only arrives on Advanced at $24.99 per user each month, so a manufacturer that tracks hours should budget for that tier. Asana has no MRP or stock tools, so a maker who needs those should pick Katana, MRPeasy or Fishbowl instead.

Website: https://www.wrike.com

Best for: Structured approvals and timelines

Starting price: $9.80 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Strong approval workflows and request forms; clear Gantt and workload views

Cons: Manufacturing templates are generic; reporting and time tracking need higher tiers

Wrike gives a small manufacturer structured workflows for the approvals that slow a job down. Request forms collect custom orders and change requests, and the Gantt view shows how a delay affects the ship date. Workload views show staff capacity. The Team plan costs $9.80 per user each month on annual billing, and the free plan covers basic task work.

The drawback is that Wrike is a general tool, so its manufacturing templates are generic and it has no built-in MRP, stock or bill of materials system. Reporting and time tracking need higher tiers, so a manufacturer that wants detailed job costing should check the Business plan price. For a maker that values approvals and structured timelines, Wrike is a solid choice.

Website: https://trello.com

Best for: Simple boards for small teams

Starting price: $5 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: The simplest boards here, learned in minutes; lowest starting price at $5 per user

Cons: Free plan caps at 10 boards per workspace; timeline and calendar views need a higher tier

Trello is the simplest tool in this list, and that is its strength for a very small team. A maker can set up a board for each order in minutes, with lists for to do, in production and shipped, and cards for each task and deadline. Staff can move their own cards and attach photos. The mobile app works well on a phone on the shop floor.

The Standard plan costs $5 per user each month on annual billing, the lowest entry price here. The free plan caps at 10 boards per workspace, so a shop with many active orders needs the Standard plan. Timeline, calendar and dashboard views need a higher tier, and automation runs are capped. Trello suits a maker with a handful of orders at a time.

Website: https://www.airtable.com

Best for: Tracking parts, orders and stock

Starting price: $20 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Powerful tables with filters and views; good for parts lists and order tracking

Cons: Free plan caps at 1,000 records per base; Gantt and extensions need Team at $20 per user

Airtable works like a spreadsheet with a database behind it, which suits a manufacturer that tracks lists: parts, suppliers, orders, customers and stock. Each list is a base with tables, filters and views, so the office can see the same data as a grid or a Kanban board. Automations can send reminders when a deadline approaches. The Team plan costs $20 per user each month on annual billing.

The free plan caps at 1,000 records per base, so a manufacturer tracking many parts or orders must move to the Team plan. Gantt views and extensions need the Team plan, and the per-user price is the highest here. Airtable is best for a maker that thinks in tables and lists.

• Count your SKUs. Katana free covers 30 SKUs, with unlimited SKUs for the first 15 days, so a catalog over 30 needs the Advantage contract.
• Count your users. MRPeasy Starter costs $49 per user each month, so 5 users cost $245 a month.
• Check the seat minimum. monday.com plans start at 3 seats, so a 4-person team pays for 5 seats.
• Check the member cap. Smartsheet Pro caps at 10 members, and Business costs $19 per member each month.
• Check the free plan caps. Asana free covers 2 users, ClickUp free caps storage at 60 MB, and Airtable free caps at 1,000 records per base.
• Check the flat-fee tools. Fishbowl Essentials costs $229 a month billed annually and includes 2 users, while Growth costs $429 a month for 5 users.
• Price the tier you really need. Time tracking needs Asana Advanced at $24.99 per user and ClickUp Business at $17, so the entry price is not the real price for time tracking.
• Check the trial length. MRPeasy offers 30 days, Smartsheet offers 30 days, and Katana has no trial but a free plan for up to 30 SKUs.
• Check the API. MRPeasy API and webhooks need Unlimited at $149 per user each month.
• Confirm the quote tools. Katana publishes no price, so ask for the Advantage quote in writing before you compare it with MRPeasy.