MRPeasy vs Katana: Which MRP System Suits a UK Manufacturer?

Choosing between MRPeasy and Katana usually comes down to three practical questions: what the software costs per person, how deep the manufacturing planning goes, and who is still answering the phone six months after go live. Both systems appear on shortlists for UK manufacturers moving away from spreadsheets, and both vendors publish comparison material aimed squarely at the other. This comparison sticks to what the vendors and independent reviewers actually state, and flags clearly where you should verify figures yourself before signing anything.

The short answer for small UK manufacturers

MRPeasy lists entry pricing from $49 per user per month. Katana’s pricing starts from $359 monthly, and some of its features sit behind additional costs. For a small manufacturer with a handful of planning, purchasing and shop floor users, that difference in pricing model matters more than any feature checklist. MRPeasy also markets itself on advanced manufacturing features, transparent pricing and quick setup. Katana positions its cloud inventory platform around a live view of the business, covering real-time production and material tracking. If planning depth and cost per seat are your priorities, MRPeasy tends to win the opening round.

Entry pricing: per user against a monthly platform fee

The two products are not priced in the same way, which is why a like-for-like quote can be surprisingly hard to line up. MRPeasy’s published entry point is a per-user monthly figure, so cost tracks headcount. Katana’s published entry point is a monthly figure, with elements of the feature set charged separately. For a five-person operation, those two models produce very different annual totals, and the gap widens as you add purchasing, planning or finance users.

Comparison point	MRPeasy	Katana
Published entry price	From $49 per user per month	From $359 per month
How cost grows	With each additional user	As you add features that are locked behind additional cost
Free entry option	Free trial, no card required	Free plan advertised on the Katana site
Positioning	Advanced manufacturing features, transparent pricing, quick setup	Cloud inventory platform with live inventory and manufacturing management

These figures come from vendor material and third-party comparison content published around 2024, so treat them as a starting point rather than a quotation. Confirm current pricing, the billing currency, VAT treatment and the renewal terms directly with each vendor before you build a business case. US dollar pricing also means the sterling cost moves with exchange rates, which is worth remembering when you present numbers to a finance director.

What the headline price leaves out: hidden and support costs

Software subscription is rarely the whole bill. The costs that surprise small manufacturers are the ones around the edges: onboarding and configuration, migrating item masters and bills of materials, training the team, and paying for the support level you actually need once you are live. Katana’s model explicitly locks some features behind additional cost, so a quote that looks competitive at entry level can climb quickly as you switch capabilities on. MRPeasy’s per-user model is easier to forecast, but the same discipline applies to implementation and training time.

Questions to put in writing before you sign

1. What exactly is included in the entry tier, and which manufacturing modules cost extra?

2. How many days of implementation and training are in the quote, and what is the day rate beyond that?

3. Is support included, or is it a paid tier, and what are the response times?

4. Who migrates our existing item, customer and supplier data, and at what cost?

5. What happens to our data if we leave, and can we export it without paying a fee?

6. How much have prices risen at renewal, and what notice do we get?

Getting those answers in writing turns a vague monthly figure into a real cost of ownership. It also makes the two systems genuinely comparable, which is the only way to make a sensible decision.

Company stability and how to test it

Both vendors are established names in manufacturing inventory software and appear side by side in independent comparisons, including a comparison published in August 2024 by Unleashed. That tells you neither is a start-up experiment. It does not tell you which is the safer long-term bet for your business.

Review data is worth reading in full rather than in summary. Katana’s UK Trustpilot profile carries a TrustScore of 2 out of 5 across 12 reviews, with the profile claimed in March 2022. A sample that small can swing heavily in either direction, so read the individual reviews and look for patterns that match your own operating model. MRPeasy’s own comparison page displays logos of businesses it says trust the platform, including Accenture and Assa Abloy. Logo walls are marketing, so ask each vendor for named UK reference customers of a similar size and sector, and ask what happens to your data and configuration if you decide to leave.

UK and global customer numbers: what is actually published

If you are hoping to rank the two on user numbers, you will not find a verified answer in the public material reviewed here. Neither vendor publishes a clear split of UK against global customers, and third-party comparison articles do not provide one either. Treat any confident claim about relative user counts with suspicion unless it comes with a source.

The practical route is to ask both sales teams for the same three things: named UK customers in your sector, a contact willing to take a reference call, and a figure for how many UK-based support staff they employ. A manufacturer that can put you on the phone with a similar business in your own region is telling you far more than a homepage statistic. Buyers on forums such as r/ERP routinely stress test MRPeasy with their own test cases before committing, and that is a sensible approach for either system.

Manufacturing functionality: where the fit is decided

A manufacturing ERP system is software that helps a company optimise production planning, manufacturing operations and shop floor control. That definition is broad, and both platforms can claim to meet parts of it. Katana is described as a cloud inventory platform giving a live view of the business, covering live inventory and manufacturing management plus batch tracking. MRPeasy markets advanced manufacturing features alongside transparent pricing and a quick setup. The gap between those descriptions is where your decision sits.

Master production scheduling and sales forecasting

Planning depth is the area where light inventory tools and proper MRP systems part company. Use the MRPeasy free trial to load your own bills of materials, routings, lead times and demand history, then test master production scheduling and sales forecasting against real numbers rather than sample data. A generic demonstration proves nothing. Ask each vendor which planning modules are in the entry tier, because Katana charges separately for some features, and confirm what your business actually needs before paying for it.

Batch tracking and traceability

Batch tracking is built into MRPeasy along with serial number tracking, which suits food, chemical, electronics and engineering businesses that need to trace materials through production. If traceability is a customer or audit requirement, define exactly what you need to record and how quickly you need to retrieve it after a recall, then ask both vendors to show that in the trial. For Katana, ask the same question about traceability depth and how it links to production orders and stock movements.

Support and implementation after go live

Most failed software projects are not caused by the software. They are caused by going live without enough help, or by discovering that support costs extra once the project budget is spent. A UK-based implementation partner brings working hours that match yours, familiarity with how UK manufacturers operate, and someone who already knows your configuration when you need a change made quickly.

Whichever platform you lean towards, agree the support model before go live: how many training days are included, what a change request costs, how quickly someone responds when a production order goes wrong at 7am, and who owns the relationship after the initial project closes. Ongoing support is where the real value of a partner shows up, and it is worth paying for the level that keeps your team confident rather than the cheapest tier on the sheet.

Who should choose MRPeasy

MRPeasy suits small manufacturers who need genuine planning capability without enterprise pricing. The per-user entry point of $49 per month keeps a small team affordable, and the advertised focus on advanced manufacturing features, transparent pricing and quick setup matches businesses that want to be live in weeks rather than quarters. If your main frustrations are scheduling, material shortages and job visibility, and you want to test the whole thing on your own data first, the free trial with no card required is a low-risk way to start.

Who should choose Katana

Katana suits businesses whose core problem is inventory visibility rather than deep planning. Its cloud inventory platform provides a live view of stock, production and material tracking, with batch tracking included and a free plan advertised on its site. If your products are simple, your team is small, and you mainly need to know what is in stock and what is being made right now, the higher monthly entry price of $359 may still be justified. Just model the additional feature costs honestly before you compare it with MRPeasy on price.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does MRPeasy cost?

MRPeasy’s published pricing starts at $49 per user per month, which means the total rises as you add users across planning, purchasing, production and finance. Implementation, training and any additional configuration sit outside that subscription figure. Because pricing is quoted in US dollars, the sterling cost changes with exchange rates, so confirm current rates, VAT treatment and renewal terms directly with MRPeasy before you commit to a budget.

How much does Katana cost?

Katana’s prices start from $359 monthly, and some features are locked behind additional costs. That structure means the entry figure is not a reliable guide to what you will actually pay once manufacturing, tracking and reporting capabilities are switched on. Ask for a written quote that lists every module you need, plus onboarding, training and support, and check whether the free plan covers the production functions your business relies on.

Is Katana a full ERP system?

Katana describes itself as a cloud inventory platform offering live inventory and manufacturing management with batch tracking, rather than marketing itself primarily as a full ERP. Whether that distinction matters depends entirely on your requirements. Map your must-have processes, from quoting through to despatch and accounts integration, against a demonstration of each system, and decide whether the coverage is sufficient for how your business actually runs.

Which system is better for a small UK manufacturer?

For most small UK manufacturers, MRPeasy is the stronger starting point. The per-user entry price of $49 is far below Katana’s $359 monthly starting figure, the free trial requires no card, and the platform is positioned around advanced manufacturing features and quick setup. Test both on your own data, confirm UK support arrangements, and let the trial results decide rather than the marketing pages.