Inventora is an easy way to count your stock. But if you make your products, stock counts are only half the job: you also need to know what every batch costs you, and what to tell the IRS at tax time. That's the half Craftybase was built for — here's an honest comparison of the two.
Import orders automatically and sync stock levels across all your channels — so you never oversell or run out of stock.
Stock levels and financial data are all in the one place and accessible from any internet enabled device (our industry standard backups ensure your data is extremely safe).
Stop manually copying over numbers to spreadsheets - there is now an easier and better way! We automatically import all your products and orders each night, ready for the start of your day.
Know exactly how much it costs to produce your products - our pricing guidance feature means you'll always be on top of your margins and profits.
Track your cost of goods sold in real time using the data you enter. We'll even generate the numbers you need for your Schedule C at the touch of a button.
Keep your finger on the pulse and know how well your store is doing, with our extensive and detailed reports. Charts and graphs show you your vital stats in an easy to understand way.
Track your exact material and product stock levels, so you know exactly when you need to order more supplies or make more product. Don't run out of stock ever again and keep those sales rolling in!
Craftybase helped us make sure we were accounting for everything in our prices, and helped us quickly test what would happen if we changed suppliers to upgrade some of our materials.
| Feature * | Craftybase | Inventora |
|---|---|---|
| Works in any browser | Yes | Yes |
| Invoicing | Yes | No |
| Recipes / Bill of Materials (BoMs) | Yes | Yes |
| Expense Tracking | Yes | No |
| Product Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Material Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Time Tracking | Yes | No |
| Free plan available | No14-day free trial | Yes50 materials, 10 sales/mo |
| Automatic stock calculations | Yes | Yes |
| Amazon, Faire & BigCommerce sync | Yes | No |
| Reporting | Yes | Yes |
| Tax Worksheets inc. Schedule C | Yes | No |
| Real time costing calculations | Yes | No |
| Pricing Guidance | Yes | Yes |
| Consignment Tracking | Yes | No |
| Stocktaking | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance & Lot Tracking | Yes | YesBusiness plan ($39+) only |
| AI invoice importing | No | YesBusiness plan ($39+) only |
| Multiple User Accounts | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Unlimited Support | Yes | Yes |
I'm impressed with the ability to track minute quantities of essential oils and other materials used in multiple products. I love the conversion from purchase to tracking units, and love the ability to make components and recipes.
Elise WishlowElise Wishlow
Craftybase has given me the tools amp; resources to accurately track my materials, recipes, and inventory. I love that I can build out my recipes and make adjustments to see my cost in real time.
Tiffany JensenTiffany Jensen
My favourite feature is the software's ability to calculate the cost of our products in real-time, taking into account the increase in the costs of raw materials.
Lina AndreasLina Andreas
Craftybase allows us to be lean with our materials inventory so we won't have any overage of inventory. It provides a great easy-to-use analysis of COGS to help us better manage our margins.
Duke AhrensDuke Ahrens
Craftybase makes it easy to create my formulas and automatically calculates what I need to use, when to re-order, how much it costs me to make my products, and so much more. I literally could not function without it!
SamanthaSamantha
We do not know what we would do without this application. Spreadsheets and confusing documents is a thing of the past now!
KahneKahne
Craftybase is an instrumental part of our bookkeeping. Having a business that manufactures products with countless raw materials, Craftybase keeps us organized and helps us have a clear picture of the health of our business.
BriBri
Craftybase helps me keep my sales automatically entered into my system so that I can get on with doing the fun part: the creative products I make!
KittyKitty
This report makes tax time almost enjoyable. No more lists and spreadsheets — I just run the report for the time I need, and it's done!
Kelly AriasKelly Arias
I love that the app keeps track of how much material I have on hand and how much it costs me exactly… This allows me to really know how much my products cost me to make and how much I should charge.
JannaJanna
I love that Craftybase keeps track of the cost of materials over time including shipping. As costs creep up I can make sure my product prices reflect that reality.
ArrowynArrowyn
It's super important that we can record and trace ingredient lots and production batches. Craftybase has made this process streamlined and easy to stay organized.
Angie FlickingerAngie Flickinger
Evaluating other options too? See our full Craftybase alternatives guide for a side-by-side overview of the most common tools makers consider.
Quick decision
The short answer: both track materials and recipes. Pick Craftybase when you need the financial layer too — tax-ready COGS, expenses, and reports your accountant can use. Pick Inventora when a free, simple stock tracker is genuinely all you need.
Inventora vs Craftybase
Both track materials, recipes, and stock for handmade businesses. Craftybase adds the financial layer Inventora doesn't have: Schedule C and P&L reports, expense and labor tracking, invoicing, consignment, and sync with Amazon, Faire, and BigCommerce.
Inventora is a lighter operational tool — a polished interface, a free starter plan, and stock sync across up to six channel types (capped at 2–3 connections depending on plan). Craftybase is a complete inventory and bookkeeping system: the same production tracking, plus the cost, tax, and wholesale tooling a growing maker business ends up needing. The honest framing: Inventora answers "how much stock do I have?"; Craftybase also answers "what did it cost me, and what do I tell the IRS?"
Craftybase covers more ground (COGS, expenses, tax reports, more sales channels), so initial setup takes longer than Inventora's lighter approach — but the daily workflow takes minutes once your materials and recipes are in.
Most makers complete initial setup over a weekend with a guided onboarding flow plus unlimited support to help. The trade-off is real: Inventora is simpler partly because it does less. If its scope covers your needs, that simplicity is genuine. If you need tax-ready COGS, expense tracking, or wholesale tooling, no amount of simplicity substitutes for the feature existing.
The common triggers: tax time arrives and there's no Schedule C or P&L report to hand over; sales expand to Amazon, Faire, or BigCommerce, which Inventora doesn't sync; or lot tracking is needed without stepping up to Inventora's $39+ plan.
The most frequent story we hear is the accountant conversation: "I need your COGS and inventory valuation" — and a stock tracker alone can't produce them. Wholesale is the other big one: invoicing, consignment tracking, and cost-based wholesale pricing all sit outside Inventora's scope. Makers who outgrow it usually aren't unhappy with it — they've just grown past what it was built to do.
Both calculate material-based COGS automatically — Inventora uses FIFO costing. The difference is completeness: Craftybase can fold labor time and overhead expenses into your true product cost, then output it straight to Schedule C and P&L reports.
A materials-only COGS number understates what your products really cost to make — labor and overhead are usually the difference between "profitable on paper" and actually profitable. Craftybase tracks both alongside your material usage, builds your COGS tally in real time as you make and sell, and hands you accountant-ready numbers at year end without spreadsheet wrangling.
Yes — Craftybase generates Schedule C, Profit & Loss, Inventory Valuation, and Expenditure & Revenue reports in seconds. Inventora does not include tax or accountant-ready financial reports.
Reports are bookkeeper-friendly and follow standard accounting categories. Many Craftybase users say tax season went from a week of spreadsheet work to a single afternoon once their accountant could pull these reports directly.
Craftybase syncs with Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, Square, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Wix, and Faire. Inventora connects to Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Square, Wix, and Squarespace — no Amazon, Faire, or BigCommerce — and caps you at 2–3 active connections depending on plan.
The connection caps matter as much as the channel list: Inventora's Hobby and Starter plans allow 2 integrations and Business allows 3, so a maker selling on Etsy, Shopify, and Square is already at the ceiling. Craftybase doesn't gate by integration count — multi-channel makers keep order data, stock levels, and COGS synced across every platform they sell on.
Yes — Craftybase is used by makers across soap, candle, jewelry, cosmetics, bakery, and other small-batch product categories, with niche features like lot tracking, multi-layer BOMs, fragrance load calculations, and per-batch costing.
Soap makers track lye, oils, and fragrance oils with batch records. Candle makers calculate fragrance load and per-vessel costs. Jewelry makers handle high-SKU component inventories. Bakers track per-slice and per-cake costs with allergen rollup. Inventora also markets to candle and soap makers, but without this per-vertical costing depth.
Inventora's Hobby plan is genuinely free: 50 materials, 50 products, 2 integrations, and 10 sales per month. Paid plans are $19 (Starter), $39 (Business), and $99/month (Growth), with extra team seats at $9–$15/month.
The free plan suits hobby sellers well, but the caps bite quickly for a working business — 10 synced sales a month is roughly two orders a week, and lot tracking, compliance documentation, and AI invoice importing all require the $39+ Business plan. As of June 2026 Inventora lists the same price billed monthly or annually, so there's no annual discount.
Craftybase starts at $24/month — $20/month billed yearly — with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required. Inventora starts free, with paid plans at $19, $39, and $99/month.
On headline price the two are close: $19–$39 for Inventora's working tiers vs $20–$24 for Craftybase's entry plan. The real comparison is what the dollars buy. Craftybase's entry plan includes the tax reports, expense tracking, and full channel sync that Inventora doesn't offer at any price — for makers who'd otherwise pay for separate bookkeeping software (or hours of spreadsheet work), that's the cheaper total setup.
Inventora holds a 4.1-star rating from 8 reviews on the Shopify App Store (June 2026). Reviewers consistently praise its clean, friendly interface; the recurring complaints are Shopify sync errors, lag, and slow support responses.
Verbatim from recent reviews: "it's extremely user friendly" on the positive side; "duplicates everything and doesn't sync with Shopify correctly, makes double the work" and "so many bugs, no customer service" on the negative. Every tool has mixed reviews — but if reliable channel sync and responsive support are what you're choosing on, check both vendors' recent reviews before deciding. Craftybase's are on the Shopify App Store too.
