Softwr

Accounting & Finance · head to head

Airbase vs Fishbowl

Airbase logo

Airbase

Accounting & Finance

The first all-in-one spend management platform

From
$29/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Fishbowl logo

Fishbowl

ERP & Business Operations

Manufacturing and warehouse management for QuickBooks

From
$4395/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Airbase airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.; Fishbowl the $229 per month Essentials plan includes only 2 users, Growth at $429 includes 5 and Scale at $729 includes 10, all billed annually
  • They diverge on capability: Airbase covers Corporate cards, Fishbowl covers Inventory management.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Airbase and Fishbowl actually diverge.

Attributes where Airbase and Fishbowl differ
AttributeAirbaseFishbowl
Starting price$29/month$4395/one-time
Pricing modelsubscriptionone-time
PlatformsWeb, Ios, AndroidWindows, Cloud
CategoryAccounting & FinanceERP & Business Operations
Founded20172001

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Airbase

  • Corporate cards
  • Bill payments
  • Expense management
  • Procurement
  • Approvals
  • NetSuite
  • Sage Intacct
  • QuickBooks

Only in Fishbowl

  • Inventory management
  • Manufacturing
  • Work orders
  • Barcode scanning
  • QuickBooks integration
  • QuickBooks Desktop
  • QuickBooks Online
  • Shopify

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Airbase

  • Spend managementnot Fishbowl
  • Expense reportingnot Fishbowl
  • Vendor paymentsnot Fishbowl

Fishbowl

  • Inventory and SKU tracking for wholesale and distribution businessesnot Airbase
  • Manufacturing bills of materials, MRP, work orders and job costingnot Airbase
  • Warehouse fulfilment, transfer orders and automated reorderingnot Airbase
  • Multichannel selling with synchronised stock levelsnot Airbase

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Airbase

  • Airbase was acquired by Paylocity; its pricing page now redirects to paylocity.com/pricing and the product is marketed as 'Airbase, a Paylocity Company' within Paylocity's HCM platform rather than as a standalone product.

Fishbowl

  • The $229 per month Essentials plan includes only 2 users, Growth at $429 includes 5 and Scale at $729 includes 10, all billed annually
  • A paid implementation package is required as part of purchase and covers a 6 to 8 week training certification
  • Lot tracking, demand forecasting and compliance documentation require the Scale plan at $729 per month
  • Advanced Warehouse from $595 per month and Advanced Manufacturing from $675 per month are quoted on team size and deployment rather than sold at a fixed rate
  • Demand forecasting and custom reports are add ons carrying separate fees
  • All listed plan prices are billed annually rather than monthly

Pricing, plan by plan

Airbase

$29/month
  • StandardFree
    • Corporate cards
    • Expense reports
    • Bill pay
  • Premium$10/month
    • Advanced approvals
    • NetSuite sync
    • Procurement
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Custom workflows
    • API access
    • Dedicated support

Fishbowl

$4395/one-time
  • Fishbowl Warehouse$4395/one-time
    • Inventory tracking
    • Order management
    • QuickBooks sync
  • Fishbowl Manufacturing$5495/one-time
    • Work orders
    • Bill of materials
    • Shop floor control

Which should you pick?

Choose Airbase if

  • You need corporate cards.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want bill payments.
Airbase review

Choose Fishbowl if

  • You need inventory management.
  • You work on Windows, Cloud.
  • You also want manufacturing.
Fishbowl review

Questions people ask

Is Airbase or Fishbowl better?
Neither clearly leads. Airbase starts at $29/month and Fishbowl at $4395/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Airbase or Fishbowl?
Airbase starts at $29/month and Fishbowl at $4395/one-time.
Does Airbase or Fishbowl run on more platforms?
Airbase runs on Web, Ios, Android. Fishbowl runs on Windows, Cloud.
What is Airbase best used for?
Airbase is most often used for spend management, expense reporting, vendor payments. Of those, spend management and expense reporting are not what Fishbowl is typically brought in for.
What can Airbase do that Fishbowl cannot?
Airbase covers Corporate cards, Bill payments, Expense management, Procurement. Fishbowl covers Inventory management, Manufacturing, Work orders, Barcode scanning.
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on Airbase

More on Fishbowl

Keep looking

Other head to heads