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Restaurants · head to head

Backbar vs Craftable

Backbar logo

Backbar

Restaurants

Bar inventory management with drink costing and purchasing tools

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Craftable logo

Craftable

Restaurants

Back of house inventory, invoice processing and costing built first for beverage led venues

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Backbar has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Backbar invoice syncing with inventory requires the top Professional plan at $129 per month billed monthly, as of August 2026; Craftable beverage and food are separately licensed modules, so a venue with a full bar and a full kitchen is quoted twice for the same address and the effective per venue cost is roughly double the headline.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Backbar and Craftable actually diverge.

Attributes where Backbar and Craftable differ
AttributeBackbarCraftable
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Restaurants).

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 Backbar

Nothing recorded that Craftable does not also cover.

Only in Craftable

  • Weight based bottle counting
  • Invoice digitisation
  • Recipe and plate costing
  • Variance reporting
  • Purchasing and ordering
  • Accounts payable export

What people use each for

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

Backbar

  • Bar inventory managementnot Craftable
  • Liquor cost trackingnot Craftable
  • Multi-location restaurant operationsnot Craftable

Craftable

  • A cocktail bar where liquor shrinkage is material and eyeballed bottle counts are not accurate enoughnot Backbar
  • A hotel food and beverage department running several outlets and one central storenot Backbar
  • A restaurant group that needs supplier invoices coded and exported to Sage Intacct without manual entrynot Backbar
  • An operator who wants pour cost variance reported by bartender rather than only by venuenot Backbar

Where each one falls short

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

Backbar

  • Invoice syncing with inventory requires the top Professional plan at $129 per month billed monthly, as of August 2026
  • Pricing is charged per location, so multi-location bars pay the plan fee separately for each site, as of August 2026

Craftable

  • Beverage and food are separately licensed modules, so a venue with a full bar and a full kitchen is quoted twice for the same address and the effective per venue cost is roughly double the headline.
  • Invoice digitisation only helps if your suppliers are covered and their documents are legible; a venue buying from small local producers with handwritten dockets will still key those in by hand.
  • Accurate variance depends on counting on a fixed cadence, and venues that slip from weekly to monthly counts get numbers too stale to act on, which is the most common reason implementations quietly fail.
  • Weight based counting needs connected scales at each venue, an unbudgeted hardware cost that grows with the number of bars in the building.
  • Implementation requires mapping every item to supplier catalogue codes and building recipes before the first useful report, typically several weeks of a manager time that nobody has allocated.

Pricing, plan by plan

Backbar

Free
  • BasicFree
    • Web and mobile inventory
    • Multiple inventory locations
    • Color-coded tracking
  • Essential$79/month
    • Drink costing and pricing
    • Unlimited recipe builder
    • Unlimited audit history
  • Professional$129/month
    • Automatic invoice entry
    • Cost variance alerts
    • Unlimited reporting features

Craftable

On request
  • Beverage module$undefined/year
    • Bar inventory, pour costing and variance by product
    • Priced per venue
    • Scale hardware quoted separately
  • Food module$undefined/year
    • Kitchen inventory, plate costing and purchasing
    • Priced per venue and quoted in addition to the beverage module
  • Invoice and accounts payable$undefined/year
    • Invoice digitisation with line item detail
    • Ledger coding and export to the accounting system
    • Volume of invoices affects the quote

Which should you pick?

Choose Backbar if

  • You want to start without paying.
Backbar review

Choose Craftable if

  • You need weight based bottle counting.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want invoice digitisation.
Craftable review

Questions people ask

Is Backbar or Craftable better?
Neither clearly leads. Backbar starts at Free and Craftable at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Backbar or Craftable?
Backbar has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Backbar and On request for Craftable.
Does Backbar or Craftable run on more platforms?
Backbar runs on Web. Craftable runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Backbar for free?
Yes. Backbar has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Craftable starts at On request.
What is Backbar best used for?
Backbar is most often used for bar inventory management, liquor cost tracking, multi-location restaurant operations. Of those, bar inventory management and liquor cost tracking are not what Craftable is typically brought in for.
What can Backbar do that Craftable cannot?
Craftable covers Weight based bottle counting, Invoice digitisation, Recipe and plate costing, Variance reporting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Backbar: Does Backbar offer a free plan?

Yes, Backbar's Basic plan is free and includes web and mobile inventory tracking, multiple inventory locations, and color-coded tracking per location.

Source
Craftable: Is Craftable the same product as Bevager and Foodager?

Yes. Those were the beverage and food product names before the platform was consolidated under the Craftable brand; they are now modules rather than separate products.

Backbar: How much does Backbar's Essential plan cost with annual billing?

Backbar's Essential plan costs $99 per month when billed annually, or $79 per month with month-to-month billing.

Source
Craftable: Does it replace my accounting system?

No. It codes and exports invoices into an existing ledger such as QuickBooks or Sage Intacct rather than becoming the ledger.

Backbar: What is included in Backbar's Professional plan?

Professional includes automatic invoice entry, cost variance alerts, unlimited reporting, and full customer support at $129 per month monthly or annual billing available.

Source
Craftable: Do I need the scale hardware?

Only for beverage. Weighing partial bottles is what makes liquor variance reliable; without it you are back to tenth of a bottle estimates.

Backbar: Is there a free trial available?

Yes, new users can access a one-month free trial of either the Essential or Professional plan.

Source
Craftable: Can it handle multiple venues under one group?

Yes, with consolidated reporting across venues, but each venue is priced individually.

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