Is FastSpring or Katana better?

Neither clearly leads. FastSpring starts at On request and Katana at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, FastSpring or Katana?

FastSpring starts at On request and Katana at $99/month.

Does FastSpring or Katana run on more platforms?

FastSpring runs on web, api. Katana runs on Web.

What is FastSpring best used for?

FastSpring is most often used for selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity, b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals, recurring subscription billing for digital products, reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchases. Of those, selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity and b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals are not what Katana is typically brought in for.

What can FastSpring do that Katana cannot?

FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance. Katana covers Production planning, Real-time inventory, BOM management, Shop floor control.

E-commerce · head to head

FastSpring vs Katana

FastSpring

E-commerce

Merchant-of-record commerce platform for global payments, subscriptions, and tax compliance

From: On request
Rated: -

Full review Website

Katana

E-commerce

Smart manufacturing ERP for scaling businesses

From: $99/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: FastSpring pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.; Katana limited BOM explosion and lead-time offset planning requiring manual work that should be automated
They diverge on capability: FastSpring covers Global online payments, Katana covers Production planning.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FastSpring and Katana actually diverge.

Attributes where FastSpring and Katana differ
Attribute	FastSpring	Katana
Starting price	On request	$99/month
Pricing model	transaction	Unknown
Platforms	web, api	Web
Category	E-commerce	Unknown
Founded	2006	2015

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 FastSpring

Global online payments
Subscription billing
Branded checkout
Tax compliance
Fraud prevention
Digital invoicing and quotes

Only in Katana

Production planning
Real-time inventory
BOM management
Shop floor control
Shopify
WooCommerce
QuickBooks
Xero

What people use each for

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

FastSpring

Selling software or SaaS internationally without a local tax entitynot Katana
B2B invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise SaaS dealsnot Katana
Recurring subscription billing for digital productsnot Katana
Reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchasesnot Katana

Katana

Production schedulingnot FastSpring
Material planningnot FastSpring
Work order managementnot FastSpring
Inventory optimizationnot FastSpring

Where each one falls short

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

FastSpring

Pricing is not published and requires contacting sales for a quote, making cost comparison difficult upfront.
As a merchant-of-record, FastSpring takes on more control of the checkout and payment relationship than a pure payment gateway like Stripe.
Revenue share pricing can become more expensive than flat per-transaction gateway fees at very high volumes.
Primarily targeted at software/digital goods sellers, so it is less suited to physical product e-commerce.

Katana

Limited BOM explosion and lead-time offset planning requiring manual work that should be automated
No native invoicing capability, making it standalone without accounting system integration
Limited native integrations, with heavy reliance on Zapier for non-core tools
Slow performance with large datasets and high SKU counts

Pricing, plan by plan

FastSpring

On request

Custom$undefined/mo
- All-in-one transaction-based pricing based on sales volume
- No subscription fees or per-feature charges
- Discounted rates for ACH and wire transfers

Katana

$99/month

Essential$99/month
- Core inventory management
- Production scheduling
- Stock tracking
Pro$299/month
- Shop floor control
- API access
- Advanced reporting

Which should you pick?

Choose FastSpring if

You need global online payments.
You work on web, api.
You also want subscription billing.

FastSpring review

Choose Katana if

You need production planning.
You also want real-time inventory.

Katana review

Questions people ask

Is FastSpring or Katana better?: Neither clearly leads. FastSpring starts at On request and Katana at $99/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FastSpring or Katana?: FastSpring starts at On request and Katana at $99/month.
Does FastSpring or Katana run on more platforms?: FastSpring runs on web, api. Katana runs on Web.
What is FastSpring best used for?: FastSpring is most often used for selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity, b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals, recurring subscription billing for digital products, reducing fraud and chargebacks on digital purchases. Of those, selling software or saas internationally without a local tax entity and b2b invoicing and custom quotes for enterprise saas deals are not what Katana is typically brought in for.
What can FastSpring do that Katana cannot?: FastSpring covers Global online payments, Subscription billing, Branded checkout, Tax compliance. Katana covers Production planning, Real-time inventory, BOM management, Shop floor control.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FastSpring: What does FastSpring cost?

FastSpring uses flat-rate, all-in-one pricing based on transaction volume, with fees withheld from payouts. There is no minimum volume or subscription fee, and pricing is typically quoted based on expected sales volume after contacting their sales team.

Source

Katana: What is Katana's pricing structure?

Katana starts at $99/month for the Essential plan with core MRP features. The Pro plan costs $299/month and adds shop floor control and API access. Add-ons for traceability, manufacturing, and warehouse management cost extra and can reach $747-$1,095 total.

Source

FastSpring: Is there a free plan?

FastSpring does not offer a free plan; instead pricing is transaction-based with no upfront subscription cost, and merchants only pay a commission on completed sales.

Source

Katana: Does Katana support multi-level bills of materials?

Katana has limited BOM explosion and lead-time offset planning capabilities. Complex multi-level BOMs with sub-assemblies require manual workarounds, which becomes increasingly problematic as SKU count grows.

Source

FastSpring: What does FastSpring integrate with or include compared to a payment gateway like Stripe?

FastSpring bundles international payments, subscription management, tax compliance, fraud prevention, reporting, and B2B invoicing into one price, whereas gateways like Stripe charge separately for many of these features.

Source

Katana: Can Katana integrate with my accounting software?

Katana has no native invoicing capability and limited integrations with accounting systems. It is essentially standalone and requires manual data export or Zapier integration for most accounting workflows.

Source

Katana: Does Katana have an offline mode?

No, Katana is a cloud-only solution requiring internet connectivity. There is no built-in offline mode for production floor access without internet.

Source

FastSpring vs Katana

FastSpring

Katana

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in FastSpring

Only in Katana

What people use each for

FastSpring

Katana

Where each one falls short

FastSpring

Katana

Pricing, plan by plan

FastSpring

Katana

Which should you pick?

Choose FastSpring if

Choose Katana if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on FastSpring

More on Katana

Keep looking

Other head to heads