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ERP · head to head

Fishbowl vs Unanet

Fishbowl logo

Fishbowl

ERP

Manufacturing and warehouse management for QuickBooks

From
$4395/one-time
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Unanet logo

Unanet

ERP

Project ERP and CRM built for government contractors and architecture and engineering firms

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: 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; Unanet no pricing is published for any Unanet product; every line is quoted per user per month with separate implementation fees, so a small contractor cannot budget the first year without a full sales cycle.
  • They diverge on capability: Fishbowl covers Inventory management, Unanet covers DCAA-oriented timekeeping.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fishbowl and Unanet actually diverge.

Attributes where Fishbowl and Unanet differ
AttributeFishbowlUnanet
Starting price$4395/one-timeOn request
Pricing modelone-timequote
PlatformsWindows, CloudWeb, Cloud, iOS, Android
Founded2001Unknown

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

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 Fishbowl

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

Only in Unanet

  • DCAA-oriented timekeeping
  • Indirect rate management
  • Contract type support
  • Project accounting
  • Resource planning
  • Unanet CRM
  • Compliant invoicing
  • Unanet ERP AE

What people use each for

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

Fishbowl

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

Unanet

  • A federal contractor moving from QuickBooks and spreadsheets because it has won its first cost-reimbursable contract and needs an accounting system that survives a DCAA adequacy reviewnot Fishbowl
  • A services firm that must calculate and true up provisional indirect rates each year and cannot do it credibly in Excel any longernot Fishbowl
  • An architecture and engineering practice tracking utilisation and project profitability across dozens of concurrent jobsnot Fishbowl
  • A government contractor consolidating a separate CRM, timekeeping tool and accounting package into one system so pipeline and backlog reconcilenot Fishbowl

Where each one falls short

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

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

Unanet

  • No pricing is published for any Unanet product; every line is quoted per user per month with separate implementation fees, so a small contractor cannot budget the first year without a full sales cycle.
  • Implementation is a project rather than a signup, involving chart of accounts design, indirect pool structure and data migration, and third parties report implementation fees reaching five figures for mid-sized deployments, an amount easily missed when comparing per-user rates.
  • The interface is dated compared with modern SaaS finance products, which raises training time for staff who only touch it to enter a timesheet and increases the support burden on the finance team.
  • ERP and CRM are separate products with separate contracts, so a firm that wants pipeline, backlog and actuals in one place pays twice and still deals with an integration boundary between them.
  • Its value is concentrated in United States federal and state contracting compliance, so a firm that does no public-sector work is paying for indirect rate machinery and DCAA audit behaviour it will never use, and a non-US firm gets almost nothing from the product’s main differentiator.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Unanet

On request
  • Unanet ERP GovCon$undefined/year
    • Project accounting with indirect rate pools
    • DCAA-oriented daily timekeeping and audit trail
    • Cost-plus, T&M and fixed price contract billing
  • Unanet ERP AE$undefined/year
    • Project accounting configured for architecture and engineering firms
    • Resource planning and utilisation reporting
    • Priced per user per month, quoted
  • Unanet CRM$undefined/year
    • Pursuit and opportunity tracking
    • Proposal content library and reuse
    • Sold separately from ERP; quoted

Which should you pick?

Choose Fishbowl if

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

Choose Unanet if

  • You need dcaa-oriented timekeeping.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
  • You also want indirect rate management.
Unanet review

Questions people ask

Is Fishbowl or Unanet better?
Neither clearly leads. Fishbowl starts at $4395/one-time and Unanet at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fishbowl or Unanet?
Fishbowl starts at $4395/one-time and Unanet at On request.
Does Fishbowl or Unanet run on more platforms?
Fishbowl runs on Windows, Cloud. Unanet runs on Web, Cloud, iOS, Android.
What is Fishbowl best used for?
Fishbowl is most often used for inventory and sku tracking for wholesale and distribution businesses, manufacturing bills of materials, mrp, work orders and job costing, warehouse fulfilment, transfer orders and automated reordering, multichannel selling with synchronised stock levels. Of those, inventory and sku tracking for wholesale and distribution businesses and manufacturing bills of materials, mrp, work orders and job costing are not what Unanet is typically brought in for.
What can Fishbowl do that Unanet cannot?
Fishbowl covers Inventory management, Manufacturing, Work orders, Barcode scanning. Unanet covers DCAA-oriented timekeeping, Indirect rate management, Contract type support, Project accounting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fishbowl: How much does Fishbowl Inventory cost per month?

Fishbowl Inventory pricing starts at $229/month (billed annually) for the Essentials tier, $429/month for Growth, and $729/month for Scale. The Advanced Manufacturing tier starts at $675/month and Advanced Warehouse starts at $595/month, though both are quote-based and vary by user count.

Source
Unanet: What does Unanet cost?

Nothing is published. Pricing is per user per month and quoted, with implementation fees charged separately on top of the subscription.

Fishbowl: How many users are included in each tier?

Essentials includes 2 users, Growth includes 5 users, and Scale includes 10 users. Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced Warehouse support teams of 2 to 200+ users with pricing confirmed by quote based on your specific deployment.

Source
Unanet: Does Unanet make you DCAA compliant?

No software does. Unanet provides the timekeeping controls, audit trail and indirect rate accounting that an adequacy review looks for; the policies and their enforcement are still yours.

Fishbowl: Is Fishbowl billed monthly or annually?

Fishbowl Inventory plans require annual billing. The Advanced Manufacturing and Advanced Warehouse plans have variable pricing confirmed by quote and may have different billing arrangements.

Source
Unanet: Is Unanet CRM included with the ERP?

No. Unanet CRM, built on the acquired Cosential platform, is a separate product with its own contract.

Fishbowl: What's included when I sign up for Fishbowl?

All Fishbowl plans include an implementation package with specialist support, data migration services, and 6 to 8 weeks of certification training. Cloud hosting is included with Advanced Manufacturing plans.

Source
Unanet: How does it compare with Deltek?

Unanet typically targets smaller contractors than Deltek Costpoint and is quicker to implement, but has less depth for very large multi-segment organisations.

Fishbowl: Can I add more users if I exceed my tier's user limit?

You can upgrade to a higher tier which includes additional users. Essentials ($229/mo with 2 users) can upgrade to Growth ($429/mo with 5 users) or Scale ($729/mo with 10 users). Custom team sizes beyond 10 users require Advanced Manufacturing or Advanced Warehouse quotes.

Source
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