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Inventory · head to head

Fishbowl Inventory vs Rockwell FactoryTalk

Fishbowl Inventory logo

Fishbowl Inventory

Inventory

Manufacturing and warehouse inventory built around QuickBooks

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rockwell FactoryTalk logo

Rockwell FactoryTalk

Manufacturing

Rockwell Automation software portfolio for HMI, historian, analytics and industrial data

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Fishbowl Inventory pricing is not published and has historically involved a substantial upfront figure, which surprises buyers expecting SaaS monthly pricing; Rockwell FactoryTalk factoryTalk is a brand, not a product, so a quote that says FactoryTalk may cover any of six separately licensed things; buyers repeatedly find that the demo they saw needed View plus Historian plus a Hub subscription.
  • They diverge on capability: Fishbowl Inventory covers QuickBooks and Xero integration, Rockwell FactoryTalk covers FactoryTalk View SE and ME.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fishbowl Inventory and Rockwell FactoryTalk actually diverge.

Attributes where Fishbowl Inventory and Rockwell FactoryTalk differ
AttributeFishbowl InventoryRockwell FactoryTalk
PlatformsWindows, Web, iOS, AndroidWindows, Linux, Web, Cloud
CategoryInventoryManufacturing

Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), 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 Fishbowl Inventory

  • QuickBooks and Xero integration
  • Manufacturing orders
  • Multi-location inventory
  • Barcode scanning
  • Purchasing and reorder
  • Order fulfilment

Only in Rockwell FactoryTalk

  • FactoryTalk View SE and ME
  • FactoryTalk Historian
  • FactoryTalk Optix
  • FactoryTalk Batch
  • FactoryTalk Hub
  • Native Logix tags

What people use each for

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

Fishbowl Inventory

  • Small manufacturers who have outgrown QuickBooks inventory but not the accountingnot Rockwell FactoryTalk
  • Wholesalers needing barcode-driven warehouse operationsnot Rockwell FactoryTalk
  • Companies wanting inventory control without replacing their finance systemnot Rockwell FactoryTalk
  • Businesses preferring a perpetual licence to a per-seat subscriptionnot Rockwell FactoryTalk

Rockwell FactoryTalk

  • A plant standardised on ControlLogix that needs supervisory HMI without building and maintaining an OPC layer between controller and screennot Fishbowl Inventory
  • A hybrid manufacturer needing ISA-88 batch execution audited against recipes, where FactoryTalk Batch is already validated in the industrynot Fishbowl Inventory
  • Consolidating machine-level HMI screens across many Allen-Bradley lines under one tag model and one alarm schemenot Fishbowl Inventory
  • Adding a plant historian quickly where the site has Rockwell distribution support but no PI administrator on staffnot Fishbowl Inventory

Where each one falls short

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

Fishbowl Inventory

  • Pricing is not published and has historically involved a substantial upfront figure, which surprises buyers expecting SaaS monthly pricing
  • The interface reflects its on-premise origins and looks dated beside cloud-native inventory tools
  • Implementation and data migration are heavier than the marketing implies, and undersized projects are the usual source of complaints
  • The QuickBooks dependency that makes it attractive also caps it: businesses that eventually need real ERP will migrate away
  • Reporting is functional but teams frequently export to a spreadsheet for anything analytical

Rockwell FactoryTalk

  • FactoryTalk is a brand, not a product, so a quote that says FactoryTalk may cover any of six separately licensed things; buyers repeatedly find that the demo they saw needed View plus Historian plus a Hub subscription.
  • Licensing units differ per product, tags for Historian, display tags and clients for View, another scheme for Optix, which makes forecasting the cost of a plant expansion genuinely hard.
  • The migration of products onto FactoryTalk Hub subscriptions converts what used to be a perpetual licence into an annual payment where lapsing stops the software, changing a capital purchase into an operating one you cannot exit.
  • Value drops sharply outside an Allen-Bradley estate; against a Siemens or Mitsubishi PLC you are back to OPC UA and lose the main reason to buy FactoryTalk at all.
  • There is no public price list and buying is through distribution, so two plants of identical size in the same company can pay materially different amounts depending on when and how they negotiated.

Pricing, plan by plan

Fishbowl Inventory

On request
  • Fishbowl Drive$undefined/month
    • Cloud-based
    • Inventory tracking
    • Order management
  • Fishbowl Advanced$undefined/month
    • Manufacturing
    • Multi-location
    • Advanced reporting

Rockwell FactoryTalk

On request
  • FactoryTalk$undefined/year
    • Sold through Rockwell distribution, not direct or self-service
    • View licensed by display tag count and client seats
    • Historian licensed by tag count

Which should you pick?

Choose Fishbowl Inventory if

  • You need quickbooks and xero integration.
  • You work on Windows, Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want manufacturing orders.
Fishbowl Inventory review

Choose Rockwell FactoryTalk if

  • You need factorytalk view se and me.
  • You work on Windows, Linux, Web, Cloud.
  • You also want factorytalk historian.
Rockwell FactoryTalk review

Questions people ask

Is Fishbowl Inventory or Rockwell FactoryTalk better?
Neither clearly leads. Fishbowl Inventory starts at On request and Rockwell FactoryTalk at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fishbowl Inventory or Rockwell FactoryTalk?
Fishbowl Inventory starts at On request and Rockwell FactoryTalk at On request.
Does Fishbowl Inventory or Rockwell FactoryTalk run on more platforms?
Fishbowl Inventory runs on Windows, Web, iOS, Android. Rockwell FactoryTalk runs on Windows, Linux, Web, Cloud.
What is Fishbowl Inventory best used for?
Fishbowl Inventory is most often used for small manufacturers who have outgrown quickbooks inventory but not the accounting, wholesalers needing barcode-driven warehouse operations, companies wanting inventory control without replacing their finance system, businesses preferring a perpetual licence to a per-seat subscription. Of those, small manufacturers who have outgrown quickbooks inventory but not the accounting and wholesalers needing barcode-driven warehouse operations are not what Rockwell FactoryTalk is typically brought in for.
What can Fishbowl Inventory do that Rockwell FactoryTalk cannot?
Fishbowl Inventory covers QuickBooks and Xero integration, Manufacturing orders, Multi-location inventory, Barcode scanning. Rockwell FactoryTalk covers FactoryTalk View SE and ME, FactoryTalk Historian, FactoryTalk Optix, FactoryTalk Batch.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fishbowl Inventory: What does Fishbowl cost?

Not published. It has historically been sold with a significant upfront component rather than a low monthly fee, so budget for a quote well above typical SaaS inventory pricing.

Rockwell FactoryTalk: Is FactoryTalk Historian the same as AVEVA PI?

It is built on the PI engine under an OEM arrangement, tuned for Rockwell integration. If you already run PI enterprise-wide, buying Historian too usually duplicates a system you have.

Fishbowl Inventory: Do I still need QuickBooks?

Usually yes. Fishbowl handles inventory and manufacturing and posts the financial results into QuickBooks or Xero. It is not an accounting replacement.

Rockwell FactoryTalk: Can I still buy FactoryTalk perpetually?

Some products yes, but the direction is toward FactoryTalk Hub subscriptions. Confirm per product before assuming a capital purchase is available.

Fishbowl Inventory: Is it cloud or on-premise?

Both. Fishbowl Drive is the cloud product; Fishbowl Advanced can be hosted or run on your own server, which is why it still appeals to companies avoiding subscriptions.

Rockwell FactoryTalk: Does FactoryTalk work with non-Rockwell PLCs?

Yes, through OPC UA and drivers, but the native tag browse advantage disappears and the case for FactoryTalk over a cheaper independent SCADA weakens.

Fishbowl Inventory: Who is it wrong for?

Businesses that need genuine ERP, and businesses small enough that a cloud inventory app at a low monthly cost would do. It sits deliberately between those.

Rockwell FactoryTalk: Where do I find pricing?

You cannot without a distributor. Rockwell publishes no list pricing for the FactoryTalk portfolio.

Fishbowl Inventory: How hard is implementation?

Harder than a signup. Bills of material and historical stock data need preparation, and companies that treat it as a weekend job are the ones who describe it as difficult afterwards.

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