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ERP · head to head

Katana MRP vs Litmus Edge

Katana MRP logo

Katana MRP

ERP

Smart manufacturing software for scaling brands

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Litmus Edge logo

Litmus Edge

Manufacturing

Industrial edge platform that collects, normalises and forwards OT data to cloud and enterprise systems

From
$1500/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Katana MRP has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Katana MRP the free plan caps SKUs at 30 after a 15 day unlimited period; Litmus Edge pricing is by site and data point, so a large tag count at one plant can cost more than a modest tag count spread over several, which is the opposite of how most manufacturers plan a rollout.
  • They diverge on capability: Katana MRP covers Visual production scheduling, Litmus Edge covers Prebuilt driver library.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Katana MRP and Litmus Edge actually diverge.

Attributes where Katana MRP and Litmus Edge differ
AttributeKatana MRPLitmus Edge
Starting priceFree$1500/month
Pricing modelusage-basedPer site by data point count
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud, Web, MobileLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premise
CategoryERPManufacturing
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Katana MRP

  • Visual production scheduling
  • Real-time inventory
  • Bill of materials
  • Purchase orders
  • Shop floor app
  • Shopify
  • WooCommerce
  • QuickBooks

Only in Litmus Edge

  • Prebuilt driver library
  • Unified data model
  • Litmus Edge Manager
  • Edge applications
  • Store and forward
  • Cloud and broker outputs

What people use each for

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

Katana MRP

  • Manufacturing resource planning for small production businessesnot Litmus Edge
  • Tracking live inventory across making, selling and purchasingnot Litmus Edge

Litmus Edge

  • A manufacturer with twenty plants and five PLC brands that needs one data acquisition standard rather than twenty bespoke integrationsnot Katana MRP
  • Feeding a cloud data warehouse or lakehouse with normalised production data without asking the controls team to write cloud connectorsnot Katana MRP
  • Retrofitting data collection onto old CNC machines and robots where the protocol support is the hard part, not the analyticsnot Katana MRP
  • Adding local buffering and computation at sites with unreliable WAN links so cloud outages do not create gaps in production historynot Katana MRP

Where each one falls short

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

Katana MRP

  • The free plan caps SKUs at 30 after a 15 day unlimited period
  • The Core plan starts at $299 a month and includes one location, with more sold as a usage based add on
  • Core is billed per sales order delivered on top of the base price, so cost tracks throughput
  • Manufacturing management, traceability and warehouse management are separate add ons at $199, $249 and $149 a month
  • A full manufacturing setup therefore stacks to well above the headline $299

Litmus Edge

  • Pricing is by site and data point, so a large tag count at one plant can cost more than a modest tag count spread over several, which is the opposite of how most manufacturers plan a rollout.
  • The entry package sits around $1,500 per month, an awkward number for a single-site pilot given that the product is infrastructure with no visible output of its own until something downstream consumes it.
  • Litmus does no analytics, so the business case always depends on a second purchase; the platform on its own produces no result a plant manager can see.
  • Full pricing beyond the entry tier is not published and the Growth and Scale packages are quoted, so scaling costs are unknown at the point you commit to the architecture.
  • A capable controls team can approximate a single-site deployment with an open-source broker and a driver gateway for a fraction of the cost, so the value case depends entirely on how many sites you are managing centrally.

Pricing, plan by plan

Katana MRP

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 30 SKUs (unlimited during 15-day trial)
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited integrations
  • Core$299/month
    • Unlimited SKUs
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited integrations
  • Advantage$null/mo
    • Custom annual contract
    • Everything in Core plus custom integrations
    • Custom dashboards and automations

Litmus Edge

$1500/month
  • Foundation$1500/month
    • Entry package sized by site count and data points
    • Core driver library and edge runtime
    • Store and forward to cloud and brokers
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Larger site and data point allowance
    • Litmus Edge Manager fleet management
    • Priced on application
  • Scale$undefined/month
    • Enterprise multi-site deployment
    • Higher data point ceilings and support tier
    • Priced on application

Which should you pick?

Choose Katana MRP if

  • You need visual production scheduling.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Web, Mobile.
  • You also want real-time inventory.
Katana MRP review

Choose Litmus Edge if

  • You need prebuilt driver library.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premise.
  • You also want unified data model.
Litmus Edge review

Questions people ask

Is Katana MRP or Litmus Edge better?
Neither clearly leads. Katana MRP starts at Free and Litmus Edge at $1500/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Katana MRP or Litmus Edge?
Katana MRP has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Katana MRP and $1500/month for Litmus Edge.
Does Katana MRP or Litmus Edge run on more platforms?
Katana MRP runs on Cloud, Web, Mobile. Litmus Edge runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Cloud, On-premise.
Can I use Katana MRP for free?
Yes. Katana MRP has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Litmus Edge starts at $1500/month.
What is Katana MRP best used for?
Katana MRP is most often used for manufacturing resource planning for small production businesses, tracking live inventory across making, selling and purchasing. Of those, manufacturing resource planning for small production businesses and tracking live inventory across making, selling and purchasing are not what Litmus Edge is typically brought in for.
What can Katana MRP do that Litmus Edge cannot?
Katana MRP covers Visual production scheduling, Real-time inventory, Bill of materials, Purchase orders. Litmus Edge covers Prebuilt driver library, Unified data model, Litmus Edge Manager, Edge applications.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Katana MRP: How much does Katana MRP cost?

Katana offers a free plan with 30 SKUs and all core features. Core plan starts at $299/month for unlimited SKUs and users. Usage-based pricing applies to sales orders delivered and additional locations beyond the 1 included. Add-ons like Manufacturing Management cost $199/month.

Source
Litmus Edge: Does Litmus Edge do analytics or dashboards?

Only lightweight edge computation and basic visualisation. It is a data acquisition and normalisation layer; the analysis happens in whatever you send the data to.

Katana MRP: How does Katana charge for multiple locations?

Core plan includes 1 location. Additional locations beyond the included location are charged separately with per-unit costs decreasing at higher volumes. Exact pricing for additional locations is calculated based on scale.

Source
Litmus Edge: How is it priced?

By number of sites and number of data points, in packages. The entry package starts around $1,500 per month; larger tiers are quoted.

Katana MRP: What are the manufacturing add-on costs for Katana?

Katana charges $199/month for Manufacturing Management, $249/month for Traceability, and $149/month for Warehouse Management add-ons. Onboarding package costs $2,000 but is included with Core plan.

Source
Litmus Edge: Can it replace my historian?

No. It buffers and forwards but is not a long-term historian. Most deployments send data into a historian, warehouse or lakehouse.

Litmus Edge: Does it need Litmus hardware?

No. It runs on standard industrial PCs, virtual machines or containers; there is no proprietary appliance requirement.

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