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Inventory · head to head

Katana vs Lightspeed Retail

Katana logo

Katana

Inventory

Smart manufacturing ERP for scaling businesses

From
$99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lightspeed Retail logo

Lightspeed Retail

Inventory

Point of sale and retail management system

From
$89/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Katana limited BOM explosion and lead-time offset planning requiring manual work that should be automated; Lightspeed Retail high pricing starts at USD 89/month (Basic plan), escalating to USD 289/month for Plus tier with advanced features
  • They diverge on capability: Katana covers Production planning, Lightspeed Retail covers Point of sale.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Katana and Lightspeed Retail actually diverge.

Attributes where Katana and Lightspeed Retail differ
AttributeKatanaLightspeed Retail
Starting price$99/month$89/month
Pricing modelUnknownsubscription
PlatformsWebWeb, iPad, Cloud-based
Founded20152005

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

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

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

Only in Lightspeed Retail

  • Point of sale
  • Inventory management
  • Customer management
  • Omnichannel selling
  • Analytics
  • Employee management
  • Loyalty programs
  • Hardware compatibility

What people use each for

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

Katana

  • Production schedulingnot Lightspeed Retail
  • Material planningnot Lightspeed Retail
  • Work order managementnot Lightspeed Retail
  • Inventory optimizationnot Lightspeed Retail

Lightspeed Retail

  • Tracking 10,000+ SKUs across multiple sales channelsnot Katana
  • Reconciling payments across terminals in under 10 minutesnot Katana
  • Selling across in-person, online, and social simultaneouslynot Katana
  • Accessing real-time inventory demand forecastingnot Katana

Where each one falls short

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

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

Lightspeed Retail

  • High pricing starts at USD 89/month (Basic plan), escalating to USD 289/month for Plus tier with advanced features
  • Limited integrations with third-party platforms, particularly challenging for Shopify inventory sync
  • Inventory synchronization issues reported with backordered products and bulk updates
  • Customer support response times can be slow despite 24/7 availability
  • System crashes and performance degradation reported during high-traffic periods

Pricing, plan by plan

Katana

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

Lightspeed Retail

$89/month
  • Basic$89/month
    • Retail POS platform
    • Integrated payments at 1.5% card-present rate
    • Inventory management
  • Core$149/month
    • All Basic features
    • Advanced management tools
    • 1 register included
  • Plus$289/month
    • All Core features
    • Advanced customization
    • Scalability for established operations

Which should you pick?

Choose Katana if

  • You need production planning.
  • You also want real-time inventory.
Katana review

Choose Lightspeed Retail if

  • You need point of sale.
  • You work on Web, iPad, Cloud-based.
  • You also want inventory management.
Lightspeed Retail review

Questions people ask

Is Katana or Lightspeed Retail better?
Neither clearly leads. Katana starts at $99/month and Lightspeed Retail at $89/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Katana or Lightspeed Retail?
Katana starts at $99/month and Lightspeed Retail at $89/month.
Does Katana or Lightspeed Retail run on more platforms?
Katana runs on Web. Lightspeed Retail runs on Web, iPad, Cloud-based.
What is Katana best used for?
Katana is most often used for production scheduling, material planning, work order management, inventory optimization. Of those, production scheduling and material planning are not what Lightspeed Retail is typically brought in for.
What can Katana do that Lightspeed Retail cannot?
Katana covers Production planning, Real-time inventory, BOM management, Shop floor control. Lightspeed Retail covers Point of sale, Inventory management, Customer management, Omnichannel selling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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
Lightspeed Retail: How much does Lightspeed Retail POS cost?

Pricing starts at $89 per month for the Basic plan, $149 for Core, and $289 for Plus, with each plan including 1 register.

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
Lightspeed Retail: Can I get a discount for annual billing?

Annual billing provides savings up to 18% compared to monthly billing across all Lightspeed Retail tiers.

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
Lightspeed Retail: What payment processing fees does Lightspeed Retail charge?

Integrated payment processing charges a card-present rate of 1.5% on all plans.

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
Lightspeed Retail: Do I need to pay extra for additional registers?

Yes, each base plan includes 1 register. Additional registers require per-register fees on top of the monthly plan cost.

Source
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