Softwr

Inventory · head to head

Quartzy vs Zycus

Quartzy logo

Quartzy

Inventory

Lab inventory and ordering software funded by the supply marketplace attached to it

From
$50/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zycus logo

Zycus

ERP

Source-to-pay suite with heavy AI positioning, priced by module and quoted throughout

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Quartzy the vendor earns margin on supplies bought through its own Shop, so the recommended purchasing path is not necessarily the cheapest one for a university that already holds negotiated supplier contracts.; Zycus implementations run long and are consultant-led, so the gap between the sales demonstration and a configured live system is measured in quarters, during which the licence is already being paid.
  • They diverge on capability: Quartzy covers Inventory tracking, Zycus covers Spend analysis.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Quartzy and Zycus actually diverge.

Attributes where Quartzy and Zycus differ
AttributeQuartzyZycus
Starting price$50/monthOn request
Pricing modelPer month by user tierquote
CategoryInventoryERP

Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Quartzy

  • Inventory tracking
  • Request and approval
  • Quartzy Shop
  • Order tracking
  • Spend reporting
  • Barcode scanning
  • PunchOut
  • Vendor catalogues

Only in Zycus

  • Spend analysis
  • eSourcing
  • Contract management
  • Supplier management
  • Procure-to-pay
  • Invoice processing
  • Merlin AI agents
  • Savings tracking

What people use each for

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

Quartzy

  • An academic lab of three postdocs replacing a shared freezer spreadsheet that nobody updates after a reagent runs outnot Zycus
  • A small biotech that wants requests approved by a lab manager before any money is committednot Zycus
  • A principal investigator tracking consumable spend against separate grant codes for reportingnot Zycus
  • A growing company standardising ordering across two lab sites so duplicate reagent purchases stopnot Zycus

Zycus

  • A manufacturer with several ERP instances that cannot answer what it spends with a given supplier group-widenot Quartzy
  • A procurement function running frequent reverse auctions that needs award scenario optimisation rather than a spreadsheetnot Quartzy
  • An organisation that priced Coupa and Ariba, found the licence unaffordable, and needs comparable module coveragenot Quartzy
  • A regulated business needing supplier risk monitoring and contract obligation tracking in one audited systemnot Quartzy

Where each one falls short

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

Quartzy

  • The vendor earns margin on supplies bought through its own Shop, so the recommended purchasing path is not necessarily the cheapest one for a university that already holds negotiated supplier contracts.
  • Seat limits are tight, at three users on Academia and five on Industry, and exceeding them pushes you into a quoted Enterprise contract rather than a predictable per seat increment.
  • It is not a LIMS: there is no sample workflow, instrument integration, electronic lab notebook or 21 CFR Part 11 audit trail, so a lab moving toward regulated work will need a second system.
  • Prices are billed annually, so the USD 250 Industry plan is a USD 3,000 upfront commitment for a five-person team, which is significant for an early-stage company.
  • Supplier catalogue coverage and pricing accuracy vary by region, and labs outside the United States frequently find their usual distributors missing or their contract pricing not reflected.

Zycus

  • Implementations run long and are consultant-led, so the gap between the sales demonstration and a configured live system is measured in quarters, during which the licence is already being paid.
  • The AI capability is marketed well ahead of what is typically enabled in a customer instance, and buyers should insist on seeing agentic features running on their own data before valuing them in a business case.
  • A large share of engineering and support capacity sits in India, so North American and European customers need coverage windows and escalation paths written into the contract rather than assumed.
  • The user interface across modules is inconsistent, reflecting different development eras, which raises training cost and reduces adoption among occasional requisitioners.
  • Pricing is entirely quoted and structured around spend under management, so a business whose spend grows faces increases unrelated to how much it uses the software.

Pricing, plan by plan

Quartzy

$50/month
  • Academia$50/month
    • Billed annually
    • Up to 3 users
    • Inventory tracking and request workflow
  • Industry$250/month
    • Billed annually
    • Up to 5 users
    • Everything in Academia
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Quoted pricing
    • Unlimited users
    • PunchOut integration with institutional procurement

Zycus

On request
  • Zycus Source-to-Pay$undefined/year
    • Modules licensed individually or as a suite
    • Priced by spend under management, users and modules
    • Annual subscription, multi-year terms common

Which should you pick?

Choose Quartzy if

  • You need inventory tracking.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want request and approval.
Quartzy review

Choose Zycus if

  • You need spend analysis.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want esourcing.
Zycus review

Questions people ask

Is Quartzy or Zycus better?
Neither clearly leads. Quartzy starts at $50/month and Zycus at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Quartzy or Zycus?
Quartzy starts at $50/month and Zycus at On request.
Does Quartzy or Zycus run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Quartzy best used for?
Quartzy is most often used for an academic lab of three postdocs replacing a shared freezer spreadsheet that nobody updates after a reagent runs out, a small biotech that wants requests approved by a lab manager before any money is committed, a principal investigator tracking consumable spend against separate grant codes for reporting, a growing company standardising ordering across two lab sites so duplicate reagent purchases stop. Of those, an academic lab of three postdocs replacing a shared freezer spreadsheet that nobody updates after a reagent runs out and a small biotech that wants requests approved by a lab manager before any money is committed are not what Zycus is typically brought in for.
What can Quartzy do that Zycus cannot?
Quartzy covers Inventory tracking, Request and approval, Quartzy Shop, Order tracking. Zycus covers Spend analysis, eSourcing, Contract management, Supplier management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Quartzy: How much does Quartzy cost?

USD 50 per month billed annually for up to three users on Academia, USD 250 per month for up to five users on Industry, and quoted pricing for unlimited users on Enterprise.

Zycus: Is it cheaper than Coupa or Ariba?

Usually on licence, and that price gap is the most common reason organisations shortlist it. Compare total cost including implementation, where the gap narrows.

Quartzy: Do I have to buy supplies through Quartzy?

No, you can record orders placed elsewhere. But the Shop is how Quartzy earns beyond the subscription, and supplier credits are tied to it.

Zycus: Which module is strongest?

Spend analysis. Classifying dirty purchase data across multiple ERPs is where Zycus consistently performs well against alternatives.

Quartzy: Is Quartzy a LIMS?

No. It handles inventory and purchasing. It does not do sample workflow, instrument data or regulated electronic records.

Zycus: How long is an implementation?

Plan for several quarters for a multi-module deployment. Phase it so one module delivers value before the rest go live.

Quartzy: What happens when we exceed the user limit?

You move to Enterprise, which is quoted rather than listed, so budget for a step change rather than an extra seat charge.

Zycus: What about support coverage?

Much of the delivery and support organisation is in India. Get the coverage hours, response times and escalation route into the contract explicitly.

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