Craftybase ‑ Manufacturing ERP

I am so disappointed in crafty base because I have heard many great things about them. I was charged the studio fee. I was not given access to all the information I put in while on the trial nor anything else. Then I email over and over about this because they do not have live chat. I then was allowed in after some time passed. but wait for it... I was kicked out again and the only tab that was open was the cancel your subscription. This is the most frustrating thing ever. I put in so many hours of material for my business during the trial just to have to find another company. This is so unprofessional. I went a whole day and could not accomplish anything.

I held out for the longest time in managing my materials and product inventory. I’m talking spreadsheets galore. I must love to punish myself, right? Anyway, I finally caved and purchased after a fourth quarter that left me traumatized two years ago. That resulted in kicking myself for not doing it sooner!

Craftybase is 1000% worth every penny. While it was a bit daunting for me to set up — even as a techie (I think I pondered my life choices for a few days wondering what I had gotten myself into) — I eventually got it set up and it has worked flawlessly for me since.

I took the time to set up everything correctly. By doing so, it has allowed me to easily manage my materials and product inventory. In addition, I also am able to manage locations. For instance, I sell some products with FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon). Because of this, I like being able to manufacture a design and then specify a certain amount to move to a certain location.

Whenever I have any issues, tech support has been incredibly helpful. They have almost always responded right away.

I highly recommend Craftybase. The software has been my reliable partner as I grow my business.

Great app/program! Occasional glitches but the company is fast to let us know they are working on it. I have never found another program out there like this to support my handmade business. Also fast, great customer service. Be sure to join the Facebook group for extra benefits.

I love Craftybase and how it helps me manage my inventory and finances. The integration with Shopify is smooth and does exactly what I want it to do.

As a business that manufactures our core items, this software is used every day to track our manufacturing, material costs, COGS, etc, and syncs inventory from Shopify to Craftybase (the sync is one way), so we have total control of our inventory and how/when it's released on Shopify.

LOVE this app!! Helps with my inventory, recipes, pricing etc. You cannot find better

This app has potential, but they haven't built out reliable infrastructure. The user interface has several "wonky" issues, like when using the reports, they don't have a drop down menu for "last week" "last year" "year to date" etc - just a cumbersome slider of calendars to use (if you want to look years ago, you need to slide through months and months and months). Another example is when you are entering raw materials used in a manufacture, the quantities will somehow automatically snap to a recent number used. This makes no sense - the whole idea is that I am recording the exact weight in a raw material. There are many more little bugs like this.

There are also unplanned outages way too often. It's very hard to pay this much when a wholesaler of mine needs a shipment and my manufacturing software is down without notice. (My bill tripled this year - will they price hike again, trapping businesses during their busiest time of year?)

The headaches maybe used to be worth the lower fees, but with the new pricing, do yourself a favor and look into other more reliable options. (Also - they let us know they are raising prices in order to be able to offer more functionality... in the future... and to the higher level plans. Why are current customers expected to pay for future functionality - and they've been promising functionality for years. It comes very slowly if at all for the affordable plans.) The customer service - and customer appreciation - is abysmal. I wish that weren't the case. Like I said, I want to like this app. But it's hard to stand behind a company who doesn't value its customers.

****Update: Due to this review, the founder emailed and gave me ZERO business days notice before deleting five years of my data. Luckily, I already migrated to a new system due to the above concerns, but I would hate a small business to be left without their data. (You will notice a similar pattern of vindictive behavior in the comments of poor reviews, making exaggerated claims about FB posts. I have posted concerns over loss of functionality on the FB page and they were quickly removed and no one from customer service reached out.)

The program is perfect for my small candle making business. It keeps all my stock information and informs me when I am running low on supplies. I really couldn't run my business without it.

This makes my life so much easier!

Like all software and apps.... the most important factor is whether it is a good fit for YOUR needs. Not all software will suit the needs of everyone. And like most software, it can take time to learn something new. I started my very small business roughly 12 years ago and used Craftybase early on. After some time learning the system and going through typical "new software" data entry steps, I was able to get up and running and have been using it ever since. It has grown with me over the years.

Is it perfect? No, and anyone who says that any software is perfect isn't being completely honest. I have yet to find an app or tool that is perfect all the way around. There is always something I would change. But, here's the thing... most people, including myself, found it hard pressed to find a better solution than this one for the price and value. Particularly for those small to mid size handcrafted businesses.

My advice would be to fully utilize the free trial. Add in materials, create products, create recipes, use the trial to find out if it will suit your needs. It might not... which is the purpose of the trial. This software is incredibly powerful, and with that can sometimes feel overwhelming because it can do so much. But you can simply use the features you need. After trialing, take the time to plan your setup and use cases. Proper setup from the beginning will make it SO much easier to use going forward. But I found this to be the case with EVERY inventory or manufacturing software I have ever used.

Whether this is an app that works well for you is going to depend on you and your needs. It may not be a a perfect or a '5 star' app for everyone. But it has been for me for 10 years. For anyone struggling, check out the help articles and other documentation. They have plenty of content out there available to help! :)