Maker's Ledger
by Olik Software Lab
A very low-cost cost-of-goods and inventory tool for candle, soap and craft makers. You log material purchases, build recipes that price each product, and record production runs that deduct materials and add finished stock. A free plan covers five materials; the paid Hobbyist plan is $4.50 a month.
Why it is classified this way
We call this a Light manufacturing product. Has bills of materials or recipes, consumes stock when you build, and tracks production, but time-phased planning is not verified.
It is not labeled Full MRP because we have not verified that it accepts dated demand, sales orders, a forecast, or a master production schedule; nets that demand against stock on hand and orders already incoming; explodes requirements through at least one level of the bill of materials; uses lead times or required dates; and produces dated buy, make, transfer, release, or reschedule recommendations. That is a statement about the evidence we found, not a claim that the product is weak, see the capability table and the sources below.
The six Full MRP tests, and how Maker's Ledger does on each (1 of 6)
- YesIt represents a bill of materials, recipe, or formula.Evidence: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)
- UnknownIt accepts dated demand, sales orders, a forecast, or a master production schedule.Not established. No evidence found yet.
- UnknownIt nets that demand against stock on hand and orders already incoming.Not established. No evidence found yet.
- UnknownIt explodes requirements through at least one level of the bill of materials.Not established. No evidence found yet.
- UnknownIt uses lead times or required dates.Not established. No evidence found yet.
- PartialIt produces dated buy, make, transfer, release, or reschedule recommendations.Not established. Only partly shown: the evidence covers some of this but not all of it, so the test is not established.
These rules are applied identically to every product and enforced at build time, a record cannot be published as Full MRP unless all six pass with a source attached. Read the methodology.
Best for
- Candle and soap makers who want a true cost per product without building spreadsheet formulas
- Hobby sellers who need materials to come off stock when they log a batch, for a few dollars a month
- Makers trying inventory software for the first time on a free plan with no card
Not a fit when
- Anyone who needs lot numbers, expiry dates or recall tracing; none are documented
- Etsy or Shopify sellers who need orders to sync today; that integration is on an unreleased plan
- Teams, since no plan says how many users it allows
Pricing facts
What it costs to do manufacturing in this product.
Free plan
"Track 5 Materials", "Record 2 Material Purchase Records", "Create 2 Product Recipes and 2 Products". No sales tracking, reports or low-stock alerts are listed on Free.
Advertised from
$0/month
Useful entry price
$4.50/month
Billing basis
Flat rate
Why the useful price is higher
The Free plan tracks only 5 materials and 2 recipes, which is enough to try the app but not to run a product line. Hobbyist at $4.50 a month lifts that to 200 materials and 200 recipes and adds sales tracking and low-stock alerts.
Free trial: 30 days.
Plans
| Plan | Price | Add-ons and setup |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | — |
| 5 materials, 2 material purchase records, 2 product recipes and 2 products. Five materials and two recipes are a trial-sized allowance; a working product line needs Hobbyist. | ||
| HobbyistBilled monthly | $4.50/mo | — |
| Up to 200 materials and 200 product recipes. Sales and profit tracking up to 500 a month. Shown as "$4.5 /month" with a 30-day free trial. Billing cadence beyond "/month" is not stated. | ||
Cheapest paid plan that manufactures, by paid users
- 1 user: Hobbyist, $4.50 a month (billed monthly); first year $54.
- 5 users: Hobbyist, $4.50 a month (billed monthly); first year $54.
- 10 users: Hobbyist, $4.50 a month (billed monthly); first year $54.
Pricing detail
Free $0; Hobbyist "$4.5 /month" with a 30-day free trial and no card; Crafter "$9.5 /month" is labeled "(Upcoming)" and cannot be bought yet. Crafter would add unlimited materials, recipes and sales tracking plus "Etsy & Shopify Integration" and "Automated Order Syncing". No annual price is shown. The page shows "$" with no currency code; we read it as US dollars. User counts are not stated on any plan.
Checked on October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab). Prices change. Check before you buy.
Manufacturing capability
7 of 25 fields resolved. "Unknown" means we have not found first-party evidence. It is not a No.
Planning
Working out what to buy or make, and when.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Accepts dated demandYou can tell it what is due and when, sales orders with dates, a forecast, or a production schedule. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation showing demand records that carry a required or due date.Know the answer? |
| Nets against stock on handIt subtracts what you already have before telling you to buy more. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation describing a requirement calculation that deducts available stock.Know the answer? |
| Counts incoming ordersIt knows about purchase orders and production orders already placed, so it does not tell you to order twice. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation showing open purchase or production orders included in the supply picture.Know the answer? |
| Uses lead timesIt works backwards from when you need something to when you must order or start it, using supplier and production lead times. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation showing lead time fields that shift a suggested order or start date.Know the answer? |
| Produces dated buy/make suggestionsThe output is an actionable list with dates, order this much by this date, start this batch on this date. | Partial | Low-stock alerts only, on Hobbyist: "Never run out of wax mid-batch. Get notified before you hit zero." These are threshold alerts with no quantities or dates attached.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Capacity planningChecks whether your people and machines can do the work in the time available. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of work-center or resource capacity being compared against load.Know the answer? |
Production
Recipes, bills of materials, and running the work.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of materialsA list of the parts and quantities needed to make one of something. | Yes | Recipes link materials to products: "Link materials to products. We calculate the exact Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for every item."Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Multi-level BOMSub-assemblies inside assemblies, a part that is itself made from other parts, nested as deep as you need. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of nested or multi-level bom structures, not just a flat component list.Know the answer? |
| Recipes & formulasBatch-style production by weight, volume, or percentage, including scaling a batch up or down. | Yes | Recipes are written by weight and count, for example "A 'Large Lavender Candle' = 200g Wax + 20g Fragrance + 1 Wick. We tell you exactly what it costs to make." The FAQ says the app "handles the unit conversions". Batch scaling is not described.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Work / manufacturing ordersA record authorising and tracking the making of a specific quantity. | Partial | Production is recorded after the fact as a run: "Making a batch of 20? Add 'Product Run'. We deduct all the raw materials and add 20 finished candles to your stock." The FAQ calls this back-flushing. Nothing shows a run being planned, scheduled or tracked before it is finished.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Routings & operationsThe ordered steps a product goes through, and which machine or station does each one. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of operation sequences or routings attached to production.Know the answer? |
| Shop-floor trackingOperators report progress, time, and completions as the work happens. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of a shop-floor, operator, or terminal interface for reporting production.Know the answer? |
| Quality controlsChecks, tests, holds, and non-conformance records tied to production or receiving. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of quality inspections, checks, or non-conformance handling.Know the answer? |
Inventory & traceability
Knowing what you hold and being able to trace it.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Batch & lot traceabilityWhich incoming material lots went into which finished batch, and where those finished goods went. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of lot or batch numbers tracked through consumption into finished goods.Know the answer? |
| Expiry & shelf lifeBest-before dates on materials and finished goods, with warnings before they lapse. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of expiry, best-before, or shelf-life date fields.Know the answer? |
| Serial numbersUnique identifiers on individual units, for warranty or field service. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of serial number tracking on individual units.Know the answer? |
Commerce & accounting
Costs, purchasing, storefronts, and the books.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Product costing & COGSWhat it costs you to make one, and the cost of the goods you sold. | Yes | Cost of goods is the product's core: "We calculate the exact Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) for every item." The FAQ adds "If the price of wax goes up, your product cost updates automatically."Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| PurchasingRaising and tracking purchase orders to suppliers from inside the system. | Partial | Material purchases and suppliers are recorded: "Track every supplier and purchase. See how material costs change over time." These are purchase records for costing; purchase orders sent to suppliers are not described.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Accounting connectionSends financial data to bookkeeping software, or includes its own general ledger. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of a named accounting integration or a built-in ledger.Know the answer? |
| Ecommerce connectionPulls orders and pushes stock levels to a storefront or marketplace. | No | Not available yet. The Etsy and Shopify integration belongs to the Crafter plan, which the pricing table labels "(Upcoming)"; the FAQ says that plan "is launching an integration that will sync your sales."Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: makersledger.com(opens in a new tab)Question this |
Openness & your data
Getting data in, out, and away if you leave.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| APIA documented programming interface so other software can read and write your data. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: public api documentation.Know the answer? |
| WebhooksThe system can notify other software the moment something changes. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of outbound webhooks or event subscriptions.Know the answer? |
| MCP supportA Model Context Protocol server, letting an AI assistant read or act on this data. Useful, but it has nothing to do with whether the product plans materials. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: a first-party mcp server, or documentation of one.Know the answer? |
| CSV exportYou can get your lists out as spreadsheet files. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of csv or spreadsheet export.Know the answer? |
| Full data exportYou can take everything, including history and relationships, not just a few screens' worth of rows. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of a complete account export, database dump, or equivalent.Know the answer? |
On the vendor's roadmap
The vendor's own account of what is coming, dated. A plan changes nothing in the table above, which records what we saw working.
- The Crafter plan, priced at $9.50 a month and labeled "(Upcoming)", is to add unlimited materials, recipes and sales tracking, Etsy and Shopify integration and automated order syncing. The FAQ says a sale on Etsy will be deducted from finished-goods stock. No release date is given; the date here is when we read the page. Vendor statement, October 9, 2026.
Deployment, licensing and your data
- Deployment
- Cloud (hosted for you)
- Licensing
- Proprietary SaaS
- Team sizes
- Just me
- Manufacturing styles
- Batch & recipe products
Industries
Jobs this product qualifies for
Derived from the capability table above, not hand-assigned.
Editorial notes and cautions
Things we would want a friend to know before buying.
- The Etsy and Shopify sync is on the Crafter plan, which is marked "(Upcoming)". If store sync is why you are looking, it is not available yet.
- There is very little public documentation: the documentation page lists a User Guide with no link, and the vendor's public GitHub forum has no posts. Expect to learn the product by trying it.
- Batch production here is a record of what you made. Nothing we found tracks batch or lot numbers, so this does not cover recall tracing.
Alternatives to Maker's Ledger
An alternative is always an alternative for a reason. There is no universal replacement.
Inventora costs more, from $19 a month billed yearly, but tracks batches and expiry and already connects Shopify, Etsy and other storefronts that Maker's Ledger has not shipped yet.
Stocksmith is the established choice for makers who need lot traceability and many sales channels, at a much higher price: lot tracking starts at $99 a month.
Evidence and verification
Every claim comes from the homepage, including its pricing table and FAQ (the FAQ answers are in the page's HTML but only show when expanded). The documentation page lists a "User Guide" entry that has no link, and the GitHub repository is an empty public forum with a one-line README, so there is no documentation to check deeper features against. The footer names Olik Software Lab as the company. The homepage claims "1000+ Active Makers"; we have not verified it.
Sources we checked (3)
makersledger.com
github.com
What we still want to confirm
We publish our gaps rather than hiding them. If you can point us at a first-party page for any of these, we will update the record and credit the correction.
- Find the User Guide. The documentation page lists it without a link, so recipes, production runs, purchases and alerts could not be checked against documentation.
- Confirm whether production runs record batch or lot numbers and dates, and whether the Free plan can record production runs at all.
- Confirm whether materials can be made from other materials (intermediates such as a fragrance blend), and whether recipes scale.
- Confirm how many users each plan allows and whether there is an annual price.
- Confirm CSV or full data export. Nothing on the site mentions export.
- Confirm whether expiry, cure dates or best-before dates are tracked. The homepage mentions "curing times" but no feature describes them.
- Watch for the Crafter plan and its Etsy and Shopify sync to ship.
Still unknown: accepts dated demand, nets against stock on hand, counts incoming orders, uses lead times, capacity planning, multi-level bom, routings & operations, shop-floor tracking, quality controls, batch & lot traceability, expiry & shelf life, serial numbers, accounting connection, api, webhooks, mcp support, csv export, full data export.