You want to get started without a meaningful monthly bill. Products qualify here on their useful entry price, what it costs to get the manufacturing capability, rather than on the cheapest number on their pricing page.
Where people get this wrong
The cheapest tier is very often the one without manufacturing in it. That is the single most common pricing pattern in this market, and it is the reason we show a useful entry price alongside the advertised one.
This list is derived from licensing and pricing fields, not hand-picked.
The clearest small-shop system that genuinely tells you what to order and when.
From $49/user/mo
A full open-source ERP with nothing held back for a paid edition, if you can carry the setup burden.
From $5/mo · $25/mo useful
The most API-forward option here, with a license that needs reading carefully.
From $40/user/mo
Formerly Katana MRP
Strong production control with documented MRP planning; paid pricing is quote-only since 2026-10, last published at $299 plus $199 for manufacturing.
Free plan available
Formerly OpenERP, TinyERP
An open-core ERP covering manufacturing, stock and accounting; read the Community versus Enterprise line carefully.
From $0/user/mo · $24.90/user/mo useful
Free MIT-licensed ERP with EDI, for shops that will install and look after it themselves.
Free plan; no published paid price
The only serious print-farm ERP we found, with gram-level material costing.
Free plan · From $0/mo
Open-source ERP with documented MRP; free to self-host, or €35 per user on Pro from 10 users.
Free plan · From €35/user/mo
The gentlest open-source ERP to start with, module by module.
Free plan; no published paid price
Foundation-governed open-source ERP with no commercial edition to upsell you.
Free plan; no published paid price
Self-hosters who want free, documented MRP and a real ledger, and can live without capacity planning.
Free plan; no published paid price
Real MRP under an Apache license, for teams with developers to spare.
Free plan; no published paid price
Scheduling only, and refreshingly honest about that.
Free plan · From €0/mo
Brewery production, traceability and sales in one system, priced by annual output with unlimited users.
From $34.99/mo
Full manufacturing ERP at $50 per user, if you can pay for at least five users.
From $50/user/mo
The cheapest honest starting point for a maker leaving spreadsheets behind.
From $19/mo
Work orders, operator app and lot tracking for small makers, from $49 a month billed annually, with accounting kept in QuickBooks or Xero.
From $49/mo
Lot-level component traceability for hardware teams that have to prove it.
Free plan · From €49/mo
Excellent free parts-and-BOM control for hardware shops, not a planning engine.
Free plan; no published paid price
A lot of claims at $19, verify the ones you depend on before committing.
Free plan · From $19/mo
Shopify makers who kit or assemble products and want work orders, QC and true costs for a few dollars a month.
From $6/mo · $12/mo useful
Where engineering BOMs live before they reach your manufacturing system.
From $30/user/mo
Built by one maker for makers, at a price that is hard to argue with.
Free plan · From $0/mo
Makers who want recipes, batch records and restock dates on a free plan, paying only as volume grows.
Free plan · From $0/mo
Small UK food makers who need recipe costing, batch records and recall-ready traceability in one place.
From £0/mo · £30/mo useful
Small food and craft producers comfortable running Docker who want batches, lots and costing for free.
Free plan; no published paid price
A Finnish maker tool with lot costing, expiry and real COGS reports, priced in euros per seat.
From €30/mo
The cheapest paid way for a solo candle maker to cost recipes and have batches draw down stock.
From $9/mo
Small makers who keep their books in QuickBooks Online and need lots, expiry and real BOMs on top of it.
From $49.99/mo
Multi-channel sellers who assemble kits or simple products and mainly need orders, stock and shipping in one place.
From $35/mo
Brew-process tracking and TTB reports from $30 a month (Lite); costing and accounting from $313.
From $30/mo
Desktop-first parts and BOM control that works without an internet connection.
From $15/mo · $50/mo useful
For Shopify brands that build or personalize after the order and need a production queue tied to each sale.
From $29/mo
The simplest free way to know what components you have and where.
Free plan; no published paid price
Technical teams willing to self-host and support a community ERP with a real MRP engine in its code.
Free plan; no published paid price
An early-access maker tool that suggests batches from open orders; free while channel sync is built.
From $0/mo · $29/mo useful
Heavyweight community ERP with no license fee and a long lineage.
Free plan; no published paid price
Hobby and side-hustle makers who mainly want to know what each candle or bar costs to make.
From $0/mo · $4.50/mo useful
A highly customisable open-source framework for organizations that will fund an implementation.
Free plan; no published paid price