First, the news. On July 1, 2026, Craftybase became Stocksmith, and its founders say nothing else changed: same software, same team, same prices. So whether you need an alternative depends on why you're looking. If it's the price, the free alternative is a spreadsheet. If it's a missing feature (working offline, scanning barcodes, having the soonest-expiring lot picked for you, or lot tracking on the cheapest plan), other tools do those things. Below is how they compare, with prices read on September 24, 2026.
The short version
- Craftybase is Stocksmith now. Same product, same team, same pricing, by the founders' own account.
- Stocksmith's strengths are makers' sales channels (Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Square, Faire, and Amazon on its Business plan) and unlimited users from its $99 plan up.
- For a food maker, four things are worth testing in the trial: lot tracking starts on the $99 plan, lots are picked by hand, there's no offline version, and there's no barcode scanning.
- The free alternative is a spreadsheet. Among the paid ones, the big difference is what lots and expiry cost.
- TaroStack has lots, expiry and recalls on every plan and picks the lot that expires first. It has no Etsy connection and no live QuickBooks connection yet, and I'd rather you knew that now.
What happened to Craftybase
It was renamed. In the announcement, co-founder Nicole Pascoe calls it "a name change. Not a handoff", says "we have not sold or been acquired", and lists what stays the same: "Your account, your data, your recipes, your manufactures, your integrations. Nothing moves," and "Your pricing and your plan" (Stocksmith). craftybase.com redirects to stocksmith.io, and card statements say STOCKSMITH instead of CRAFTYBASE.
So if you searched for an alternative because you thought it was shutting down, it isn't, and you can stop reading here.
What Stocksmith does well
It was built for makers, and it shows in the channel list: the FAQ says it "can update your stock in Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Square, and Faire" (Stocksmith). It has bills of materials, costing, batch production and multi-location stock, and everything exports to CSV.
Here's its pricing page on September 24, 2026:
| Stocksmith | Monthly | Yearly | What the page lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | $49 | "multi-user inventory and recipe management" | |
| Indie | $99 | $990 | Bill of materials, batch and lot tracking, traceability reports, manual stock sync, user roles; 1,000 order lines a month; unlimited users |
| Business | $199 | $1,990 | Adds automatic stock sync, production scheduling, Amazon, hourly imports, two-factor sign-in; 5,000 order lines |
| Growth | $349 | $3,490 | Adds QuickBooks inventory sync and priority support |
Every plan comes with a two-week free trial and no card (Stocksmith).
If those first three prices look familiar, they're the same as ours, and so is the yearly offer. That makes the comparison unusually direct: at each price, look at what you actually get.
Where a food maker runs into its edges
None of these matter to a candle maker selling on Etsy. All four matter in a walk-in. Each comes from Stocksmith's own help pages.
- Lot tracking starts on Indie, at $99. The lot tracking article lists it on Indie, Business and Growth, and not on Studio (Stocksmith).
- You choose the lot by hand. When you record a batch, "for each material in the list, select the lot number used for each material via the dropdown box that appears." Expiry dates are optional, on lots and on finished batches (Stocksmith). So first-expired-first-out depends on whoever is at the mixer picking the right lot.
- There's no offline version: "At this time, we do not have an offline or downloadable version. The platform is designed as an online solution." It runs in a phone's browser, which is fine until the phone's in a freezer.
- There's no barcode scanning: "We don't currently offer barcode scanning. Stocksmith uses QR codes instead." (Both of those are from the FAQ.) Whether a distributor wants GS1 barcodes on your cases is a separate question from scanning, but worth raising if you sell wholesale.
The alternatives, side by side
Prices from each company's own pricing page on September 24, 2026. They change, so check before you buy.
| Option | Starts at | Lots and expiry | Worth a look if |
|---|---|---|---|
| A spreadsheet | Free | By hand, one row per lot | You're one person with a few products |
| Stocksmith (was Craftybase) | $49/month; lots from $99/month | Lot tracking from Indie; you pick the lot | You sell through Etsy, WooCommerce or Faire, or want QuickBooks sync |
| Katana | Free up to 30 SKUs; Core from $299/month | Traceability add-on, $249/month, for lot numbers and expiry dates | You want a full manufacturing planner and the add-on fits the budget |
| MRPeasy | $49 per user monthly (Starter) | Lot traceability on Starter; expiry dates from Professional, $69 per user monthly | You want production planning for a few named users |
| inFlow Inventory | $161/month, or $129/month billed yearly | Lot and serial numbers as an add-on, $29 to $69/month; manufacturing is a separate product | You mostly buy and resell, with some assembly |
| TaroStack | $49/month | Lots, expiry and recalls on every plan; the lot that expires first is picked for you | You make food in batches and want lots handled without thinking about it |
A note on Katana, since it comes up so often: its free plan covers up to 30 SKUs, and its Core plan starts at $299/month with one location. Batch numbers and expiry dates are in its Traceability add-on at $249/month (Katana), so lots and expiry start at about $548/month there. For a big manufacturer that's reasonable. For a two-person kitchen it's a lot of jam.
Is there a free alternative?
Mostly, no, and anyone promising one should be asked what happens at 31 products. Katana's free plan is real but capped at 30 SKUs. For everything else, the free alternative is a spreadsheet, and a good one goes a long way: a lot tracking spreadsheet, a recipe costing template, and a straight answer about when a spreadsheet stops being enough.
Is Craftybase worth it?
My view, for what it's worth: if most of your sales come through Etsy, WooCommerce or Faire, your products don't expire, and you like it, stay. Renaming a product doesn't make it worse. If you make food, spend the trial on the four edges above: record a batch with two lots of the same ingredient, and see which one you'd have picked at 5 a.m.
Where this stops working
This part is about us. TaroStack connects to Shopify and Square only: no Etsy, WooCommerce, Faire or Amazon. There's no live QuickBooks or Xero connection yet, though you can import your lists from them. Shopify is connected by hand with you, and orders arrive by import and a daily check rather than to the second. Our Square connection is built and set up, but no customer has connected a till yet. And Starter is up to three people, where Stocksmith's Indie has no user limit.
If what you need is on that list, Stocksmith is the better answer today, and staying put is a good decision rather than a lazy one.
How TaroStack does it
If lots are why you're looking, TaroStack is built around them, and that's the difference you'll feel first. Receiving records the supplier's lot, or your own code. Recording a batch takes ingredients from the lot that expires first, by default, and notes which lots it used, so nobody is picking from a dropdown at the mixer, which is the step where lot tracking by hand goes wrong. Lots, expiry and recalls are on every plan, including the $49 one, and the recall report shows which supplier lots went into which batches, who received them, and who to call.
The other gaps from the comparison are covered too. Counting works on a phone with no signal, in the walk-in or at a market. Barcode scanning works with the phone's camera or a USB or Bluetooth scanner, and lot labels print with GS1-128 barcodes. If you sell on Etsy or Faire, Stocksmith is still the better fit, and I'd rather say so here than after you've moved.
Moving is less work than it sounds: your items, recipes, suppliers and opening stock import from CSV, with a preview of every row before anything is saved. The first 30 days are free. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.