By the Fab ERP team. As checked 12 Nov 2026.
Fab ERP is made by us. It is listed alphabetically with the others, with its limits.
Most small manufacturers do not fail at choosing the wrong ERP. They fail at choosing before they know what they are fixing. This guide gives you a way to decide in five steps, then a shortlist of seven options with who each one suits.
We make Fab ERP and it is on the shortlist, so weigh our entry accordingly. The shortlist is in alphabetical order, not ranked. Facts about other vendors come from each vendor's own page, read on 12 November 2026. Prices and plans change; confirm before you rely on them.
Step 1: Name the problem in one sentence
Write down the single thing that costs you the most each month. Examples: money stuck with late-paying parties; orders retyped from email; stock that nobody can find; compliance paperwork that eats the accountant's week; a production schedule that lives in one person's head.
The product that fits "payments and paperwork" is not the product that fits "production scheduling". Most disappointment comes from buying one and expecting the other.
Step 2: Decide what stays
Your accountant may already use a system he trusts. Decide early whether the new ERP replaces it or sits beside it. Replacing accounting is a larger project than adding an office workflow tool.
Step 3: Count the users who will really touch it
Per-user pricing looks cheap for three office staff and expensive for fifteen people who each need to enter one challan. Count the users honestly, then compare cost models, not just headline prices.
Step 4: Ask for your own documents in the demo
Do not watch the vendor's ready-made examples. Bring a real purchase order, a real overdue party and a real challan. If the demo cannot handle them, the trial will not either.
Step 5: Check support before you sign
Who answers the phone? Direct from the vendor, or only through a partner? What happens in the first month?
Three mistakes to avoid
Buying for the company you hope to be. A system built for several plants and currencies will slow a ten-person shop. Choose for the next two years, not the next ten.
Letting the vendor pick the pilot. Choose it yourself: your slowest-paying customer, your most awkward purchase order, your busiest challan day. These show whether the product helps where it hurts.
Skipping the people question. An ERP nobody on the floor or in the office wants to open will fill with stale data inside a month. Ask the people who will use it to try it, and listen to what slows them down. Ask what happens to your data if you leave, too: can you export it in a usable form?
The shortlist, A to Z
Busy
Accounting and GST billing for Indian small and medium businesses, with e-invoicing, e-way bills, inventory across warehouses and WhatsApp sharing. Annual plans by tier and a 15-day trial.
Best for: small businesses wanting accounting and billing with e-invoicing and WhatsApp sharing.
ERPNext
Open-source ERP from Frappe, with accounting, stock, procurement and manufacturing including multi-level bills of materials, work orders and subcontracting. No per-user pricing, with hosting as the cost.
Best for: manufacturers with technical help who want control.
Fab ERP
Made by us. It targets the office pain directly:
- Dues by age, party by party, most overdue first.
- A PO that arrives by email is shown for review, and you press Accept.
- Quotation, proforma, invoice and challan are made in Fab ERP and shared on WhatsApp.
- Fabio, the assistant inside Fab ERP, answers questions from your own books and helps make documents.
- Every account starts with a 14-day trial; see plans and prices.
Its limits: no e-invoices or e-way bills, no payroll, no GST return filing, no machine scheduling, nesting or CAD tools, and it is not your books.
Best for: fabrication and job-work businesses with a busy office. See the fabrication page.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
ERP for small and midsize businesses, with production planning, detailed bills of materials and finance. Per-user pricing paid yearly, sold through Microsoft's partner network, with a 30-day trial.
Best for: midsize manufacturers with budget and a partner.
Odoo
Open-source business apps. The manufacturing page lists manufacturing orders, finite capacity planning, a shop-floor app, quality checks and traceability. One app is free; further apps are priced per user per month.
Best for: growing manufacturers who need planning depth and will set it up properly.
TallyPrime
Accounting, GST and inventory from Tally Solutions, sold as rental or lifetime licence, with a multi-user licence for several PCs on a LAN.
Best for: businesses whose accountant already uses it and who want it to remain the books.
Zoho Books and Zoho Inventory
Cloud accounting plus inventory. The Books page lists e-invoices, e-way bills and delivery challans, with plans priced per organisation and a free plan. The Inventory page lists purchase orders, multi-warehouse stock and serial or batch tracking.
Best for: small businesses that want low-cost cloud tools and can configure them.
Ten questions to ask any vendor
- Show me my own purchase order, invoice and challan, not your examples.
- How are users counted and charged, and what happens when I add five more?
- Who answers when something breaks, and how do I reach them?
- What does it cost in the first year, including setup and training?
- Can I export all my data, in a usable form, if I leave?
- Where is my data stored, and who can see it?
- What can my accountant keep doing in the tool he uses today?
- How long from signing to the first real document going out?
- What is not included in the plan I am being quoted?
- Can I speak to a customer of a similar size?
Write the answers down. A vendor who answers all ten plainly is usually easier to work with later.
How to turn the shortlist into a decision
Pick two. One that matches your pain directly and one that is the safer, broader choice. Run both against the same ten real documents from last month. Time each task. Count the clicks. Ask a person from the shop floor to try it without help.
Then compare the total first-year cost, including setup, training and the number of users you really have.
When another ERP is the better choice
- Production scheduling, multi-level bills of materials, capacity planning: Odoo, ERPNext or Business Central first.
- Accounting and GST compliance as the main job: TallyPrime or Busy, with your accountant's agreement.
- Multi-currency, multi-company growth: Business Central.
- Tight budget while you learn what you need: free plans from Zoho or Odoo.
Questions owners ask us
How much should a small manufacturer spend on ERP?
There is no safe single figure. Pricing models differ: per user, per organisation, licence, or hosting only. Compare the first-year total for your real user count.
Should I pick the cheapest option?
Not by itself. A low price with a month of setup and no support can cost more than a higher price that works in a week.
Cloud or on-premise?
Cloud saves you running servers; on-premise gives you control. Ask each vendor which deployment styles it supports.
How long should a trial be?
Long enough to run a full month-end. Fab ERP's trial is 14 days, so use real documents from day one.
Where to look next
Top 10 ERP software for manufacturers in India, Best ERP for metal fabrication shops and Ten questions to ask before you pay. To try Fab ERP on your own books, book a walkthrough.