Nstock vs Craftybase
When your maker business outgrows maker tools: real BOM depth, lot compliance, and production tracking.
Competitor pricing and feature notes reflect published information as of August 2026 — always verify current details on their site.
Craftybase, now rebranded as Stocksmith (as of August 2026, same team and product, name changed July 2026), is a well-liked tool for small makers and handmade sellers — great for material cost tracking at Etsy scale. The rebrand came with a higher, restructured pricing ladder, but the underlying product and its ceiling for growing manufacturers are unchanged: limited BOM depth, light lot traceability, and no real production workflow. Nstock now undercuts its entry price while scaling into full manufacturing operations. We keep the "Craftybase" name in this comparison since that is still what most people search for.
Want more options? See more Craftybase (Stocksmith) alternatives compared for a broader set of alternatives beyond this one-to-one comparison.
Not sure whether a dedicated manufacturing tool or a broader ERP is the right category for your operation at all? Our manufacturing ERP vs. dedicated inventory software guide breaks down that decision before you even get to comparing specific vendors.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Nstock | Craftybase |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | ||
| Bills of materials (multi-level) | Intermediates with cost rollup | Recipes; limited nesting depth |
| Production runs & batch tracking | Manufacture logging; no run workflow | |
| Lot traceability & expiry (audit-ready) | ||
| Sales quotes with real-time COGS & margin | ||
| AI demand forecasting & reorder suggestions | ||
| Barcode cycle counting | ||
| Shopify integration | ||
| Entry price | Free; paid from $49/mo | Now ~$49/mo entry (Studio), up from ~$29/mo pre-rebrand |
Choose Nstock if…
- You are scaling past hobby/Etsy volume into wholesale, white-label, or retail compliance.
- You need audit-ready lot traceability (FDA/FSMA) or multi-level BOMs with honest cost rollup.
- Your sales team quotes deals and needs live COGS and margin.
- You want a genuinely free tier — Stocksmith's rebrand dropped its lowest-cost option and its entry price now matches Nstock's paid plan rather than undercutting it.
Choose Craftybase if…
- You are a solo maker tracking material costs for pricing and taxes and its recipe-based workflow already fits how you think about your product.
- Your products are single-level recipes and compliance is not a concern.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I move from Craftybase (Stocksmith) to Nstock?
When you hit wholesale orders, compliance requirements (lot tracking, audits), multi-level products, or a team beyond 1-2 people. Those are the points where maker-scale tools start costing you in workarounds — and now that Craftybase has rebranded as Stocksmith with a higher price ladder, the cost gap for those workarounds is smaller than it used to be.
Did Craftybase change its name?
Yes. Craftybase rebranded as Stocksmith in July 2026 — same team and same underlying software, repositioned around small-batch manufacturers, with a restructured, generally higher pricing ladder than the old Craftybase plans (confirm current tiers directly on their site, as pricing can change).
Is Nstock affordable for a small maker business?
Yes — there is a free tier for finished-goods tracking, paid plans start at $49/mo, and every new account gets a 90-day full-featured trial with no card required. That entry price is now roughly in line with Stocksmith's (formerly Craftybase) lowest paid tier, rather than more expensive than it, as of August 2026.
Try Nstock Free for 90 Days
Full Business-tier features, no credit card required. Import your products and BOMs via CSV and see your real numbers in days — here's how switching works.