Stockroom vs Fishbowl for purchasing
Fishbowl is a warehouse system that becomes the record of what you have, with purchasing as one module: the cloud product from $229 a month for two users, and Fishbowl Advanced from $595 a month with manufacturing, both behind a required implementation package. Stockroom keeps Shopify as the record and does the purchasing job on top of it, free, inside your admin: POs, receiving, landed cost and reordering.
What it costs
Fishbowl prices by product, users and add-ons, and every purchase includes an implementation package. Stockroom has one price for the purchasing job.
| Feature | Fishbowl | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | $229 to $729 billed annually, Advanced from $595 | Free |
| Users | 2 to 10, Advanced by concurrent seat | Unlimited |
| Implementation | Required, priced by quote, six to eight weeks of training | Install and create a PO |
| Manufacturing | Fishbowl Advanced only | Bills of materials and builds included |
| Forecasting | Add-on below the Scale plan | Included |
| AI assistant access over MCP | Not documented | Included |
| Trial | Demo request | No trial needed |
Creating purchase orders
Fishbowl covers the basics of a PO well. The difference is where you are standing when you create it.
| Feature | Fishbowl | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Runs inside your Shopify admin | A separate system with a connector | Yes |
| Start a PO from a customer order | Drop ship orders | From the order page, or add to an open draft |
| Start a PO from reorder suggestions | Auto PO from points you set | A buy plan grouped by supplier |
| Import a whole PO from CSV | Not documented | Yes |
| Create at POS by scanning | No | Yes |
| Create from an AI assistant | Not documented | Claude, ChatGPT and others over MCP |
| Approval before ordering | Over a set amount, Advanced | Optional |
| Your product metafields as PO columns | No | Up to 20, two on the PDF |
| Team comments and @mentions on a PO | Not documented | Yes |
Suppliers
Both keep terms, lead times and costs per supplier. Stockroom adds the parts that shape a real order.
| Feature | Fishbowl | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Payment terms, currency and lead time per supplier | Yes | Yes |
| Several suppliers for one product | Cost rules per vendor | Compared on the PO |
| Supplier part numbers and minimums | Yes | Yes |
| Pack sizes | Not documented | Yes |
| Price lists with quantity breaks | Volume cost rules, Advanced | Yes |
| Free-shipping threshold and minimum order value | Minimum order only | Yes |
Sending the PO to the supplier
Both email a PDF. Stockroom tells you what happened to it and gives the supplier a place to reply.
| Feature | Fishbowl | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Email the PO from the app | Yes | Yes |
| PDF with your logo | Custom templates | And a format per supplier |
| Know when it was opened | No | Yes |
| Send from your own domain | Not documented | Early access |
| Supplier confirms and adds tracking on a link | A reference field for the vendor’s order number | No login for them |
| PO lands in the supplier’s own Shopify store | No | Stockroom Network |
Receiving the delivery
Fishbowl receives into its own record and pushes stock to Shopify on a schedule. Stockroom receives straight into Shopify.
| Feature | Fishbowl | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming quantity shows in Shopify | Not part of the sync | On mark ordered |
| Received stock lands in Shopify | On the next scheduled sync | At the receiving location |
| Receive by barcode scan | Advanced Mobile; the cloud app has no receiving module | Admin, POS and a phone camera |
| Receive in Shopify POS | No | Yes |
| Partial deliveries | Yes | Yes |
| Accept or reject units | Hold or reject | On the receive |
| Receive more than was ordered | A setting | Yes |
| Read the invoice photo to fill in the counts | No | Stockroom AI |
| Receive from an AI assistant | No | Over MCP, with a preview first |
| Undo a receive | Void the receipt | Yes |
| Return goods to the supplier | Credit return lines | With a credit note |
What the goods cost you
Fishbowl is the deeper costing ledger. Stockroom is the one that writes the answer back to your Shopify products and prices.
| Feature | Fishbowl | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Freight and fees allocated into unit cost | By cost, quantity, size, weight or by hand | By value, quantity or weight |
| Costing method | FIFO, LIFO, average, standard or actual, locked once live | FIFO or weighted average |
| Update Shopify’s cost per item from the PO | A sync option, Advanced | You confirm each push |
| Selling prices reviewed after a cost change | Not documented | Price review report, pushed to Shopify |
| Payment status on the PO | Not documented | Unpaid, partial, paid |
| Owed to suppliers report | In your accounting system | Yes |
Reordering and reports
Fishbowl reorders from points you set, and forecasts with an add-on. Stockroom works the points out from your sales, nightly.
| Feature | Fishbowl | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Reorder points from your sales | Forecasting add-on | Yes |
| Low stock alerts | Reorder report | Email and Slack |
| Supplier on-time and lead-time report | Rolling lead time per vendor, Advanced | Yes |
| Spend by supplier | Yes | Yes |
| Bills into QuickBooks | Desktop, Online and Xero | With MyWorks Sync, paid |
What Stockroom adds
What Stockroom does that Fishbowl leaves to you, or does somewhere other than Shopify.
- It lives in your Shopify admin. Purchase orders, receiving and reports open inside Shopify, next to the products and orders they are about. There is no second system to log into or keep in sync.
- Shopify shows what is coming. Mark a PO ordered and the incoming quantity appears on the product in Shopify and POS. Fishbowl’s sync writes available and on-hand figures and nothing about open POs.
- Receiving happens where the boxes are. Scan at the desk, at the till in Shopify POS, or with a phone camera. Fishbowl’s cloud mobile app moves and counts stock but cannot receive; that needs Fishbowl Advanced.
- Shopify’s cost keeps up. After a receive, Stockroom shows the landed cost per unit, allocated by value, quantity or weight, and writes it to Shopify’s cost per item when you confirm.
- Prices keep up with costs. The price review report shows where a cost rise ate your margin and suggests a new price you can push to Shopify.
- Suppliers can answer. A confirmation link with no login, tracking added by the supplier, open tracking on the email, and a Network delivery straight into a supplier’s own Shopify store.
- Forecasting is included. Reorder points from your sales and a buy plan grouped by supplier, every night, with the cheaper supplier flagged.
- It works from your AI assistant. Connect Claude, ChatGPT or another assistant over MCP and ask it to draft a PO or receive a delivery. Stockroom shows a preview before anything moves.
- No implementation package. Fishbowl requires an implementation specialist, a data migration and a six to eight week training certification before go-live. Stockroom installs from the App Store and your suppliers are created from the vendors on your products.
Where Fishbowl is the better fit
Fishbowl is warehouse and manufacturing software first. These are the jobs Stockroom does not try to do.
- Manufacturing with work orders and MRP. Fishbowl Advanced schedules work orders on a calendar, plans materials, costs labour and handles disassembly and repair. Stockroom has bills of materials, builds raised from demand and the components they need on the buy plan, and no production schedule.
- One stock record across many channels. Several stores, marketplaces and a B2B portal drawing on one inventory, with Fishbowl as the source of truth. Stockroom works on one Shopify store and keeps Shopify as the record.
- Warehouse operations in a mobile app. Pick, pack, ship, move, put away and count on Zebra and phone scanners with Fishbowl Advanced Mobile. Stockroom has bins, pick lists and scanning at the desk, in POS and on a phone, but no warehouse app of its own.
- Serial numbers and full traceability. Serial, lot, expiry, revision and custom tracking, with forward and backward traceability on the Scale plan. Stockroom tracks lots and expiry dates, in early access, and does not track serial numbers.
- Accounting-grade costing and QuickBooks Desktop. FIFO, LIFO, average or standard cost with item receipts, bills, COGS and inventory asset journals posted to QuickBooks Desktop, Online or Xero. Stockroom’s accounting path today is QuickBooks Online through MyWorks Sync, with Xero coming.
Questions we get
Is Stockroom a replacement for Fishbowl?
For purchasing on a Shopify store, yes. For a warehouse system with work orders, serial tracking and its own ledger, no. If Shopify is your business and you are paying $229 a month or more, plus an implementation package, mainly for purchase orders, receiving and reordering, Stockroom does that part free and keeps Shopify as the record.
Which Fishbowl does this page compare?
Both, and it says which when they differ. Fishbowl Inventory is the cloud product at $229 to $729 a month, without manufacturing and with a mobile app that cannot receive. Fishbowl Advanced is the desktop or hosted product from $595 a month with work orders, MRP and the full mobile app. Both require an implementation package.
Where does my inventory live with Stockroom?
In Shopify. Stockroom writes incoming quantities when you mark a PO ordered and received stock at the destination location when you receive, and both show in Shopify’s inventory history. Fishbowl holds its own stock record and pushes figures to Shopify on a schedule.
Does Fishbowl show incoming stock in Shopify?
Nothing in its Shopify documentation says it writes Shopify’s incoming figure. The sync pushes available or on-hand quantities and, optionally, item cost. Stockroom writes incoming to Shopify when you mark a PO ordered, so the product page and POS show what is coming.
Does Stockroom do FIFO?
For cost of goods sold, yes. Every receipt is a cost layer, and the COGS and stock on hand reports can walk them FIFO or as a weighted average. What Stockroom offers Shopify’s cost per item is a weighted average or the latest cost, which you confirm. Accounting valuation stays with your accounting system, and MyWorks Sync can post each PO and bill into QuickBooks.
Can I move my Fishbowl purchase orders into Stockroom?
Stockroom imports a whole PO from CSV and suppliers from CSV, so open orders and vendor records can come across from an export. Most stores finish what is open in Fishbowl and start the next order in Stockroom, where suppliers are already created from the vendors on their Shopify products.
What does Fishbowl cost?
Fishbowl Inventory is $229 a month for two users, $429 for five and $729 for ten, billed annually. Fishbowl Advanced starts at $595 a month for the warehouse edition and $675 for manufacturing, confirmed by quote. Forecasting, extra integrations, the B2B portal and custom reports are add-ons, and an implementation package is required. As published on Fishbowl’s pricing page on 14 September 2026.
What does Stockroom cost?
Purchase orders and receiving are free, and they stay free. That is the core of the app. As Stockroom grows into deeper inventory management, the advanced end of that will be paid, along with hands-on onboarding and priority support. Pushing your POs and bills into QuickBooks is a paid MyWorks Sync subscription.
Try it on your next order
Install free, create one PO, email it, and receive it when it lands. Nothing in Fishbowl is touched.