Fishbowl Review: Overview, Features, Pricing & Alternatives in 2025

Lost in spreadsheets and manual inventory updates?

If you’re researching Fishbowl, you’re likely struggling with scattered stock data, inaccurate records, and constant fire drills to prevent costly mistakes.

The biggest headache I hear is how inventory errors burn hours and cash daily, especially when your team can’t trust the numbers.

Fishbowl tackles this by giving you real-time visibility across all your locations, with barcode scanning, automated order workflows, and a deep QuickBooks integration that actually syncs right.

In this review, I’ll break down how Fishbowl delivers clarity and control over your inventory chaos, from first setup through daily operation.

We’ll dig into all the details in this Fishbowl review—including its inventory and manufacturing features, pricing, pros and cons, and where it stands out against alternatives.

You’ll walk away with the real insights and the features you need to confidently decide if Fishbowl is the fix for your inventory pain.

Let’s get started.

Fishbowl Overview

Fishbowl is a dedicated inventory and manufacturing specialist with a clear mission. Based out of Orem, Utah, they’ve been helping businesses master their operations since 2001.

Their core focus is on SMBs needing advanced inventory control that outstrips the native features of accounting software like QuickBooks. This specialization for the complex, yet underserved, mid-market is their key differentiator.

I’ve noticed their continued push into cloud hosting, giving your business more deployment flexibility. It’s a smart move I’ll explore further through this Fishbowl review.

Unlike a full ERP like NetSuite, which can be a massive undertaking, Fishbowl feels more grounded. I find their unique value is the deep integration with QuickBooks, a practical, less disruptive upgrade.

They work with many growing manufacturers, e-commerce businesses, and distributors—organizations that require serious tracking for parts, lots, and multiple warehouses without the high cost of a true enterprise system.

From my analysis, their whole strategy centers on democratizing powerful inventory and manufacturing tools. It directly addresses the frustration of being too complex for basic software but not yet ready for a full ERP implementation.

Now let’s examine their capabilities.

Fishbowl Features

Struggling to control your inventory and production processes?

Fishbowl features are designed to give you robust control over inventory, manufacturing, and warehouse operations. These are the five core Fishbowl features that streamline your business.

1. Real-Time Inventory Tracking

Tired of inaccurate stock counts?

Manual inventory tracking leads to costly errors like stockouts or overstocking. This can directly impact your bottom line and customer satisfaction.

Fishbowl offers up-to-the-minute visibility into stock levels across all locations, preventing inventory headaches. From my testing, the barcode scanning integration minimizes data entry errors, ensuring high accuracy. This feature allows you to see exact product availability at any given moment.

This means you get precise inventory control, ensuring you always know what you have and where it is.

2. Manufacturing and BOM Management

Does production planning feel like guesswork?

Managing complex bills of materials and work orders manually can lead to inefficiencies. This often results in production delays and wasted materials.

Fishbowl Manufacturing simplifies multi-level BOMs, raw material tracking, and work order management. What I love about this approach is how it supports various manufacturing types seamlessly, from batch to repetitive. This feature helps you accurately calculate materials, track labor, and manage production schedules with ease.

So you can optimize your production processes, reducing waste and ensuring timely completion of goods.

3. Warehouse Management System (WMS)

Is your warehouse a chaotic mess?

Inefficient warehouse operations lead to slow order fulfillment and increased labor costs. This directly impacts your ability to meet customer demands promptly.

Fishbowl Warehouse optimizes receiving, picking, packing, and shipping, complete with zone and bin tracking. This is where Fishbowl shines, as it guides staff through efficient pick-and-pack workflows. This feature also provides crucial stock alerts and reordering capabilities to keep your inventory balanced.

This means you can streamline warehouse tasks, significantly improving fulfillment speed and operational accuracy.

4. Automated Order Management

Are manual order processes slowing you down?

Handling sales and purchase orders manually is prone to errors and delays. This can create bottlenecks that frustrate both your team and your customers.

Fishbowl automates the entire order lifecycle, from sales orders to purchase orders, even work orders. Here’s what I found: it seamlessly links online sales to inventory systems, automatically updating stock. This feature can also create purchase orders when items hit reorder points, ensuring you’re always stocked.

This means you can accelerate your order fulfillment, ensuring customers receive products faster and more reliably.

5. Seamless Accounting Integration

Struggling to sync inventory with your financials?

Manually transferring data between inventory and accounting software wastes time and introduces errors. This can lead to discrepancies that complicate financial reporting.

Fishbowl’s deep integration with QuickBooks (Online/Desktop/Canada) and Xero is a game-changer. What you get instead is automatic synchronization of inventory and financial records, eliminating manual entry. This feature ensures your books are always accurate and up-to-date, without needing a complete overhaul.

This means you can maintain flawless financial records, simplifying audits and enhancing overall business visibility.

These Fishbowl features work together to create a powerful inventory and manufacturing ecosystem that truly transforms how you manage your products and production.

Fishbowl Pricing

Unsure about hidden costs?

Fishbowl pricing is not publicly listed, requiring a custom quote, which means your investment will be tailored to your specific inventory and manufacturing needs.

1. Pricing Model & Cost Factors

Understanding Fishbowl’s structure.

Fishbowl offers both perpetual licenses and a subscription model, with costs largely driven by user count and chosen modules (Warehouse or Manufacturing). What I found regarding pricing is that your total investment scales with your operational complexity. As you add more users, the per-user fee tends to decrease, rewarding larger deployments.

From my cost analysis, this means your budget commitment is directly tied to the scale of your inventory operations.

2. Value Assessment & ROI

Is this pricing worth it?

Fishbowl’s deep integration with QuickBooks and Xero adds significant value, potentially saving your business countless hours of manual data entry and reconciliation. Budget-wise, what stood out to me is how this streamlines your accounting processes, reducing errors and improving financial accuracy, which directly impacts your ROI.

This helps you avoid costly manual workarounds, freeing up your team for more strategic tasks instead of you wondering about hidden costs.

3. Budget Planning & Implementation

Consider all aspects of cost.

Beyond the software license or subscription, you’ll need to factor in significant implementation and training costs, which can range from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars. From my cost analysis, these are crucial investments for a smooth rollout and ensuring your team maximizes the software’s capabilities.

So for your business size, you can expect a comprehensive upfront investment that ensures successful adoption and long-term value.

My Take: Fishbowl pricing is an investment in comprehensive inventory management, best suited for SMBs ready to commit to a tailored, powerful system that integrates with their existing accounting.

The overall Fishbowl pricing reflects customized value for serious inventory management.

Fishbowl Reviews

What do real users think?

My analysis of Fishbowl reviews delves into actual customer experiences, providing balanced insights to help you understand what users genuinely think about this software.

1. Overall User Satisfaction

Users are generally quite satisfied.

From my review analysis, Fishbowl consistently achieves a high user satisfaction rating of 83% across hundreds of reviews. What I found in user feedback is how many highlight its comprehensive inventory features, often praising its ability to centralize complex operations.

This indicates you can generally expect a positive experience with their core offerings.

2. Common Praise Points

The support really stands out.

Users frequently rave about Fishbowl’s customer support, describing it as “top-notch” and “unmatched.” Review-wise, the seamless integration with QuickBooks also earns consistent praise, simplifying financial records and saving significant manual effort for businesses.

This means you can anticipate strong support and efficient accounting synchronization.

3. Frequent Complaints

The learning curve is a common hurdle.

While powerful, some reviews point to a “very time consuming” setup process and a steeper learning curve for new users. What stands out in user feedback is how reporting limitations are frequently mentioned, with many finding pre-built reports less useful out-of-the-box.

You should anticipate investing time in setup and potentially customizing reports yourself.

Overall, Fishbowl reviews reflect strong core functionality despite setup and reporting nuances.

Best Fishbowl Alternatives

Which inventory solution is truly right for you?

The best Fishbowl alternatives offer strong options, each better suited for different business sizes, budgets, and specific inventory or manufacturing needs.

1. QuickBooks Enterprise

Need robust accounting first, inventory second?

QuickBooks Enterprise shines when your primary business need is comprehensive financial management and accounting, with inventory as an important but secondary concern. What I found comparing options is that QuickBooks provides an integrated financial and inventory solution, making it a familiar choice if you prioritize robust accounting.

Choose this alternative if your business’s core priority is strong financial reporting over advanced inventory details.

2. NetSuite

Scaling to a full-blown enterprise resource planning system?

NetSuite is your go-to if you’re a larger enterprise seeking a comprehensive, cloud-based ERP that covers everything from financials and CRM to supply chain. From my competitive analysis, NetSuite offers an all-encompassing, integrated business suite, but it comes with a significantly higher price tag and complexity.

Opt for NetSuite when your business requires a complete ERP solution, not just advanced inventory management.

3. Unleashed Software

Prioritizing ease of use and strong e-commerce integration?

Unleashed Software is ideal for small to mid-sized businesses that need a user-friendly, cloud-based inventory system with excellent integrations for online sales channels. Alternative-wise, Unleashed is simpler for e-commerce-focused operations, though it might lack Fishbowl’s deepest manufacturing customization.

Consider Unleashed if your priority is a straightforward cloud solution for online sales and basic inventory.

4. Cin7 Core

Seeking a cloud ERP with complex inventory and B2B capabilities?

Cin7 Core (formerly Dear Systems) excels for businesses with intricate inventory needs, particularly in wholesale, retail, or manufacturing, requiring robust B2B e-commerce and POS integrations. From my analysis, Cin7 Core provides strong multi-channel inventory control, ideal for complex sales environments.

Choose Cin7 Core when your business requires a fully cloud-based ERP-like solution with advanced B2B and POS features.

The best Fishbowl alternatives truly depend on your specific operational scale and accounting ecosystem more than just feature lists alone.

Fishbowl Setup

Concerned about complex software setup?

Successfully implementing Fishbowl involves understanding its deployment approach and preparing for a moderate level of complexity to ensure a smooth transition. This Fishbowl review dives into what you’re signing up for.

1. Setup Complexity & Timeline

It’s not an instant plug-and-play solution.

Fishbowl’s setup can be time-consuming, but dedicated trainers are available to guide you through the process, helping with database creation and feature familiarization. From my implementation analysis, a dedicated trainer significantly aids the go-live process, preventing confusion and extended timelines.

You’ll need to allocate significant time and internal resources for training sessions and data migration upfront.

2. Technical Requirements & Integration

Expect some technical heavy lifting.

Fishbowl offers on-premises or cloud hosting options, with the on-premises version requiring your own hardware for installation. What I found about deployment is that it integrates with various hardware like barcode scanners, so plan for compatibility checks and device setup.

Your IT team will need to assess server requirements, network configurations, and plan for integrating existing accounting software like QuickBooks.

3. Training & Change Management

User adoption is key for ROI.

Given Fishbowl’s comprehensive features, training is essential for your staff to fully leverage its capabilities. From my analysis, investing in comprehensive training prevents productivity dips and ensures your team becomes proficient quickly, making the most of the software.

You’ll need to budget for training packages and manage change proactively to ensure a smooth transition for all users.

4. Support & Success Factors

Support can make or break your rollout.

Fishbowl’s customer support is generally praised for product knowledge and availability during the implementation phase. What I found about deployment is that proactive engagement with support can resolve issues quickly, minimizing disruptions to your operations.

Plan to utilize their support heavily, especially during initial data setup and module configuration, to ensure a successful go-live.

The overall Fishbowl setup demands patient planning and consistent internal resources, but pays off with robust inventory management.

Bottom Line

Is Fishbowl the right fit for your business?

My Fishbowl review shows a robust inventory, manufacturing, and warehouse management solution ideal for SMBs seeking to upgrade from basic systems and integrate with QuickBooks.

1. Who This Works Best For

SMBs outgrowing basic inventory tools.

Fishbowl excels for small to medium-sized businesses, particularly those using QuickBooks, that need advanced inventory management, manufacturing (MRP), or multi-location warehouse control. From my user analysis, manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers will find its detailed tracking and automation invaluable for optimizing operations.

You’ll see significant improvements if you’re struggling with inaccurate stock levels, manual processes, or a lack of visibility across your inventory.

2. Overall Strengths

Comprehensive inventory control is its core power.

The software succeeds by offering real-time inventory tracking, advanced manufacturing capabilities like BOMs and MRP, and seamless integration with QuickBooks. From my comprehensive analysis, its detailed traceability is crucial for regulated industries like food or pharmaceuticals, providing audit-ready data and streamlined compliance.

These strengths will translate into improved efficiency, reduced errors, and greater control over your entire supply chain, delivering significant value.

3. Key Limitations

Learning curve and reporting limitations persist.

While powerful, Fishbowl presents a steeper learning curve during implementation, and its out-of-the-box reporting may require customization to be truly useful. Based on this review, the user interface prioritizes function over aesthetics, which might not appeal to users expecting a purely modern cloud-native experience without extensive setup.

I find these limitations manageable trade-offs for its powerful capabilities, especially if your priority is deep functionality over immediate ease of use.

4. Final Recommendation

Fishbowl earns a strong recommendation for specific users.

You should choose Fishbowl if your business has outgrown simple inventory solutions and needs a powerful, scalable system for complex inventory, manufacturing, and warehouse operations. From my analysis, this software is ideal for QuickBooks users looking for an integrated, specialized solution that avoids a full ERP transition.

My confidence level is high for SMBs needing robust inventory control but drops for very small businesses with minimal needs.

Through this Fishbowl review, I’ve demonstrated strong value for the right business profile, while also highlighting implementation and reporting considerations before you make a decision.