Software comparison
WorkGuru vs Fishbowl
Compare WorkGuru and Fishbowl: platform scope, detailed features, adjacent strengths, pricing, implementation, migration and the businesses each suits best.
At a glance
The short version
| Evaluation | WorkGuru | Fishbowl |
|---|---|---|
| Platform type | A mature industrial operations platform covering quoting, scheduling, purchasing, stock, timesheets and job costing. All your operational and communications data in one place, with the general ledger left to your accounting system. | Inventory, warehouse and manufacturing platform with deep stock control, BOMs, MRP, work orders, production scheduling, fulfilment and integrated payments. |
| Best fit | Fabrication, engineering, manufacturing and project or workshop businesses, where the margin is won or lost on labour, materials and rework rather than on job volume. | Product manufacturers, distributors and warehouse-led businesses that need stronger MRP, traceability, fulfilment and multi-location inventory than project management. |
| Pricing model | Published per-user pricing in AUD and GBP, with modules you turn on as you need them, so you can price it before you talk to us. | Fishbowl Australia publishes Inventory from A$345/month, Advanced Warehouse from A$495/month and Advanced Manufacturing from A$549/month, with final pricing varying by users and deployment. |
| Implementation | DIY, WorkGuru-assisted or partner implementation. | Fishbowl offers cloud-hosted and self-managed deployment options, with implementation and support services for manufacturing and warehouse setups. |
| Strongest when | The business needs a job-first industrial operating system connecting CRM, quoting, projects, workshop work, labour, purchasing, stock and live job profitability. | Products, work orders and inventory flow are the centre of the business, especially where BOM/MRP, multi-location stock, traceability, 3PL and fulfilment matter most. |
Platform purpose and scope
What each platform is for
WorkGuru
WorkGuru runs the work between winning a job and knowing what it made. Quote it, schedule it, buy for it, book time and materials against it, and see the real cost while the job is still open rather than after invoicing. It is deliberately not an accounting system, a payroll system or a dispatch board — those connect to it.
Fishbowl
Fishbowl is primarily an inventory, warehousing and manufacturing platform. Its current Advanced Manufacturing product connects BOMs, manufacture orders, work orders, MRP, production scheduling, labour costing and inventory, while its warehouse products cover multi-location fulfilment, 3PL and barcode operations. It now also has Fishbowl Payments built into the platform and AI Manufacturing for operational shortage, delay and order-generation assistance. Its centre of gravity remains products, work orders and stock rather than customer-project delivery.
Best-fit use cases
- Manufacturers needing multi-level BOMs, work orders, MRP and production scheduling
- Distributors and warehouse operations requiring real-time multi-location inventory and fulfilment
- Businesses needing lot, batch and serial traceability plus strong reorder and purchasing controls
- Manufacturers wanting labour/time costing against production work orders
- Operations requiring 3PL, ecommerce, POS and pick/pack workflows connected to inventory
- Businesses whose operational model is repeatable products and stock rather than substantial customer projects
Industries and typical customers
WorkGuru is focused on fabrication, engineering, custom manufacturing, structural steel, mining services, heavy repair and related industrial project/workshop businesses. Fishbowl: Manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, ecommerce, regulated inventory and warehouse-heavy businesses.
Feature comparison
Every capability, side by side
Grouped the way the work actually runs. The framework is ours, so read the rows where WorkGuru is partial or not competing first — they will tell you more than the ones where we both say yes.
About this comparison. WorkGuru prepared it. Every verdict below is numbered to the source it came from, and we record only what a vendor publishes — “not found” means we could not find it in their public material on the date shown, not that the product cannot do it.
Software changes constantly. If we have got something wrong about Fishbowl, tell us and we will correct it.
Last reviewed: 21 August 2026
- Yes published or native
- Partial a materially different workflow or scope
- Integration available through an integration
- Beta not shipped yet
- No documented as not supported
- Not found not in the vendor’s published product information at the date checked
| Capability | WorkGuru | Fishbowl |
|---|---|---|
| Sales & CRM | ||
| Client Management | Yes1 | Yes32 |
| Contact Management | Yes1 | Yes32 |
| Webforms (website lead capture) | Yes1 | Not found32 |
| Lead Management | Yes1 | Not found32 |
| Sales Pipeline | Yes1 | Not found32 |
| Quoting & Estimating | Yes1 | Yes32 |
| Quote Templates | Yes1 | Partial32 |
| Quote Management | Yes1 | Partial32 |
| Client Follow-Up | Yes1 | Not found32 |
| AI Client, Lead & Quote Follow-Up | Yes1 | Not found32 |
| AI Takeoffs | Beta1 | Not found32 |
| Projects & Jobs | ||
| Project Management | Yes2 | Partial33 |
| Project Templates | Yes3 | Not found33 |
| Project Kanban Boards | Yes2 | Not found33 |
| Task Management | Yes2 | Partial33 |
| Task Kanban Boards | Yes2 | Not found33 |
| Gantt Chart | Yes2 | Not found33 |
| Project Chat | Yes2 | Not found33 |
| Project Documents | Yes2 | Partial33 |
| Variations | Yes2 | Not found33 |
| Timesheets | Yes2 | Yes35 |
| Recurring / repeat scheduled jobs | Yes3 | Not found33 |
| Scheduling & Work Planning | ||
| Work Areas (bays, machines, departments etc.) | Yes4 | Partial33 |
| Resource Scheduling | Yes5 | Yes33 |
| Task Scheduling | Yes4 | Partial33 |
| ToDo List Scheduling & Management | Yes4 | Not found33 |
| Schedule Changes | Yes4 | Yes33 |
| Mobile App | Yes4 | Partial33 |
| Kiosk App | Yes | Integration |
| Purchasing & Procurement | ||
| Purchase Orders | Yes7 | Yes32 |
| Supplier Management | Yes7 | Yes32 |
| Purchasing Against Projects | Yes7 | Partial32 |
| RFQs / Supplier Quotes | Beta7 | Not found32 |
| Supplier Quote Comparison | Beta7 | Not found32 |
| Inventory & Stock Control | ||
| Stock Control | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Product Management | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Stock Purchasing | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Stock on Projects | Yes8 | Partial34 |
| Production Jobs / Internal Assembly | Yes9 | Yes34 |
| Counter Sales / Stock Sales | Yes10 | Yes34 |
| Stock Shortages & Par Levels | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Serial Tracking | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Batch Tracking | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| FIFO Tracking | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Stock Locations | Yes11 | Yes34 |
| Multiple Warehouses | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Stocktakes | Yes8 | Yes34 |
| Bills of Materials (BOM) | Yes9 | Yes34 |
| Ecommerce channel management | Integration12 | Yes34 |
| Point of Sale | Yes10 | Yes34 |
| Financial | ||
| Job Costing | Yes13 | Yes36 |
| Invoicing | Yes13 | Partial36 |
| Progress Invoicing | Yes13 | Not found36 |
| Reporting | Yes13 | Yes36 |
| Payments | Yes13 | Yes36 |
| Online / Embedded Payment Collection | Integration13 | Yes36 |
| General ledger & statutory reporting | Integration14 | Integration32 |
| Multi-currency transactions | Yes | Yes36 |
| Compliance | ||
| Forms | Yes15 | Partial34 |
| Qualifications | Yes15 | Not found34 |
| Documentation | Yes15 | Partial34 |
| Asset Register | Yes6 | Partial34 |
| Team, Security & Permissions | ||
| Team Management | Yes18 | Partial35 |
| Roles & Permissions | Yes16 | Yes35 |
| Payroll processing | Integration17 | Integration35 |
| Award interpretation | Integration17 | Not found35 |
| Employee records | Yes18 | Partial35 |
| HR onboarding & performance | Integration19 | Not found35 |
| Automations & AI | ||
| Workflows | Yes20 | Partial37 |
| Workflow Templates | Yes20 | Partial37 |
| Workflow Builder | Yes20 | Partial37 |
| User-customisable Automations in System | Yes20 | Partial37 |
| Workflow Notifications & Updates | Yes20 | Partial37 |
Every verdict above is numbered to the source it came from. Sources are listed at the <a href=”#sources”>foot of this page</a>.
Commercials
Pricing, rollout and what it really costs
WorkGuru pricing, implementation and ownership
Current WorkGuru AUD pricing: $350/month platform fee including the first 10 users; additional users $35/month; Inventory $300/month; Workflow Automations $200/month; Advanced Forms $150/month. DIY onboarding is free; guided onboarding and partner implementation are available for businesses that want more help. Re-confirm commercial pricing before publication.
Fishbowl pricing
Fishbowl Australia publishes Inventory from A$345/month and Advanced from A$495/month; Advanced Manufacturing starts from A$549/month. Fishbowl also requires an implementation package. Pricing information was checked on 21 August 2026 and should be re-checked immediately before publication.
Implementation and time to value
Fishbowl states an implementation package is required, with onboarding tailored to the operational setup. WorkGuru can be implemented DIY, with WorkGuru-assisted onboarding, or through an implementation partner depending on the size and complexity of the business.
Total cost and complexity of ownership
Compare more than licence price: software subscription, implementation, data migration, integrations, training, support, internal administration and the cost of additional systems still required around the core platform. A cheaper licence can be more expensive if it leaves the business running critical workflows elsewhere; a broader ERP/MRP can be more expensive if the extra depth is not actually needed.
Switching
Moving from Fishbowl to WorkGuru
Already using Fishbowl? Scope migration around the information that still matters: customers and contacts, products, suppliers, open quotes, current jobs, WIP, documents and relevant job history. The exact import path depends on the export formats and APIs available from Fishbowl. Historical data that does not need to stay live can remain archived. WorkGuru should confirm migration scope, timing and cost before a customer commits.
The verdict
The matrix is evidence. This is the buying advice.
Where Fishbowl is stronger
- Fishbowl is materially stronger in manufacturing inventory depth, including multi-level BOMs, work orders, MRP and production scheduling
- Warehouse operations are deeper, with multi-location stock, 3PL workflows, barcode scanning, pick/pack, ecommerce and POS functionality
- Traceability is a core strength, including lot, batch, serial, expiry and custom part tracking across inventory and manufacturing
- Fishbowl supports production resource allocation, employee scheduling and labour costing directly against work orders
- Fishbowl Payments is now built directly into the platform, so online and in-app collection is stronger than older comparisons suggested
- Fishbowl AI Manufacturing adds operational AI for shortages, blockers, delays and automatic PO/MO/WO generation
Where WorkGuru is stronger
- WorkGuru is the stronger fit when the operating model is primarily customer jobs and projects rather than stocked products and manufacture orders
- WorkGuru provides a much broader CRM-to-project operating flow, including lead pipeline, project templates, Kanban, Gantt, variations, project documents and project communication
- Workshop and project scheduling in WorkGuru is designed around customer delivery, job phases, staff and Work Areas rather than production work orders alone
- WorkGuru ties project purchases, consumed stock, timesheets and variations to live profitability on each customer job
- WorkGuru includes asset-linked preventative maintenance, qualifications and broader people/compliance workflows that are not the centre of Fishbowl
- WorkGuru has a general trigger-condition-action automation engine; Fishbowl has strong operational automation but it is concentrated around inventory, purchasing and manufacturing
Choose Fishbowl if…
Choose Fishbowl when its strongest areas are central to the operating model: boms, work orders and true mrp; multi-warehouse, 3pl, edi and pick/pack/dispatch; lot/batch/serial traceability and regulated inventory controls.
Choose WorkGuru if…
Choose WorkGuru when the business needs an industrial operations platform that connects CRM and quoting to substantial projects, workshop planning, purchasing, inventory, labour, invoicing and job profitability without adopting a broader ERP than the business needs.
FAQs
Fishbowl questions
Is Fishbowl a direct WorkGuru competitor?
In some businesses, yes. The overlap depends on the operating model. This page is designed to show both the shared capability and where each platform is intentionally stronger.
Can we migrate from Fishbowl to WorkGuru?
Yes, migration can be scoped as part of implementation. The exact data, timing and cost depend on the exports/APIs available from Fishbowl and what history you want to retain.
Is WorkGuru cheaper?
Not necessarily in every scenario. Compare current licence pricing plus implementation, modules, integrations and the rest of the software stack. Fishbowl pricing on this page is dated 21 August 2026.
Does WorkGuru do the setup?
It can. WorkGuru supports DIY setup, WorkGuru-assisted onboarding and partner implementation depending on complexity.
Where is Fishbowl stronger than WorkGuru?
See the adjacent-strength section above. We deliberately include capabilities such as field service, MRP, warehousing, construction takeoffs or specialist steel workflows where the competing platform may be broader or deeper.
Method
How this comparison was prepared
This comparison was prepared by WorkGuru. Fishbowl product claims are based on publicly available official product information checked on 21 August 2026. We use the same evaluation framework across every vendor and explicitly identify areas where the competing platform may be stronger.
Customer proof
[CUSTOMER PROOF REQUIRED] Prefer a WorkGuru customer who evaluated or moved from Fishbowl. Capture the previous operating problem, why WorkGuru was selected, implementation experience and measurable result.
Checked 3 September 2026. WorkGuru verdicts are preserved from the supplied comparison page. Fishbowl was re-audited against current first-party product documentation.
Scope note: Fishbowl has expanded materially in 2026. Payments are now built in, AI Manufacturing is available as an operational add-on, and current manufacturing pages explicitly document production scheduling and labour/resource allocation. Those do not turn Fishbowl into a project CRM or field-service platform, so project/CRM verdicts remain deliberately conservative.
- WorkGuru — CRM
- WorkGuru — Project Management
- WorkGuru — Project Templates
- WorkGuru — Scheduling
- WorkGuru — Resource Scheduling
- WorkGuru — Asset Management
- WorkGuru — Purchasing
- WorkGuru — Inventory & Stock Control
- WorkGuru — Production Jobs
- WorkGuru — Counter Sales
- WorkGuru — Stock Locations
- WorkGuru — Shopify Integration
- WorkGuru — Financial
- WorkGuru — Xero Integration
- WorkGuru — Compliance
- WorkGuru — Team, Security & Permissions
- WorkGuru — Tanda Integration
- WorkGuru — Team Management
- WorkGuru — Employment Hero Integration
- WorkGuru — Automations
- Fishbowl — Australian Pricing
- Fishbowl — Feature Overview
- Fishbowl — Manufacturing
- Fishbowl — Inventory & Asset Tracking
- Fishbowl — Time Tracking & Labor Costing
- Fishbowl — Payments
- Fishbowl — AI Manufacturing
- Fishbowl — Manufacture & Work Orders
See it on your own jobs.
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