Fabrikatör alternative: stock planning with a cash forecast

// tl;dr

Fabrikatör is an active Shopify app for SKU-level demand forecasting, automated purchase orders and backorders. Keel HQ is narrower: reorder points from a trailing 90-day pace, and purchase order payments in a 14-week cash forecast. Pick Fabrikatör for forecasting and backorder handling; pick Keel HQ when cash is the question.

Everything about Fabrikatör below comes from its Shopify App Store listing (Fabrikatör Inventory Planner, accessed 2026-10-30). Check it for current plans.

What Fabrikatör lists

SKU-level demand forecasting based on sales history.
Automated purchase order creation, tracking costs, suppliers and due dates.
Supplier costs and lead times, and multi-warehouse inventory.
Integrations with Klaviyo, QuickBooks, Xero and ShipHero.

Side by side

	Fabrikatör	Keel HQ
Forecasting	SKU-level demand forecasting	Trailing 90-day pace, no statistical forecast
Purchase orders	Automated creation	POs you create, with a payment schedule
Backorders, pre-orders	Listed	Not supported
Cash	Not on the listing	PO payments feed a 14-week cash forecast
Price	From $99 a month by revenue (2026-10-30)	See pricing

Moving over

Keel HQ has no import preset for Fabrikatör, so you map its export's columns yourself. There is no live connection to Fabrikatör; you upload files, and nothing saves until you review it.

01Add your suppliers first
Keel HQ's file presets don't read supplier payment terms, so start from a spreadsheet of your suppliers. Open Inventory → Settings, find the Suppliers card and click Import. Choose Your own spreadsheet: Suppliers, with Supplier name, Lead time (days), MOQ, Currency, Payment terms and Email. Review, then click Import. Each imported purchase order copies its supplier's payment terms, and those payments feed the cash forecast.
02Import your open purchase orders
Export your open purchase orders from Fabrikatör into a spreadsheet, one row per PO line. In Keel HQ, open Inventory → POs and click Import, which opens Inventory → Import. Under What is this file? choose Your own spreadsheet: Purchase orders, click Choose file, and match each field in the Columns card to a column. PO number, Supplier and Quantity ordered are required; rows with the same PO number make one PO. Then Review import.
03Import supplier and lead time per SKU
On Inventory → Import, choose Your own spreadsheet: SKU settings, one row per SKU with SKU, Supplier, Lead time (days), MOQ and Reorder point (units).

What Keel HQ doesn't do

No statistical demand forecast, and no automated purchase order creation.
No backorder or pre-order handling, and no multi-warehouse planning.
No Fabrikatör import preset and no live connection. You upload a spreadsheet and match its columns.
Keel HQ is in private beta, with a waitlist.

Questions

How much does Fabrikatör cost?

Its Shopify App Store listing shows $99 a month for stores up to $500k annual revenue, $149 up to $1.5M and $199 up to $2.5M, plus $0.75 per backorder after 50 free ones, with a 14-day trial (checked 2026-10-30). Larger stores use an enterprise plan.

Does Keel HQ handle backorders and pre-orders?

No. Fabrikatör lists backorder and pre-order handling; Keel HQ doesn't do either.

Can I import Fabrikatör data into Keel HQ?

As your own spreadsheet. Keel HQ has no Fabrikatör preset, so under Inventory → Import you choose Your own spreadsheet: Purchase orders, Suppliers or SKU settings and match the columns yourself. There is no live connection to Fabrikatör, and you review everything before it saves.

// how keel hq does this

Know what to reorder and what to stop buying.

From ABC grading to sell-through curves, product pipeline, margin modeling, and return tracking — inventory ops without the spreadsheet.

See inventory in Keel HQ

Know your position. Never be surprised.

Runway days, debt stack, a 14-week rolling forecast with scenario sliders, and auto-generated action items — all without a spreadsheet.

See cash command center in Keel HQ

Join the waitlist