Soapmaking Friend vs Soapmaker 3?

[asiaspyro]

So obviously SMF is free but I'm curious on the difference of features between the two along with ease of use. I dont have the money to buy SM3 and just test the pro features unfortunately. My main need is inventory and figuring out price of soap batch/bar/oz etc from materials and packaging without doing a ton of manual entry so I was considering SM3 Lite (maybe pro). But then I saw this forum and SMF looks like it can compare to SM3 for free. Ive been trying to find reviews but there's nothing much out there except people saying how good SM3 is, but nowadays is it worth the price? I've also heard people using it more for the inventory and pricing rather than accounting/invoicing features like they mention in pro (not that a soap site could handle that very well tbh). I'm not planning on doing this as a hobby either.

Sorry if this came out a little long-winded!

 

[TheGecko]

I have SM3 Pro...after finding out that I had purchased four bottles of Lemon Verbena and had dups and trips of others, I needed it. Fortunately Lemon Verbena is a stock fragrance for me, but a couple of the others I haven't even tested.

Number One reason I chose to pay for SM3 Pro? I'm not screwed if the internet goes down...whether it's a problem with the site or my ISP is down.

Number Two is having a copy of it on my PC and I have a copy on my NetBook and it's a simple matter to backup and transfer from one to the other.

Number Three is by having it on my NetBook means ease of inventory...no wasting paper, I simply count or weigh and enter on the fly.

Number Four is I'm not tied to my desk. I'm a staff accountant by day and don't want to spend my evenings or weekends sitting at a deck. I like being able to kick back on the sofa and work up recipes, make notes, etc.

Number Five, since it's on my NetBook I can take it with me.

Your mileage may vary.

ETA: I really need to download the SAP values of oils and how to calculate how much lye/water in case of an apocalypse.

 

[jcandleattic]

Ditto everything Gecko said.

 

[asiaspyro]

Yeah that's all true though I could use SMF on my phone it's just not as backed up.. I managed to find a website selling it in aud though so buying it with usd was cheaper

 

[TheGecko]

Yeah that's all true though I could use SMF on my phone it's just not as backed up.. I managed to find a website selling it in aud though so buying it with usd was cheaper

I've tried using web-based programs on my iPad and iPhone. An example of this was Stash-To-Go which is connected to Ravelry. On my iPad it was useful, but on my iPhone, about the only time I used it was when I was out shopping and wanted to check whether or not I had a particular yarn in my 'stash' (aka inventory). But to try and knit from a pattern...I spent more time scrolling up and down and left and right than I did knitting. I can't even begin to imagine having to do that while I'm making soap.

I started with the free version just to check it out, then bought the Lite version only to realize that I didn't have access to inventory and upgraded to Pro. $99USD and it's already saved me about half that amount.

 

[asiaspyro]

But to try and knit from a pattern...I spent more time scrolling up and down and left and right than I did knitting. I can't even begin to imagine having to do that while I'm making soap.

Yeah i was thinking more mobility wise though i do prefer a computer as well. Tbh when making soap i write down my quantities on paper so I'm not flipping through my phone or laptop

I started with the free version just to check it out, then bought the Lite version only to realize that I didn't have access to inventory and upgraded to Pro. $99USD and it's already saved me about half that amount.

Inventory really is the nice part about this stuff. I tested out a cost calculator spreadsheet and it was nice seeing everything broke down, especially when considering what ingredients are bringing up my price. Now I'm realizing that I need to track batches and inventory so it'll help with that at least. I just wasn't sure if there were other programs out there for this stuff that may or may not be costly.
Now to get my accounting in order and fix up my site so I'm prepared down the line.

 

[TahoeBathCo]

Craftybase can do what you need. It’s an online database and it isn’t too hard to use. It will even link to your square account, website, etc so you know what’s going out. It will alert you when your low on inventory and you can get a slew of reports for accounting and tax purposes