Kōbō PLM vs Uphance: Complete Comparison 2025

Introduction

Looking for an all-in-one fashion management platform? Both Kōbō PLM and Uphance promise to centralize your product development, inventory, and sales operations in one system. But which one is the better fit for your independent fashion brand?

The key difference: While both platforms offer integrated PLM, ERP, and CRM functionality, Kōbō PLM focuses on streamlined workflows for creative teams, while Uphance emphasizes comprehensive ERP capabilities for brands with complex wholesale operations.

In this detailed comparison, we'll break down:

• Feature differences and overlaps

• Pricing and value propositions

• Ideal use cases for each platform

• Migration considerations

At a Glance: Kōbō PLM vs Uphance

What is Uphance?

Uphance is a comprehensive apparel management system that combines PLM, ERP, CRM, and WMS (Warehouse Management System) capabilities in one platform. Founded with a focus on B2B wholesale operations, Uphance is particularly strong for brands that sell through multiple channels.

Uphance Strengths:

1. Comprehensive B2B Wholesale Features:

• Dedicated B2B wholesale portal for buyers

• Custom branding for your wholesale site

• Mobile sales app for reps

• Agent commission tracking

• Credit limit management

• Multiple price lists and customer tiers

2. Advanced Inventory & Warehouse Management:

• Pick, pack, ship workflows

• 3PL integrations

• Multiple warehouse locations

• Barcode scanning (mobile app)

• Low stock alerts and reordering

• Inventory forecasting

3. Robust CRM:

• Customer portal (buyers can view orders/invoices)

• Sales pipeline management

• Task tracking for sales reps

• Email automation

• Customer payment history

4. Production & Supply Chain:

• Production order management

• Bulk production planning

• Supplier collaboration portal

• Purchase order workflows

• QC and inspection tracking

5. Integrations:

• Shopify

• Xero, QuickBooks, e-conomic

• JOOR, NuORDER (B2B marketplaces)

• Klaviyo (email marketing)

• ShipStation, EasyPost (shipping)

When Uphance Excels:

Uphance is built for brands with significant wholesale operations. If you're:

• Selling to 20+ wholesale accounts

• Managing multiple sales reps or agents

• Running a complex warehouse operation

• Need dedicated B2B tools

What is Kōbō PLM?

Kōbō PLM is a product lifecycle management platform designed specifically for independent fashion brands. Built by a former brand owner, Kōbō prioritizes the creative product development process while including essential business management features.

Kōbō PLM Strengths:

1. Creative-First Product Development:

• Intuitive interface designed for designers

• Visual style boards and moodboards

• Tech pack creation with fashion-specific templates

• Real-time collaboration on styles

• Version control for designs

• Materials library with visual swatches

2. Streamlined PLM:

• Fast tech pack generation (minutes, not hours)

• Automated BOM calculations

• Sample development tracking

• Approval workflows

• Direct supplier communication

• Production PO management

3. All-in-One Simplicity:

• Clean, modern UI (compared to "traditional" ERP feel)

• Minimal training required (1-2 days to productivity)

• No overwhelming feature complexity

• Built-in project management

• Team collaboration tools

4. Right-Sized for Indie Brands:

• Affordable per-user pricing

• No minimum user requirements

• Self-service onboarding

• Quick implementation (1-2 weeks)

• Scales gracefully as you grow

5. End-to-End Workflow:

• Design → Development → Production → Sales

• Inventory tracking

• Order fulfillment

• Shopify integration for D2C

• Basic wholesale order management

When Kōbō PLM Excels:

Kōbō PLM is ideal for brands where product development is the core focus. If you're:

• A designer-founder who needs structure

• Managing 10-100 styles per season

• Working with 3-10 suppliers

• Team of 1-20 people

• D2C-focused or light wholesale

Then Kōbō PLM is likely your best fit.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

1. Tech Pack Creation & Management

2. Bill of Materials (BOM) & Costing

Uphance:

• Comprehensive BOM management

• Auto-calculate material costs

• Track costs in multiple currencies

• Supplier pricing management

• Landed cost calculations (freight, duty)

• Costing sheets with detailed breakdowns

Kōbō PLM:

• Automated BOM generation

• Centralized materials library

• Real-time costing calculations

• Material cost tracking

• Cost rollup across styles

• Simple, visual costing interface

  
  

3. Supplier Collaboration

4. Production Management

5. Inventory Management

6. Sales Order Management

7. B2B Wholesale Portal

8. CRM & Customer Management

9. Integrations & Ecosystem

Pricing Comparison

Uphance Pricing (2025)

Uphance uses a tiered, flat-rate pricing model (not per-user):

Annual billing: 20-25% discount

What's included:

• Unlimited users (on most plans)

• All core features

• Mobile apps

• Integrations

• Email/chat support

Typical cost for different team sizes:

• 2-5 people: $299-499/month ($3,600-6,000/year)

• 5-15 people: $499-999/month ($6,000-12,000/year)

• 15+ people: Custom pricing

The Core Question: PLM-First vs ERP-First?

The fundamental difference between Kōbō PLM and Uphance comes down to philosophy:

Kōbō PLM: "PLM-First"

Philosophy: Start with great product development, add business operations around it.

Designed for: Brands where the founder/designer is heavily involved in product creation.

Workflow priority:

1. Design & Development (✓ Best-in-class)

2. Sample Management (✓ Excellent)

3. Supplier Collaboration (✓ Excellent)

4. Production (✓ Good)

5. Inventory & Sales (✓ Good, improving)

Feels like: A creative tool that happens to handle business operations.

Best for:

• Design-driven brands

• D2C-focused with some wholesale

• Teams where most people touch product development

• Brands that value usability and design

Uphance: "ERP-First"

Philosophy: Comprehensive business management with strong PLM capabilities.

Designed for: Brands that need to manage complex wholesale operations and inventory.

Workflow priority:

1. Inventory & Warehouse (✓ Best-in-class)

2. B2B Wholesale Sales (✓ Excellent)

3. Production Planning (✓ Excellent)

4. Product Development (✓ Good, improving)

5. Design Collaboration (✓ Good)

Feels like: A powerful ERP that includes PLM functionality.

Best for:

• Wholesale-heavy brands

• Brands with warehouse operations

• Teams with dedicated operations/production roles

• Brands that need robust reporting and forecasting

Use Case Scenarios: Which Tool for Your Situation?

Scenario 1: Designer-Founder, 2-Person Team, D2C-Focused

Your situation:

• You're the designer and product lead

• 1 assistant helping with production coordination

• Selling mostly D2C via Shopify

• 20-30 styles per collection

• Working with 3-5 suppliers

• Want to stay focused on design, not operations

Recommendation: Kōbō PLM (Grow plan, $338/month)

Why:

• Interface you'll actually enjoy using

• Fast tech pack creation so you spend more time designing

• Simple supplier communication

• Shopify integration handles D2C sales

• You don't need Uphance's advanced wholesale/warehouse features

Scenario 2: Wholesale-Focused Brand, 8-Person Team

Your situation:

• Selling to 50+ wholesale accounts (boutiques, department stores)

• 2 sales reps managing accounts

• Warehouse with pick/pack operation

• 100+ SKUs across multiple collections

• Managing significant inventory

• Need buyer portal and sales rep tools

Recommendation: Uphance (Pro/Enterprise, ~$999/month)

Why:

• B2B wholesale portal lets buyers place orders 24/7

• Mobile sales app for your reps

• Advanced warehouse management

• Customer-specific pricing and terms

• Agent commission tracking

• Much more affordable for an 8-person team ($999 vs $2,000+)

Scenario 3: Growing Brand, 5-Person Team, Mixed Channels

Your situation:

• 50/50 split between D2C and wholesale

• Design team (2 people) + operations team (3 people)

• 40-60 styles per season

• Working with 8-10 suppliers

• Need better product development AND sales management

Recommendation: Could go either way - evaluate priorities

Choose Kōbō PLM if:

• Product development is your bottleneck

• Your team finds traditional ERPs overwhelming

• Wholesale is straightforward (smaller accounts, simple terms)

• Your designers need to be hands-on in the system

• Cost: $845-1,245/month

Choose Uphance if:

• Wholesale operations are complex (many accounts, reps, varied terms)

• You have/need warehouse management

• Operations team is comfortable with ERP systems

• You need robust sales reporting

• Cost: $499-999/month (cheaper for 5+ people)

Scenario 4: Freelance Product Developer

Your situation:

• Managing product development for 5-8 client brands

• Need to keep client work organized and separate

• Create tech packs and manage sampling

• Clients handle their own sales/inventory

Recommendation: Kōbō PLM (Lite or Grow, $50-169/month)

Why:

• Manage multiple client workspaces

• Professional tech pack outputs

• Collaborative features for client feedback

• More affordable for solo freelancer

• Clients don't need complex ERP features

Alternative: Uphance could work if clients want access to inventory/sales features.

Scenario 5: Established Brand, 20+ People, Multi-Channel

Your situation:

• $5M+ revenue

• Significant wholesale (100+ accounts)

• D2C website with high volume

• Multiple collections per year (100+ styles)

• Dedicated design, production, sales, and operations teams

• Complex inventory across warehouses

Recommendation: Uphance (Enterprise plan)

Why:

• At this scale, you need robust ERP capabilities

• Uphance's flat pricing becomes very cost-effective (vs $5,000-6,000/month for Kōbō PLM at 20 users)

• Advanced warehouse, production, and sales features become critical

• Can support specialized teams (sales reps, warehouse staff, etc.)

Note: At this scale, also consider true enterprise PLM like Centric Software if budget allows ($100k+).

Migration Considerations

Moving from Uphance to Kōbō PLM

Why you might switch:

• Uphance feels too complex for your needs

• Your team finds the interface overwhelming

• You're more design-focused than operations-focused

• You don't use the advanced wholesale/warehouse features

• You want a more modern, intuitive experience

Migration time: 1-2 weeks (export from Uphance, import to Kōbō PLM, team training)

Moving from Kōbō PLM to Uphance

Why you might switch:

• You've scaled significantly and need more robust ERP features

• Wholesale has become a major channel

• You've opened a warehouse and need WMS functionality

• You need dedicated B2B tools

• Cost per user is getting expensive (7+ users)

Migration time: 2-3 weeks (export from Kōbō PLM, configure Uphance, team training on new workflows)

Strengths & Weaknesses Summary

Kōbō PLM

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I start with Kōbō PLM and switch to Uphance later?

Yes! Many brands start with Kōbō PLM (easier to learn, lower cost for small teams) and switch to Uphance when they:

• Scale past 10 people (per-user cost gets high)

• Wholesale becomes 50%+ of revenue

• Need dedicated warehouse management

Data migration is straightforward since both are fashion-focused systems.

Which has better tech pack creation?

Kōbō PLM has a more designer-friendly tech pack interface (visual, drag-and-drop). Uphance has robust tech pack features but with a more traditional ERP feel.

If tech pack creation is a daily task for your designers, Kōbō PLM will feel better. If it's done occasionally by production team, Uphance is fine.

Which is better for D2C brands selling on Shopify?

Both integrate natively with Shopify, but:

• Kōbō PLM is better if D2C is your primary channel (simpler, more focused)

• Uphance is better if you do significant wholesale AND D2C (handles both channels well)

Which is better for wholesale-heavy brands?

Uphance, hands down. The B2B wholesale portal, sales rep tools, and customer management are purpose-built for wholesale operations. Kōbō PLM handles basic wholesale but doesn't have a dedicated buyer portal (yet).

Can I manage multiple brands in one account?

Uphance: Yes, multi-brand management is built-in.

Kōbō PLM: Possible with workspaces, but better suited for single-brand operations currently.

Which has better inventory management?

Uphance has more advanced warehouse management features (barcode scanning, bin locations, 3PL integration, multi-warehouse).

Kōbō PLM handles basic inventory tracking well (components + finished goods) but isn't designed for complex warehouse operations.

If you have a dedicated warehouse → Uphance If you're managing stock in a studio/small space → Either works

Which is easier to learn?

Kōbō PLM by far. Most users are productive in 1-2 days.

Uphance takes 1-2 weeks to learn all features. It's comprehensive but more complex.

Which has better mobile apps?

Different approaches:

• Uphance has specialized apps (Sales app for reps, Pick/Pack app for warehouse)

• Kōbō PLM has one unified app with full feature access

For sales reps taking orders → Uphance For designers/product managers on the go → Kobo PLM

Can suppliers access both systems?

Yes, both allow supplier collaboration:

• Uphance: Suppliers create accounts and access a dedicated portal

• Kōbō PLM: Suppliers participate via in-app messaging (no account needed) or optional portal access

Kōbō PLM is easier for suppliers (they don't need to learn a system). Uphance gives more formal supplier management.

Which has better customer support?

Both offer email/chat support. User reviews praise both teams for responsiveness.

Uphance has been around longer, so more documentation and community resources.

Kōbō PLM offers more hands-on onboarding for new customers.

Verdict: Both good, slightly different styles.

The Bottom Line: Which Should You Choose?

Ready to Make a Decision?

Try Kōbō PLM Free for 14 Days

See why independent fashion brands love Kōbō PLM's intuitive approach to product lifecycle management.

What you'll get:

• Full access to all features

• Personalized onboarding session

• No credit card required

• Import your first collection and see the difference

Start Your Free Trial →

Questions? Book a discovery call to see Kōbō PLM in action.

Additional Resources

• Kobo PLM Product Tour

• Kobo PLM vs Techpacker

• Kobo PLM vs Centric Software

• What is PLM for Fashion?

• Kobo PLM Pricing & Plans

About This Comparison: Last updated: October 2025. Pricing and features are subject to change. This comparison is based on publicly available information, user reviews, and product demos. We strive for accuracy, but verify details with both companies before making a decision.

About KoboLabs: Kōbō PLM is developed by KoboLabs, founded by a former fashion brand owner who built the platform he wished existed: professional PLM for independent brands at accessible prices.

Learn More About Kobo PLM →