Fully automatic Excel-to-catalog generation, or a template-based builder where you assemble pages yourself? Here's the honest breakdown.
Choose Catalog Machine if you enjoy designing catalogs block by block: it gives you a product database, drag-and-drop templates, and extras like embedded order forms.
Choose Catalogly if your products live in a spreadsheet and you want the machine to do the work: upload Excel/CSV, and a complete, print-ready, paginated catalog appears in under a minute — with dual pricing and vector barcodes baked in, at one-time pricing.
| Catalogly | Catalog Machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Philosophy | Automatic — the file becomes the catalog | Manual — you build catalogs from templates |
| Input | Auto-parses CSV/XLSX, raw Shopify/WooCommerce/ERP exports | Import products into a database, then design |
| Time to finished catalog | Under 60 seconds | Hours (per catalog, every time) |
| Auto pagination & overflow | Automatic, millimetric, zero overflow | Template-based, semi-manual |
| Dual pricing (retail + trade) | Native, auto-detected from columns | Manual configuration |
| Barcodes | SVG vector EAN-13 / Code 128 per variant | Limited / manual |
| Order forms & online ordering | Not the focus (print & PDF distribution) | Built-in order forms |
| Price updates | Re-upload file → catalog regenerated in seconds | Update database, re-edit catalog pages |
| Pricing model | One-time from €5 (Day Pass) + optional plans | Subscription (free tier + paid tiers) |
Competitor details based on publicly available information as of September 2026 — always double-check current plans on their website.
Catalogly, by a wide margin. You upload the file, confirm the auto-detected column mapping, and the complete price list is generated and paginated automatically. In Catalog Machine you import products and then assemble the catalog manually.
Catalogly is built exactly for this: update the spreadsheet, re-upload, done — the catalog regenerates in seconds. Manual builders tend to cost you the same hours every single month.
That's Catalog Machine's strength (embedded order forms). Catalogly focuses on producing the print-ready catalog and price list you send to buyers by email or print.
Catalogly's Free plan lets you build and preview your full catalog at no cost. A no-watermark export starts at €5 one-time (Day Pass). Catalog Machine offers a free tier with paid subscription tiers above it.
Drop in your Excel file and get a finished preview in under a minute. Free, no signup required.
Create your catalog — Free