Materials Inventory vs Spaceship: Shipping Automationfor Shopify (2026)

Materials Inventory and Spaceship: Shipping Automation, while both residing in the Shopify Inventory category, cater to vastly different merchant needs. Materials Inventory targets makers and manufacturers who need robust raw material and product inventory management, focusing on cost tracking, profitability analysis, and purchase order automation. Its strength lies in its real-time inventory updates, bill of materials management, and low-stock alerts, all designed to prevent overselling and stockouts. Spaceship, on the other hand, focuses on streamlining shipping processes for e-commerce businesses. It automates label generation, compares shipping rates across multiple global carriers, and provides features like bulk shipment creation and IOSS setup for EU shipments. Spaceship's value proposition centers on saving time and money through efficient shipping management and real-time tracking updates for customers. While Materials Inventory dives deep into internal inventory details, Spaceship concentrates on the outbound shipping process. The significant difference in the number of reviews (49 vs. 5) suggests that Materials Inventory is a more established and potentially more widely adopted solution, although Spaceship's smaller user base could be due to its recent introduction or niche appeal. Both apps currently boast perfect 5/5 ratings, but the vastly different review counts provide different levels of confidence to prospective users.

Materials Inventory and Spaceship: Shipping Automation, while both residing in the Shopify Inventory category, cater to vastly different merchant needs. Materials Inventory targets makers and manufacturers who need robust raw material and product inventory management, focusing on cost tracking, profitability analysis, and purchase order automation. Its strength lies in its real-time inventory updates, bill of materials management, and low-stock alerts, all designed to prevent overselling and stockouts. Spaceship, on the other hand, focuses on streamlining shipping processes for e-commerce businesses. It automates label generation, compares shipping rates across multiple global carriers, and provides features like bulk shipment creation and IOSS setup for EU shipments. Spaceship's value proposition centers on saving time and money through efficient shipping management and real-time tracking updates for customers. While Materials Inventory dives deep into internal inventory details, Spaceship concentrates on the outbound shipping process. The significant difference in the number of reviews (49 vs. 5) suggests that Materials Inventory is a more established and potentially more widely adopted solution, although Spaceship's smaller user base could be due to its recent introduction or niche appeal. Both apps currently boast perfect 5/5 ratings, but the vastly different review counts provide different levels of confidence to prospective users.