Carbon vs. Tulip
Tulip is a no-code app builder for the shop floor — powerful for digitizing work instructions, but not a system of record. You still bring an ERP and wire it in. Carbon is the system of record: ERP, MRP, MES and QMS on one model, with the whole backend on an open API.
- 4-in-1
- ERP, MRP, MES & QMS on one data model
- 1 month
- implementations
- 30 days
- free trial, no sales call
- Yours
- full source-code ownership
Carbon vs. Tulip, feature by feature
| Carbon | Tulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope & fit | ||
| What it is | Unified ERP + MRP + MES + QMS | No-code frontline app builder |
| System of record | Yes — Carbon is the system of record | No — requires a separate ERP |
| Accounting, costing & purchasing | Built in | Not offered |
| MRP & live capacity planning | Built in; updates as the floor reports | Not included (build or integrate) |
| Capabilities | ||
| Work instructions / operator apps | Built in | Built in |
| Quality (QMS) | Native QMS | Build quality apps; GxP on regulated tier |
| Serial & batch traceability | Full genealogy, built in | Weak natively |
| Product configurator (CPQ) | Built in | Not offered |
| 3D CAD / STEP viewer | Built in | Not offered |
| Platform & ownership | ||
| Data model | One unified Postgres schema | App-scoped Tables + connectors to your systems |
| Full ownership of the code | Yes — the entire codebase is yours | No — proprietary |
| API coverage | Full backend over REST — every table | HTTP API over app-layer objects |
| AI / agent-ready (MCP) | Hosted MCP over the full backend | Frontline Copilot + MCP over Tulip objects |
| Deployment | Cloud or self-host (open source) | Cloud SaaS; on-prem/edge (proprietary) |
| Getting started | ||
| Pricing | $40–$100 / user / mo, published | $100–$250 / mo per interface (per station) |
| Free trial | 30 days | 30 days |
Where Tulip still fits
Tulip is excellent at what it's for: standing up flexible operator apps and connecting machines fast, especially in regulated frontline work. But it's a layer, not a system of record — you still run an ERP behind it. Carbon is the whole system on one model, so there's nothing behind it to buy.
You may be outgrowing Tulip if…
You still need an ERP behind it
Tulip builds the app; your orders, inventory and ledger live somewhere else. Carbon is that somewhere else — on the same model as the floor.
You're maintaining apps, not running a factory
Composable means you build and maintain it. Carbon ships the manufacturing model finished, and you extend it by API when you want to.
Per-station pricing adds up
Tulip bills per interface. Carbon is per user, published, with the ERP included.
Why manufacturers choose Carbon
A complete system, not a layer
Carbon is the system of record — ERP, MRP, MES and QMS on one model — so the floor, inventory, orders, costing and ledger are the same data, not apps wired to someone else's ERP.
Open and API-first
The source is yours: run Carbon in the cloud or self-host it, with no lock-in. The whole backend — every table and capability, not a curated subset — is open over REST and MCP, so you point the best agents (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor) at your live data instead of being boxed into a vendor's built-in assistant.
Live capacity planning
Capacity and demand forecasts update the moment the floor reports progress — not on the next overnight run — so the plan you're looking at is the plan that's true.
Published pricing, ERP included
Start free for 30 days with published, per-user pricing. No sales call, no six-figure implementation, no consultants required to make a change.
See Carbon on your own parts.
Start free for 30 days, or read the source and run it in your own environment. No sales call required.
