Jewellery software price in India: what it really costs

The two ways jewellery software is priced

One-time licence plus AMC. This is the usual model for desktop software installed on the shop’s computer. You pay a large amount upfront for the licence. After the first year, you pay an annual maintenance contract (AMC) for updates and support, often worked out as a share of the licence fee. Skip the AMC and the software usually keeps running, but you stop getting updates, new GST changes and help on the phone.

Monthly or yearly subscription. This is the usual model for cloud software that runs in a browser or app. There is little or nothing to pay upfront, and updates and support are part of the subscription. Yearly plans usually cost less than twelve monthly payments. Stop paying and you lose full use of the software, so check what happens to your records when you do.

Neither model is cheaper by default. A licence looks expensive on day one and cheaper by year five. A subscription looks cheap on day one and adds up over time. The only fair test is the total over the years you expect to use it.

What changes the price

• Users. Many products charge per login, so a shop with four salespeople pays more than a one-counter shop. Ask whether your CA or accountant needs a paid login too.
• Branches. A second shop is often charged as a new licence or a higher plan, with extra fees for moving stock between branches.
• Modules. Features like GST e-invoicing (IRN), e-way bills, Tally sync, savings schemes, girvi, wholesale or memo, and a workshop or karigar module are often sold separately.
• Limits. Some plans cap bills, stock items or customers each month, and charge more once you cross the cap.
• Messages. SMS and automatic WhatsApp messages usually cost extra, because the software company pays the messaging provider for each one.

One-time costs to ask about

• Before you compare monthly or yearly prices, ask for every one-time charge in writing. These are the ones that come up most often:
• Installation and setup, especially for desktop software that a technician installs on your computer.
• Training for you and your staff, and whether a second session costs extra.
• Moving your records from old software or Excel: stock, customers and pending dues.
• Custom invoice or tag design, if you want your own layout instead of a ready template.
• Hardware. A barcode or tag printer, a barcode scanner, and sometimes a weighing scale link or a new computer. Ask which models the software works with before you buy anything.

Hidden costs that show up later

• The costs that hurt are the ones nobody mentioned at the demo. Ask about each of these directly:
• AMC increases. Is the AMC fixed, or can it rise each year?
• Paid upgrades. With a licence, a new major version may need a fresh purchase or an upgrade fee.
• Reinstalling. If your computer breaks or you change it, does moving the software cost money?
• Backups. With desktop software, backups are often your job. A lost hard disk can mean lost records.
• Getting your data out. Can you export bills, stock and customers to Excel yourself, at any time, without paying?
• Support hours. Is phone support included, and is it available during your busiest hours, like the wedding season and festival days?
• GST changes. When GST rules change, is the update included or charged?

Free jewellery software: what it really costs you

Free tools do exist: general billing apps with a free plan, trial versions, and Excel sheets. They can work for a very small shop starting out. But “free” usually costs you somewhere else.

General billing apps are not built for jewellery. They often can’t price a piece on today’s gold rate with weight, purity, making charges and stones, take old gold on the same bill, or keep a HUID with each piece. You end up working out these figures by hand, which is slow and easy to get wrong.

Free plans also tend to cap bills or items, leave out GST reports, add the software’s own branding to your invoices, or offer no support when something goes wrong at the counter. And if the free product shuts down or changes its terms, moving your records out may be hard.

A free trial of paid software is different. It lets you test the real thing in your own shop before you pay. That is usually the better way to save money.

How to compare the total over 3 years

• Put every option on one sheet and add up what you would pay over three years, with GST. For each one, write down:
• The upfront licence fee, if any.
• Two years of AMC (if the AMC starts after the first year), or 36 months of subscription, or three yearly payments.
• Extra users and branches you will need in that time, not just today.
• Modules you need: e-invoicing, Tally sync, schemes, wholesale.
• One-time setup, training and data-moving fees.
• Hardware you must buy because of this software, beyond what you already own.
• Then check that the prices include 18% GST. Some quotes are before GST, which makes them look lower than they are.

CaratOS prices

CaratOS is cloud software for jewellery shops. Every plan has unlimited bills, stock and customers, and all prices include 18% GST. See the full pricing page for what each plan includes.

Starter: ₹1,199 a month. Monthly only. One login for you, plus a free read-only login for your CA. Billing at live gold and silver rates, old gold on the same bill, HUID, GST invoices, customer dues, karigar jobs and a cash book. It has a 15-day free trial with no card needed.

Growth: ₹3,999 a month, or ₹42,999 a year. The yearly price saves ₹4,989 against twelve monthly payments. Five logins plus the free CA login, more than one branch, GST e-invoicing (IRN) and e-way bills, Tally live sync, savings schemes and loyalty, and B2B tools: memo, trade accounts in cash and metal, and B2B quotes.

Custom: priced for your business. Everything in Growth, with unlimited people and branches. After a short call, we send a written quote. Book a demo to start.

CaratOS Desktop is coming later, with no date yet. It will keep your records on your shop’s own computer and will have a one-time fee of ₹34,999 and a yearly AMC of ₹5,250, both with GST included. See CaratOS Desktop.

What CaratOS includes, and what costs extra

• Included on every plan: help moving your stock, customers and dues from your old software or Excel; Tally export; GST reports for your CA; and export of your records at any time.
• Nothing to install. CaratOS runs in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer.
• Hardware: bills and price tags print on any printer your computer can already print to. Scan barcodes and QR codes with a scanner, or with the phone camera.
• What can cost extra: automatic WhatsApp reminders on Growth are charged by WhatsApp for each message. One-tap reminders open WhatsApp with the message ready and go from your own number.
• Changing or cancelling: move up to Growth at any time and pay only the difference for the rest of the period. Cancel from Plan & billing; your plan stays on until the period you paid for ends. We don’t refund part of a month or year.

CaratOS over 3 years

Using the same method as above, here is what the CaratOS subscription adds up to over three years, with GST included: Starter comes to ₹43,164. Growth paid yearly comes to ₹1,28,997, against ₹1,43,964 if you pay Growth monthly. Add any automatic WhatsApp message charges and any hardware you choose to buy.

Use these figures in your own comparison sheet next to any other quote. Our buyer’s guide lists what to check in jewellery billing software beyond price.

Questions shop owners ask