ChandlerChandler vs Tidal side by side
| Chandler | Tidal (from tidal.supply) | |
|---|---|---|
| Reads inquiries with AI | Yes: email text, PDF, Excel and photos of a requisition | Yes: email, ShipServ, ProcureShip and other portals |
| IMPA codes | Reads codes on the inquiry; matches to your own catalogue (IMPA code, unit, carton, local names) | Matches to your own catalogue codes; free IMPA lookup tool |
| Supplier prices | Suppliers enter prices through a link, in their own currency | Costing against supplier costs you hold |
| Quote approval | Management approval queue before any quote goes out | Human review before send; margin floor and exception flags |
| After the quote | Vessel PO check, supplier POs per currency, goods received, packing, dispatch, handover photos, returns and resupply | Order tracking quote to delivery; vendor invoice vs PO checks; inventory alerts |
| Accounting | Built in: invoices, payments, bank reconciliation, VAT, P&L, balance sheet | Through integration: NetSuite, Dynamics 365, SAP Business One, Odoo, ShipNet, BASSnet and others |
| Go-live | Quoting live in one week, no catalogue import | Live in one week |
| Price | Published: US$679/month (10 users), US$865 setup | Not published; scoped per customer |
| Security | Own AWS server and separate database per customer, daily backups | Encrypted in transit and at rest; SOC 2 Type II "in progress" |
Source for Tidal: tidal.supply, checked 19 October 2026. We make Chandler; if anything about Tidal here is out of date, email info@ifsolutions.lk and we will fix it.
When Tidal is the better fit
- You receive most RFQs through ShipServ or other portals and want them pulled in automatically. Tidal lists portal intake; Chandler works from inquiries you upload or forward.
- You already run an ERP such as NetSuite, Dynamics 365 or SAP Business One and want to keep it for orders and accounts.
- Your bottleneck is purely quoting speed on a high volume of RFQs, and the rest of the order already works well.
When Chandler is the better fit
- You want one system for the whole order, not a quoting tool plus an ERP: the same order runs from the vessel's inquiry to supplier POs, the store, the ship and the final invoice. See Order Processing.
- You don't have an ERP, or you run on spreadsheets and a small accounting package. Chandler's finance module replaces it.
- Your suppliers price by phone and email today. Chandler sends each supplier a link to enter prices, discounts, VAT and availability.
- You want to know the cost before the demo. Chandler's pricing is public.
- You need delivery proof: packing by box, vehicles, handover photos and returns within 48 hours or two weeks.
Switching to Chandler
There is no catalogue import to do first. Quoting goes live within a week: we set up your users, suppliers, margin rules and invoice format, train your team on one of your own inquiries, and you run side by side with your current process until the team is confident. Order processing and finance switch on after that. Your item catalogue builds itself from the inquiries you quote, or you can bulk-import an Excel list.
Send us a real inquiry. We will quote it in Chandler, then take the same order through to the invoice. Also see the full comparison of 8 ship chandler software tools.