Comparison
Khatabook alternative for clothing shops
What is a good Khatabook alternative for a clothing shop?
If your udhaar comes from sales at the counter, Tap & Bill keeps it on the bill itself: make the bill with size and colour, put all or part of it on udhaar, print it, send it on WhatsApp, and remind the customer with your UPI ID, from ₹499 a month. Khatabook is the better choice for a free ledger of every kind of entry, such as suppliers, loans and personal accounts.
Khatabook is best known as a digital bahi khata: a ledger of who owes you and whom you owe, with payment reminders. It also lists GST bills and inventory. Tap & Bill starts from the other end: the bill at a clothing counter, with udhaar as one way to pay. Many shops need one more than the other; some use both.
Switch to Tap & Bill if
- Most of your udhaar comes from bills, and customers ask “which bill was this for?”
- You want a printed receipt and a WhatsApp bill for every sale, in Hindi or Gujarati.
- You do exchanges and alterations and want them against the original bill.
- Staff bill at the counter and the owner wants daily sales by cash, UPI, card and udhaar.
- You want your own UPI QR with the exact amount on the bill.
Stay with Khatabook if
- You mainly keep a ledger: suppliers, loans, personal or family accounts.
- You want a free app.
- You need a language other than English, Hindi and Gujarati.
- You use an iPhone.
- You want business loans offered inside the app.
Tap & Bill vs Khatabook for a clothing shop
| Tap & Bill | Khatabook | |
|---|---|---|
| At the clothing counter | ||
| Udhaar (pay later) | Udhaar on the bill (whole or part of a split), “Udhaar due” list, collect part or full, WhatsApp reminder with your UPI ID. Udhaar always comes from a bill; no entries for loans or suppliers | Core feature: digital bahi khata for any credit or debit entry; payment reminders by SMS and WhatsApp, several at once |
| Making the bill | Category tiles with editable rates, or the Quick bill keypad; walk-in bills | GST and non-GST invoices, shared on WhatsApp |
| Size and colour on the bill | Size and colour on each bill line: quick picks S to XXL and 28 to 40, or type any; printed under the item | Not listed on the pages we checked |
| Alterations | + Alteration on the bill line: work, ready day and charge; tailor slip print; late / due today list; “ready” WhatsApp to the customer | Not listed on the pages we checked |
| Return or exchange of a piece | Return against the old bill, credit note (CN-0001…), refund or put the value on the customer’s account for the new bill | Not listed on the pages we checked |
| Items customers asked for that you didn’t have | Not in stock list: note what customers asked for (item, size, colour), most asked first, WhatsApp them when it arrives | Low-stock alerts from inventory; a list of customer requests is not listed |
| Offers to customers on WhatsApp | Bulk WhatsApp offers to customers who opted in at billing, with their name; 300 (Growth) or 1,000 (Pro) messages a month included; a STOP reply turns offers off. Needs the WhatsApp Business API | Not listed on the pages we checked |
| Languages | App and bills in English, Hindi or Gujarati; each phone picks its own app language | English, Hindi and 10+ regional languages (Play Store listing) |
| Payments, printing and devices | ||
| UPI | Your own UPI QR with the exact amount on screen, receipt and PDF; split cash + UPI + card + udhaar | Khatabook QR to collect by UPI, cards and wallets |
| Stock | No stock, inventory or barcodes (by design: bill by category or the Quick bill keypad) | Inventory with stock tracking and low-stock alerts |
| GST | GST tax invoice with GSTIN, HSN per category, CGST + SGST; GST report (CSV) for your CA | GST and non-GST invoices |
| Thermal printer | 58 mm and 80 mm thermal: Bluetooth or Wi-Fi / LAN from Android; any printer from a computer | Not listed on the pages we checked |
| Without internet | Android app bills without internet and syncs later; the web version needs internet | Not listed; their site says data is backed up when connected to the internet |
| Works on | Android phone or tablet, and any computer browser (web billing); no iPhone app (the web version works on iPad) | Android and iOS apps, and desktop |
| Staff | Separate logins: owner login plus 2 staff (Starter), 5 staff (Growth), 20 staff (Pro) | Access for staff and owners (their site) |
| Loans | No | Business loans through NBFC partners (Play Store listing) |
| Price | ₹499 / ₹999 / ₹1,999 a month + GST (Starter / Growth / Pro); 14-day free trial, no card | Main app free (their site: “free apps”); the Play Store listing says it contains ads; paid plans are not listed on khatabook.com |
Where Khatabook is better
- It is free. Khatabook’s main app costs nothing; Tap & Bill starts at ₹499 a month.
- A full ledger. Any entry, with or without a bill: suppliers, loans given and taken, personal accounts. Tap & Bill only keeps udhaar that comes from bills.
- More languages. English, Hindi and 10+ regional languages are listed; Tap & Bill has English, Hindi and Gujarati.
- iPhone app, and inventory with low-stock alerts.
- Loans and collections through its partners, if you want them in the same app.
Why clothing shops pick Tap & Bill
When udhaar is written separately from the bill, the two drift apart: the bill says one thing, the khata another, and nobody remembers which pieces the balance was for. In Tap & Bill the udhaar is a payment mode on the bill, so the items, date and staff are attached. One customer over two weeks:
| Date | At the counter | Udhaar due |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Oct | Bill INV-2041: 2 kurtis (M) ₹1,798 + dupatta ₹450 = ₹2,248. Paid ₹1,000 by UPI (QR for ₹1,000) + ₹1,248 udhaar. Printed and sent on WhatsApp. | ₹1,248 |
| 9 Oct | One kurti returned for size L, not in stock. Exchange: credit note ₹899 goes to her account and reduces what she owes. Staff note “Kurti · L” on the Not in stock list with her number. | ₹349 |
| 12 Oct | Owner taps Remind: WhatsApp opens with “₹349 pending” and the shop’s UPI ID. She pays ₹349 by UPI; staff tap Collect. | ₹0 |
| 15 Oct | Kurti in L arrives. Owner taps Now in stock and WhatsApps her. | — |
Every step is on her customer account with the bill numbers, and the owner’s report shows udhaar given, collected and still to collect.
Using both
You don’t have to choose one. A shop can keep Khatabook for suppliers and personal entries and bill customers in Tap & Bill. The two don’t share data, so don’t enter the same customer udhaar in both.
What each costs
| App | What it is | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Khatabook | Ledger (khata) app with reminders, invoices and inventory | Free main app (contains ads, per Play Store) |
| Tap & Bill Starter | Counter billing app, owner + 2 staff, 1,500 bills / month | ₹499 a month + GST (₹5,988 a year) |
| Tap & Bill Growth | Owner + 5 staff, bulk WhatsApp offers | ₹999 a month + GST |
At ₹499 a month, Tap & Bill costs about ₹17 a day. It earns that back only if your counter makes enough bills that printing, WhatsApp bills, exchanges and daily reports save real time. A shop with a handful of credit customers and few bills is better off with a free khata.
How switching from Khatabook works
Start the free trial or book a demo
14 days free, no card. On a 10-minute demo call we set up your categories (Saree, Kurti, Jeans…) and default prices with you.
Connect your printer and add staff
Pick your Bluetooth or Wi-Fi printer in Settings, set 58 or 80 mm, upload your logo, and give each staff member their own login.
Run both for a week
Bill at the counter in Tap & Bill and keep Khatabook for suppliers and any old balances. Compare how long a bill takes at rush hour.
Decide before the trial ends
If it fits, pick a plan. If not, you have lost nothing: your bills from the trial can be downloaded as a CSV file.
There is no import from Khatabook today. Customers are saved by mobile number the first time you bill them, so your customer list builds up in the first few weeks. Your old Khatabook records stay in Khatabook.