Core functional criteria: state coverage across all 51 US jurisdictions, federal qualification tracking (Basic Permits, Brewer’s Notices, DSP registrations, bonded wine cellars), COLA management (TTB Form 5100.31), formula management (Forms 5100.51/5110.38/5120.29), renewal workflow, AI-powered document import, team collaboration, custom fields and reporting, production facility tracking, and SOP and policy management.

Pricing models vary. Common patterns include free tiers with limited functionality, per-user pricing, per-record pricing (per brand, per product, or per registration), and flat pricing tied to plan tier. Multi-brand and multi-facility operations typically face higher costs at scale.

Producers emphasize federal qualification tracking (Basic Permit, Brewer’s Notice, or DSP registration), state brand registration coverage, and renewal workflow. Importers emphasize import permit management, foreign supplier documentation, and state brand registration coordination. Federal qualification framework differs materially between producers and importers.

Distributors emphasize distributor permit tracking, brand appointment records, state excise tax filing coordination, and franchise-law compliance where applicable. Producer-side compliance is anchored in federal qualification and product records; distributor-side compliance is anchored in permit and brand appointment records.

Consultants emphasize multi-client management, client separation, deliverable tracking, and cross-client workflow coordination. Team Collaboration with client-by-client access controls is essential. Consulting practice scale (5–50+ clients) shapes evaluation.

Critical. Beverage alcohol brands can be registered across 51 US jurisdictions with substantially different frameworks, fees, and renewal cycles. Software that doesn’t cover the full state footprint forces workarounds — spreadsheets or legacy systems for uncovered states — that undermine the value of the primary system.

Important for operations with meaningful document volume. AI-powered import shifts the compliance team’s role from transcription to review — saving time and reducing errors. Solo producers with few documents may benefit less; multi-brand operations benefit substantially.

Critical for multi-facility producers, contract manufacturers, and producers with M&A activity. Site-level permit consolidation prevents facility permit gaps and supports audit response. Single-facility producers benefit less from advanced facility tracking.

Increasingly important as operations mature. SOP documentation supports audit defense, personnel continuity, and consistent operations. Small teams may operate initially without formal SOPs; scale and turnover typically drive SOP adoption.

Migration from existing spreadsheets or legacy systems takes real time. Total cost of ownership includes migration cost. Software with strong AI document import reduces migration cost by parsing legacy documents into structured records automatically.

Vendor stability, product roadmap, customer support quality, and industry expertise matter. Beverage alcohol compliance is a specialized field; vertical-specific vendors typically outperform horizontal vendors on domain expertise and roadmap alignment.

CraftComply covers producer, importer, distributor, and compliance consultant use cases with state coverage across all 51 US jurisdictions, federal qualification tracking, COLA and formula management, renewal workflow with smart notifications and guided workflows, AI-powered document import, team collaboration, custom fields and reports, production facility tracking, and SOP and policy management. Free tier available for evaluation.