Store, chat, or act?
ERPs and CRMs store your data. Chatbots make conversation, then forget. MNB Cortex reads your Tally, Busy, Vyapar or Excel exports — plus Shopify, Razorpay, Stripe and Google Sheets — and tells you what changed.
| Cortex | ERP | CRM | General chatbot | Consultant | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reads all your business data | ◐ | ◐ | ◐ | ○ | ◐ |
| Diagnoses problems for you | ● | ○ | ○ | ◐ | ● |
| Predicts what's coming | ● | ○ | ○ | ○ | ◐ |
| Recommends specific actions | ● | ○ | ○ | ◐ | ● |
| Executes the busywork | ● | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| Plain-language answers | ● | ○ | ○ | ● | ● |
| Remembers your business | ● | ◐ | ◐ | ○ | ◐ |
| Re-reads your numbers without being asked | ● | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| Built for Indian SMEs | ● | ◐ | ◐ | ○ | ◐ |
Cortex reads your Tally, Vyapar, Busy and spreadsheet exports, plus four live syncs: Shopify, Razorpay, Stripe and Google Sheets.
The Cortex column describes what this product does today and is what we will be held to. The other four describe categories of tool, not any particular vendor, and are our characterisation — worth checking against whatever you are actually comparing us with. No price comparison is made: pricing for the other four varies far too widely for a row of rupee symbols to mean anything. Ours is here.
vs an ERP
An ERP is a system of record — it stores transactions beautifully but waits for you to ask questions and draw conclusions. Cortex sits on top of your data (including your ERP) and does the thinking: it tells you what changed, why it matters, and what to do.
vs a CRM
A CRM tracks your pipeline; it doesn't tell you which deals to prioritise, which customers are about to churn, or how pricing is hurting margin. Cortex reads sales alongside finance and operations, so advice reflects the whole business, not one slice.
vs ChatGPT
A general chatbot is brilliant and blank — it knows nothing about your numbers unless you paste them every time, and it forgets. Cortex is grounded in a permanent memory of your business and connected to your data, so answers are specific to you.
vs a consultant
A consultant arrives, forms a view, and leaves — and the context goes with them. Cortex keeps reading the same numbers after the engagement would have ended, and it remembers every decision you've made. What it is not is a person who can sit in the room and argue with your co-founder; the two are not substitutes.