Disclosure: Mercura publishes this comparison. Information about Distro comes solely from its public website (as of October 28, 2026, sources listed at the end of the article). Found an error? Write to us via /contact; we review and correct within 5 business days.

Highlight Summary

• For plumbing, HVAC and electrical distributors that want bids, orders and supplier price requests in one system, Mercura is the better fit.

• Both are AI quoting software for distributors: they match lines to your item master and enter orders. Mercura also serves manufacturers. Distro’s company description for AI assistants says: “Distro sells only into wholesale distribution and manufacturers’ rep agencies”.

• ISO/IEC 27001, Entra ID SSO with SCIM and a public REST API are documented for Mercura; Distro’s website mentions SSO, not the others.

• Choose Distro for a broader AI sales suite (rep assistant, web shop agent, AP automation) or HVAC/refrigeration CPQ with load calculations.

What is Mercura, what is Distro?

Mercura is AI software for quote and order automation in technical sales, for distributors and manufacturers. It reads bids, specs and emailed orders (also German GAEB tenders), matches every line to your item master, sends supplier price requests for missing lines and writes the approved quote or order into your ERP. Inside sales approves every quote; uncertain lines are flagged, not guessed. Which inside-sales tasks AI can take over is described in our article on inside sales tasks and AI relief.

Distro describes itself as “The Agentic Sales Operating System for Industrial Distributors”. Its company description for AI assistants names HVAC, PHCP/PVF, electrical and industrial MRO as industries. Products cover quoting and order entry, CPQ, plan and spec takeoffs, a rep assistant, a customer support agent and AP invoicing. How order entry can be automated at industrial and MRO distributors is shown in our article on order entry automation for industrial distributors.

Comparison at a glance

Legend: ✅ documented = described on the vendor’s website. ◐ partly = partly described (reason in brackets). – not mentioned = not mentioned on Distro’s website, as of October 28, 2026; this does not mean it is missing. ✗ not offered, per vendor = the vendor’s own pages say so (quote in the source). Mercura column: standard features, as of October 2026; “configurable” = available, set up per customer.

Can Distro create supplier price requests straight from a bid?

Distro’s website does not mention sending price requests to suppliers. It describes agentic AI that checks suppliers and uses “real-time supplier and ERP data” for inventory, lead times and landed costs in quotes. For lines you don’t stock, Mercura creates an Excel price request from the bid, sends it from the rep’s mailbox and files the replies on the bid. More on quotes and tenders.

Example (illustrative): In a mechanical bid package, twelve lines with specialty valves you don’t carry go out as one Excel request to two vendors.

Does Distro serve manufacturers as well as distributors?

Distro’s own company description for AI assistants says: “Distro sells only into wholesale distribution and manufacturers’ rep agencies”. It names manufacturers’ rep agencies, not manufacturers themselves, as customers. Mercura is built for distributors and manufacturers. For manufacturers, Mercura adds accessories with multipliers, offers variant selection and exports PDF quotes with technical attributes.

Example (illustrative): For a 60-line engineer’s spec, Mercura adds mounting kits as mandatory accessories and flags one line where size and capacity don’t match; inside sales sends the PDF quote.

Which IT and ERP requirements are documented?

Distro’s website mentions SSO, but not ISO/IEC 27001, SCIM or a public REST API. Distro’s privacy policy states “Our servers are located in the United States.” Mercura is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and offers Entra ID SSO with SCIM, public REST API, webhooks and SFTP, a separate tenant per customer, hosted in Europe.

On ERP, Distro documents “live, two-way sync” with Prophet 21, Eclipse and other ERPs. Mercura’s standard integrations are listed in the FAQ; other ERPs connect via REST API, webhooks or SFTP, as described under integrations.

How do order exceptions compare?

Distro’s website does not mention duplicate order detection or flagging failed ERP exports. It documents that Distro “flags discontinued items, suggests substitutes” and enforces margin guardrails. Mercura offers both. What automated order entry looks like for fastener distributors is shown in our article on fastener wholesale order automation.

Example (illustrative): A contractor emails the same order for 300 wiring devices to the branch and again to their rep. Mercura warns about the duplicate, marks the lines that branch does not stock and flags the order for retry if the ERP handover fails. More on order processing.

Choose Distro if …

• you want an AI sales suite beyond quoting: a rep assistant, a web shop support agent and AP invoice matching.

• you quote commercial HVAC and refrigeration systems and need CPQ with “Built-in load calculations and equipment sizing”.

• you want takeoffs that turn plan and spec packages into structured BOMs.

• you value a published rollout plan (“Total Time to Go Live 3 to 5 weeks”) and bundled industry data such as AHRI specs.

• you run Prophet 21 or Eclipse and want live, two-way sync.

Choose Mercura if …

• you are a plumbing, HVAC or electrical distributor and want supplier price requests from the bid, as in plumbing and HVAC wholesale or electrical wholesale.

• you are a manufacturer, or need one system for distribution and manufacturing.

• you need accessories with multipliers in matching and stock vs. non-stock items per branch.

• your IT requires ISO/IEC 27001, Entra ID SSO with SCIM, a public REST API or SFTP.

• you want to test on your own data, usually within 2 working days.

At the plumbing and HVAC distributor Sanitär-Heinze, a quote takes 2 hours instead of 2 days, up to 90% faster, and 100% of incoming requests are processed, up from around 70%. Read the Sanitär-Heinze story. Mercura’s average match rate is 92%; it varies by customer and catalog.

Methodology

Sources: Distro’s public website (all 46 sitemap pages, including its blog posts and case studies, plus its company description for AI assistants), retrieved October 27, 2026 and re-checked in full on October 28, 2026, without login or demo. Mercura information: standard features, as of October 2026. Reviewed quarterly; corrections via /contact within 5 business days. All Mercura comparisons: Mercura vs. competitors.

FAQ

Is Mercura a Distro alternative?

Yes, for quoting and order entry at plumbing, HVAC and electrical distributors. Mercura adds supplier price requests and serves manufacturers; Distro documents a broader sales suite.

What do Distro and Mercura cost?

Neither publishes prices. Distro’s pricing page says “your pricing is built around how your team actually operates”. Mercura pricing: via /contact.

Which ERP systems do Mercura and Distro connect to?

Mercura: SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC, SAP Business One, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, proALPHA, UniTrade, plus REST API, webhooks and SFTP. Distro names Prophet 21, Eclipse, SAP, Salesforce, Acumatica, DDI, custom ERPs and more.

Who is Distro a better fit for?

Distributors and rep agencies that want AI across the wider sales process, including HVAC CPQ. When CPQ fits and when AI quote automation fits is explained in our article CPQ software or AI?

Sources

• Distro website, home page: self-description as “The Agentic Sales Operating System for Industrial Distributors”, order entry and FAQ. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, company description for AI assistants: target customers (wholesale distributors and manufacturers’ rep agencies) and industries. Retrieved October 27, 2026, re-checked October 28, 2026.

• Distro website, page “Quoting & Order Entry” (Products section): information on input formats, catalog matching, substitutes, margin guardrails and ERP sync. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, page “Plan & Spec” (Products section): information on takeoffs from plans and spec packages. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, page “AI CPQ” (Products section): information on configuration, load calculations and equipment sizing for HVAC and refrigeration. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, case study on LH Industrial Supplies: information on learning from quotes and the Prophet 21 connection. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, case study on an unnamed enterprise distributor: information on branch-level inventory and match accuracy. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, page “Implementation & Pricing”: information on the go-live plan, single sign-on, industry data and pricing model. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, privacy policy: statement on server location. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, page “Distro Agent” (Products section): information on the assistant for sales reps with a source for each answer. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, blog article “Wholesale Distribution Software: Distro’s AI Platform”: information on ERP updates and supplier checks. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, page “Accounts Payable” (Products section): information on supplier invoice automation. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Distro website, blog article on AI in wholesale distribution and why leadership and the right partner matter: information on agentic AI that checks suppliers. Retrieved October 28, 2026.

• Distro website, blog article on Distro AutoBid, its order entry and quoting automation engine: information on real-time supplier and ERP data for inventory, lead times and landed costs. Retrieved October 28, 2026.

• Distro website, blog article comparing Distro with Canals (used only for statements about Distro): information on checking supplier stock. Retrieved October 28, 2026.

• Distro website, all pages listed in the site’s sitemap (checked for the “not mentioned” rows). Retrieved October 27, 2026, re-checked in full October 28, 2026.

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