Disclosure: Mercura publishes this comparison. Information about ePlato comes solely from its public website and the website of its operator root-nine GmbH (as of October 27, 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

• Mercura vs ePlato: ePlato is a platform that connects planners, trades, wholesalers and manufacturers. Mercura is the manufacturer’s or distributor’s own software for bill of quantities processing, orders and quotes.

• For manufacturers and distributors that want to process requests from every channel against their own item master, plus orders, supplier price requests and ERP entry, Mercura is the better fit.

• For electrical-industry manufacturers that want early presence with planners through their tender texts and GAEB requests from wholesalers on a shared platform, ePlato is the better fit.

What is Mercura, what is ePlato?

Mercura is AI software for quote and order automation in technical sales. It reads requests, bills of quantities (BoQs) and orders as email, PDF including scans, Excel, Word, photos or GAEB files (the German tender exchange format), matches every line item to your own item master and writes the approved quote or order into the ERP. The average match rate is 92 %, varying by customer and catalogue.

ePlato describes itself this way (our translation): “ePlato connects planners, tradespeople, wholesalers and manufacturers on a shared work platform.” It is operated by root-nine GmbH in Rosenheim, Germany. Planners and trades create BoQs there for free; ePlato states that more than 1 million electrical-industry products are available. Manufacturers upload product data and tender texts and process incoming GAEB requests in ePlato. Wholesalers send requests through an interface “directly into the manufacturer’s system”.

A ready-made ePlato integration is not among Mercura’s standard integrations.

ePlato comparison at a glance

Legend: ✅ documented · ◐ partly (reason in brackets) · – not mentioned = not mentioned on ePlato’s website as of October 27, 2026; that does not mean it is missing. “Only at ePlato” = a strength per ePlato’s website that Mercura does not list as a feature.

Can ePlato process requests from every channel: email, PDF, scans and GAEB?

Besides GAEB, the operator root-nine names PDF, Excel and email for “heterogeneous request channels”. ePlato’s website does not mention scans, photos or handwritten notes. Mercura reads all of these formats, including technical drawings. Our guide to the GAEB file format explains how GAEB files are structured.

Only part of the requests arrives through a platform, so Mercura reads the shared mailbox, classifies every email and routes it to the right branch and clerk. More on quotes and tenders.

Example: A lighting manufacturer receives a GAEB BoQ through a network, a scanned luminaire schedule by email and a wholesaler’s Excel file. In Mercura all three enter one workflow.

Does ePlato create substitution offers for competitor products, with variant and accessories?

ePlato’s website does not mention substitution for competitor products, several items and accessories per line, or ETIM attributes in matching. It documents automatic product assignment under the heading “detect and assign automatically”. Mercura offers all three as standard.

For lighting and electrical manufacturers this is often the core task: Mercura cross-references competitor products, researches datasheets if needed and shows reason, source passage and confidence.

Example: A line asks for a downlight with 2,000 lm, 3,000 K, DALI and a named competitor product “or equal”. Mercura suggests your own DALI variant with mounting frame. If no variant meets every value, the line is flagged, not guessed. More on software for lighting manufacturers.

Can manufacturers and distributors enter orders with ePlato and write them into the ERP?

ePlato’s website does not mention order entry from email or PDF. It documents a “CRM & ERP connection”; the systems it names are listed in the FAQ below. Mercura handles orders in the same platform as quotes.

Mercura also detects duplicate orders, sets delivery schedules per line and flags failed ERP exports with retry. More on order processing and integrations.

Example: Three call-off orders arrive by email, one of them twice. Mercura reports the duplicate and books into SAP after review.

Can a distributor send price requests to manufacturers with ePlato?

Per ePlato, wholesalers send their request “through modern interface technology” directly into the manufacturer’s system. It does not name GAEB P93 or Excel for this, nor sending outside the platform. Mercura creates supplier price requests straight from the BoQ as GAEB P93 or Excel. It sends them from the user’s own mailbox to any supplier and files the replies automatically. More on software for electrical wholesale.

Example: An electrical distributor has no stock item for 12 of 140 lines. Mercura bundles them into one P93 request to two manufacturers.

Choose ePlato if …

• You are a manufacturer that wants to give planners tender software and your tender texts, to be specified early.

• You want GAEB requests from wholesalers through a direct interface; ePlato names about 50 partners.

• You need neutral tender texts and a text configurator for planners.

• You handle Austrian ÖNORM tenders; ePlato names “GAEB und Ö-Norm”.

• You want similar requests detected and merged, plus statistics for controlling.

Choose Mercura if …

• Your requests arrive through many channels: email, PDF, scan, photo, Excel and GAEB.

• You need substitution offers for competitor products, with variant, accessories and ETIM attributes.

• You want supplier price requests straight from the BoQ.

• Quotes and orders should run in one system and be written into the ERP.

• You need ISO/IEC 27001, SSO with Microsoft Entra ID, and branches with roles. REHAU gets product suggestions for up to 98 % of BoQ line items, as its success story shows.

Methodology

Sources: public pages of ePlato’s website and of the website of its operator root-nine GmbH, retrieved October 27, 2026. Status legend: see the table. “Not mentioned” does not mean missing. Mercura information: standard features, as of October 2026. We update quarterly; corrections via /contact. More comparisons in the overview.

Frequently asked questions

Is Mercura an ePlato alternative?

Only partly: ePlato is a platform between planner, wholesaler and manufacturer; Mercura is software to process requests and orders yourself. The two can complement each other: ePlato brings requests through its network, Mercura processes them.

What do ePlato and Mercura cost?

ePlato is free for planners and trades; it does not publish prices for manufacturers and wholesalers, whose fees follow the order form per its terms. Mercura’s pricing is available on request.

Which ERP systems do ePlato and Mercura support?

ePlato lists SAP R3, SAP S/4 HANA, proALPHA, abas and weclapp among others, plus Salesforce and MS Dynamics as CRM. Mercura connects SAP (S/4HANA, ECC, Business One), Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, proALPHA and UniTrade, others via REST API, webhooks or SFTP.

Who is ePlato a better fit for?

Electrical-industry manufacturers that want presence with planners and standardised GAEB communication with wholesalers. Mercura fits better when processing in your own sales team is the bottleneck. Our article on GAEB software vs. AI explains the difference between classic GAEB tools and AI.

Sources

• ePlato website, homepage: self-description as a shared work platform, focus on the electrical industry and more than 1 million products for tenders. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• ePlato website, page “Hersteller” (manufacturers): information on tender software for planners, GAEB formats and processing incoming requests. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• ePlato website, page “Planung” (planners): information on free BoQ software for planners, neutral tender texts and the text configurator. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• ePlato website, page “Handwerk” (trades): information on free use by tradespeople and neutralising quotes. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• ePlato website, page “Großhandel” (wholesale): information on sending requests through an interface into the manufacturer’s system. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• ePlato website, page “Partner”: logos of wholesalers and manufacturers, about 50 partners. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Website of the operator root-nine GmbH, homepage: information on email assignment, “GAEB und Ö-Norm”, product assignment, similar requests, CRM and ERP list, statistics and hosting in Germany. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Website of the operator root-nine GmbH, page “News”: information on further formats such as PDF, Excel and email, the launch for wholesale and standard-compliant quotes. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• Impressum (imprint) of ePlato (operator root-nine GmbH, Rosenheim): information on the operator, registered office and management. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

• ePlato website, general terms and conditions (June 2019): information on fees based on the order form. Retrieved October 27, 2026.

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