The best inventory management software depends first on your business type: Square for Retail for stores, Zoho Inventory for online sellers, Cin7 Core for wholesale brands, Katana for makers, and Sortly for equipment. The list is for small and mid-size product businesses that have outgrown a spreadsheet.
The limit you hit first (orders, locations, users or items) decides most purchases. I built the ranking from each vendor’s US pricing, product and help pages, read in October 2026, and priced one small team on each pick’s published plan that fits it.
Quick verdict
- Online seller on a budget: Zoho Inventory Premium, $79 per organization per month billed annually (entry plan from $29).
- Wholesale plus ecommerce: Cin7 Core, $349 a month, unlimited locations.
- Small manufacturer: Katana, free up to 30 SKUs with unlimited users.
- Retail store: Square for Retail; purchase orders start on Square Plus at $49 per location per month.
- Equipment and supplies: Sortly, which counts items, not orders.
- The trade-off: low entry prices cap orders, locations or users, and Fishbowl and most inFlow plans require an onboarding or implementation package.
Zoho Inventory
Best for: small online sellers on a budget
Per-organization pricing with multi-warehouse stock and Shopify and Amazon sync.
Limit: Standard stops at 500 orders a month, 3 users and 2 locations
Cin7 Core
Best for: multichannel wholesale brands
Unlimited inventory locations, BOM assembly and Xero or QuickBooks Online on the entry plan.
Limit: Standard allows 6,000 sale orders a year
Katana
Best for: small manufacturers and makers
Manufacturing orders and BOMs with unlimited users on every plan.
Limit: the paid Advantage plan has no published price
Square for Retail
Best for: retail stores that need a POS
Stock intake and purchase orders inside the register system.
Limit: paid plans are charged per location
| Software | Best for | Starting price | Plan this job needs | Free plan or trial | Key limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Inventory | Small online sellers | $29/ | Premium, $79/ | Free plan; 14-day trial | 500 orders, 3 users, 2 locations on Standard |
| Cin7 Core | Multichannel wholesale brands | $349/ | Standard, $349/ | Free trial | 6,000 sale orders a year on Standard |
| Katana | Small manufacturers | $0 (up to 30 SKUs) | Advantage, custom quote | Free plan | Paid price not published |
| Square for Retail | Retail stores | $0 per location/ | Square Plus, $49 per location/ | Free plan; 30-day trial | Transfer orders need Premium |
| Sortly | Equipment and supplies | $24/ | Ultra, $74/ | Free plan; 14-day trial | 500 items, 2 users on Advanced |
| inFlow Inventory | Small B2B distributors | $99/ | Core, $299/ | 14-day trial | 499 USD onboarding on most plans |
| Fishbowl | Lot-traceable distribution | $229/ | Scale, $729/ | No trial published | No BOMs on Inventory plans |
| Lightspeed Retail | Specialty retailers | $89/ | Basic, $89/ | Free trial | More locations by custom plan |
| Ordoro | Shipping and dropshipping | $349/ | Inventory Premium, $499/ | 15-day trial | $100 per extra 1,000 orders |
| Unleashed | Batches and landed costs | $399/ | Core, $4,389/ | 14-day trial | 100 sales orders a month |
| Odoo Inventory | One modular suite | $0 (One App Free) | Standard, per user (see odoo.com/ | Free plan; free trial | Paid plans charged per user |
| NetSuite | Moving to a full ERP | Contact NetSuite, no published price | Platform license | No trial published | License plus implementation fee |
Sources: Zoho, Cin7, Katana, Square, Sortly, inFlow, Fishbowl, Lightspeed, Ordoro, Unleashed, Odoo and NetSuite pricing pages, checked October 2026.
In This Article (19 sections)
Which Type of Inventory Software Fits Your Business?
Inventory software splits into six types, and the type decides which features you pay for.
| Business type | The job | Picks on this page | Defining feature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retail store | Sell, receive stock, reorder from vendors | Square for Retail, Lightspeed Retail | POS with purchase orders |
| Ecommerce multichannel | One stock count across channels | Zoho Inventory, Ordoro, Cin7 Core | Channel sync and shipping |
| Wholesale and distribution | B2B orders and supplier reorders | Cin7 Core, inFlow Inventory, Unleashed, Fishbowl | B2B orders and a buyer portal |
| Manufacturing | Turn components into products | Katana, Fishbowl Advanced, Unleashed, inFlow Manufacturing | BOMs, work orders, MRP |
| Item and asset tracking | Track tools and supplies not sold | Sortly, inFlow Stockroom | Scan-in and scan-out |
| Full ERP | Finance and inventory in one system | NetSuite, Odoo | One platform for every department |
Manufacturing depth is the line buyers miss. A kit bundles stock you hold; a bill of materials (BOM) lists the components of a product you build; MRP plans what to buy and build from demand.
Kitting sits on Cin7 Core Standard and Ordoro Inventory Advanced. BOMs come with Cin7 Core Standard, Katana Free, Ordoro Inventory Premium, inFlow Manufacturing, Unleashed’s production module and Fishbowl Advanced Manufacturing. MRP is an add-on on Cin7 Core Standard and included on Pro.
A mobile inventory app is a phone app that scans barcodes to receive, count and move stock. Sortly, Katana and Unleashed’s warehouse module all scan from a smartphone.
How I Chose These Inventory Tools
I considered the 12 picks below and the tools under Also Considered. Each pick had to offer multi-location stock (or one clear single-location job), barcode scanning where the vendor lists it, and a published price or the vendor’s own statement of how it prices.
The rest were ranked, in order, on business-type fit, the plan limits a type hits, manufacturing depth, accounting sync, and first-year cost with required fees. Prices and plan gates come from official pricing and documentation pages, checked October 2026.
The pages cannot show how reliably a tool syncs or how fast scanning runs on your floor. Start the trials of your two finalists with your own SKUs, run one test sync to a sandbox copy of your books, and get quote-only prices in writing.
1. Zoho Inventory: Best for Small Online Sellers on a Budget
- Starting price: $29 a month per organization, billed annually ($39 monthly)
- Standout feature: one stock count across Shopify and Amazon
Zoho Inventory is my pick for a small online seller because it pairs multi-warehouse stock and channel sync with a price charged per organization, not per user. The trade-off is hard caps: every plan stops at a fixed number of orders, users and locations.
Zoho’s Shopify and Amazon integrations sync items, sales orders, stock and shipments, so one stock count falls when either channel sells.
Zoho’s integration list names QuickBooks Online and Xero beside Zoho Books, so a seller can keep its current books. It also lists Zoho CRM for customer records, and my picks of CRM for ecommerce stores cover the rest.
A seller who labels its own stock pays Premium’s $79 a month, billed annually, not Standard’s $29.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $29/ | $39/ | 500 orders/ |
| Premium | $79/ | $99/ | 3,000 orders/ |
| Plus | $129/ | $159/ | 7,500 orders/ |
Sources: Zoho Inventory pricing, yearly and monthly views, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Per-organization price, so logins inside the user count cost nothing extra
- Shopify and Amazon sync of items, orders, stock and shipments
- A free plan with 50 orders for a seller starting out
Cons
- Barcode generation and batch tracking start on Premium
- Extra users, orders and locations are paid add-ons
- Enterprise still stops at 15,000 orders a month and 10 locations
- Skip it if:
- you need more than the 10 locations Enterprise includes; Cin7 Core lists unlimited inventory locations on every plan.
2. Cin7 Core: Best for Multichannel Wholesale Brands
- Starting price: $349 a month for Standard (USD, new customers)
- Standout feature: unlimited inventory locations on every plan
Cin7 Core is built for the brand that sells to stores and to consumers at once: wholesale inventory management, BOM assembly and a Xero or QuickBooks Online link come on its entry plan, with unlimited locations. That breadth costs a high entry price and a yearly order cap.
The accounting link works with new or existing Xero and QuickBooks Online accounts. If you are still choosing that side, my Xero review covers whether Xero fits a product business.
Standard includes BOMs, kitting, and batch and serial tracking; MRP is an add-on until Pro. Two gates hide inside “unlimited locations”: the B2B portal and POS are add-ons on Standard, and the Standard warehouse app supports one warehouse location.
Standard’s 6,000 sale orders a year average 500 a month, the line that sends a growing brand to Pro at $599.
| Plan | Price | Users | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | $349/ | 5 | 6,000 sale orders/ |
| Pro | $599/ | 10 | 24,000 sale orders/ |
| Advanced | $1,199/ | 15 | 120,000 sale orders/ |
Sources: Cin7 pricing, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Unlimited inventory locations on every plan
- Xero or QuickBooks Online, new or existing accounts
- BOMs, batch and serial tracking on Standard
Cons
- Standard caps sale orders at 6,000 a year and integrations at 2
- B2B portal and POS are add-ons on Standard
- Trial length and billing term are not published
- Skip it if:
- you sell under 500 orders a month with no wholesale buyers; Zoho Inventory’s Premium plan covers 3,000 orders a month for $79 billed annually.
3. Katana: Best for Small Manufacturers and Makers
- Starting price: $0 (Free, up to 30 SKUs)
- Paid plan: Advantage, a custom annual contract
- Standout feature: unlimited users, integrations and locations on both plans (for e-commerce, only Shopify integrates with Free)
Katana fits the workshop that keeps adding people: every plan includes unlimited users, integrations and inventory locations (for e-commerce, only Shopify integrates with Free), so a new production lead never adds a seat fee. The catch is that Advantage, the only paid plan, has no fixed price.
Production is the reason to pick it. Katana lists manufacturing, batch or serial traceability, a shop floor app and bills of materials, so a food or cosmetics maker can trace a batch without a separate MRP. Fishbowl, by contrast, keeps BOMs for Fishbowl Advanced.
A native QuickBooks Online integration and a Xero integration cover accounting; the Xero link creates invoices from Katana sales orders.
Katana publishes no price for Advantage: one annual contract that includes implementation and a customer success manager. Free costs $0 with no card required.
| Plan | Price | Key limit |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 30 SKUs after the first 15 days |
| Advantage | Custom quote, annual contract | Unlimited SKUs, users and integrations |
Sources: Katana pricing, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Unlimited users on every plan, so floor staff get logins at no seat cost
- Free includes every feature up to 30 SKUs
- Native QuickBooks Online and Xero integrations
Cons
- No published price for the paid plan
- Only Shopify connects on Free among ecommerce channels
- Advantage is an annual contract
- Skip it if:
- you need a published monthly price before a sales call; inFlow Manufacturing starts at $169 a month billed annually with BOMs.
4. Square for Retail: Best for Retail Stores That Need a POS
- Starting price: $0 per location per month (Square Free)
- Plan for inventory: Square Plus, $49 per location per month
For a store that already rings sales on Square, inventory is a plan upgrade rather than a second system. Square Free creates items and SKUs from a scanned barcode, but stock work needs Square Plus, charged per location.
Square Plus adds stock intake, purchase orders and cost-of-goods reporting. Square Premium adds transfer orders, so a two-store retailer that moves stock between shops needs Premium.
Against Lightspeed Retail’s $89 Basic plan, billed annually, Square Plus is the lower entry for one store.
Two stores on Square Plus pay $49 x 2 = $98 a month before processing fees, which vary by plan.
| Plan | Price | Key gate |
|---|---|---|
| Square Free | $0 per location/ | Items and SKUs |
| Square Plus | $49 per location/ | Stock intake, purchase orders, COGS reporting |
| Square Premium | $149 per location/ | Transfer orders, 24/7 phone support |
Sources: Square for Retail pricing, checked October 2026.
Pros
- A $0 plan for a store that only needs items and SKUs
- Purchase orders at $49 per location per month
- Shopify sync through Thrive Inventory
Cons
- Every paid plan is charged per location
- Transfer orders between stores need Premium
- No BOMs or lot tracking listed on the retail pricing page
- Skip it if:
- most of your sales come from online marketplaces rather than a counter; Ordoro or Cin7 Core is built around channels.
5. Sortly: Best for Tracking Equipment, Tools and Supplies
- Starting price: $24 a month billed $288 a year (first year), or $49 monthly
- Standout feature: items tied to jobs, projects and work orders
Sortly is the pick when the stock is not for sale: tools, equipment and supplies that leave the shelf and come back. The trade-off is tight item and user caps on the low plans.
Active jobs track what went out to each project or work order and what came back. Purchase orders start on Ultra and QuickBooks Online on Premium, but Sortly’s plan list has no sales orders, so it is not a store system.
Against inFlow Stockroom, at $69 a month billed annually, the difference is people: Stockroom gives unlimited mobile scanning users, while Sortly Advanced has 2 user licenses.
The 50% yearly discount applies only to a new customer’s first year; after that, yearly plans get 20% off, so the second-year bill is higher.
| Plan | Yearly (first year) | Monthly | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced | $24/ | $49/ | 500 items, 2 users |
| Ultra | $74/ | $149/ | 2,000 items, 5 users |
| Premium | $149/ | $299/ | 5,000 items, 8 users |
Sources: Sortly pricing, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Counts unique items, so quantities do not use up the limit
- Barcode and QR scanning from a phone, with offline access
- Date-based alerts for maintenance and repair schedules
Cons
- Advanced allows only 500 items and 2 users
- QuickBooks Online waits for Premium
- A credit card is required to start the trial
- Skip it if:
- you sell what you stock and need quotes, sales orders and invoices; inFlow Inventory handles both sides.
6. inFlow Inventory: Best for Small B2B Distributors
- Starting price: $99 a month, billed annually
- Standout feature: more than 95 integrations on each plan
inFlow suits the distributor who wants quotes, sales orders, invoices and purchasing in one system, with QuickBooks Online, Xero, Shopify and Amazon among its 95-plus integrations. What the headline price hides is setup: a 499 USD onboarding package is required on most plans.
Reordering is where inFlow’s feature list runs deepest: recommended reorder points, one-click purchase orders and reorder by location. The B2B Showroom portal and lot and serial numbers are add-ons.
inFlow Manufacturing, a separate product, adds BOMs from $169 a month billed annually. Against Cin7 Core, inFlow Core costs $299 a month billed annually but stops at 5 locations.
Extra team members cost $29 a month each, but Lite’s single location is the limit that forces Core.
| Plan | Billed annually | Key limit |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $99/ | 2 members, 1 location |
| Core | $299/ | 5 members, 5 locations |
| Pro | $499/ | 10 members, unlimited locations |
Sources: inFlow pricing, USD prices, checked October 2026.
Pros
- QuickBooks Online and Xero among more than 95 integrations
- Recommended reorder points and one-click purchase orders
- Separate Manufacturing and Stockroom products for other jobs
Cons
- 499 USD onboarding required on most plans
- Lite has 1 location and 2 team members
- Lot and serial tracking cost extra
- Skip it if:
- you import goods and need landed costs and batch tracking in the base price; Unleashed includes both on Core.
7. Fishbowl: Best for Regulated Distributors That Need Lot Traceability
- Starting price: $229 a month billed annually (Essentials, 2 users)
- Standout feature: lot and forward/backward traceability on Scale
Fishbowl earns its place for a distributor in a regulated category: Scale adds lot and forward/backward traceability and GMP, FDA and ISO compliance documents, so a food or chemicals business can trace a recall both ways. Its pricing page warns that the Inventory plans exclude BOMs, work orders and MRP.
Essentials already brings QuickBooks Online and Xero sync, reorder points and mobile barcode scanning.
The plan grid marked transfer orders “Coming soon” and sales tax auto-calculation “Available Q4” in October 2026, so confirm both in the demo.
Every purchase requires an implementation package whose price is not published.
| Plan | Price | Users | Key gate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $229/ | 2 | QuickBooks Online and Xero sync |
| Growth | $429/ | 5 | Unlimited warehouses |
| Scale | $729/ | 10 | Lot traceability, compliance docs |
| Advanced Manufacturing | From $675/ | 2 to 200+ | BOMs, MRP, work orders |
Sources: Fishbowl pricing, checked October 2026.
Pros
- QuickBooks Online and Xero sync from the entry plan
- Lot traceability with compliance docs on Scale
- Published starting prices even for the quoted Advanced platform
Cons
- Inventory plans exclude BOMs, work orders and MRP
- A required implementation package with no published price
- Several grid features were marked “Coming soon” or “Available Q4”
- Skip it if:
- you need BOMs and work orders at a published price; Katana’s Free plan has them up to 30 SKUs.
8. Lightspeed Retail: Best for Specialty Retailers That Order From Vendors
- Starting price: $89 a month billed annually, or $109 monthly
- Standout feature: Lightspeed Wholesale, a NuORDER catalog and PO sync
Lightspeed Retail (X-Series) is for the specialty store whose inventory problem starts with vendors: its plan grid adds Lightspeed Wholesale, a NuORDER catalog and PO sync to the POS. The trade-off is the location model: each plan includes one register, and several locations need a custom plan.
The grid also lists a mobile scanner app, landed costs, and Insights with forecasting and order recommendations. The one line the grid words differently by plan is eCommerce: “Built-in Lightspeed eCommerce” on Core, “(Basic)” on Basic.
Core, at $149 billed annually, lists Built-in Lightspeed eCommerce where Basic’s is labelled Basic, so a store that sells little online can stay on Basic.
| Plan | Billed annually | Billed monthly | Registers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $89/ | $109/ | 1 included |
| Core | $149/ | $179/ | 1 included |
| Plus | $289/ | $339/ | 1 included |
Sources: Lightspeed Retail pricing, annual and monthly views, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Vendor ordering through Lightspeed Wholesale and NuORDER
- PO sync and a mobile scanner app
- Annual billing saves up to 18%
Cons
- One register per plan
- Multiple locations need a custom plan with no published price
- Additional service fees may apply
- Skip it if:
- you run one small store and need purchase orders at the lowest monthly cost; Square for Retail’s Square Plus plan covers that.
9. Ordoro: Best for Ecommerce Sellers Who Ship and Dropship
- Starting price: $349 a month for Inventory Advanced; Shipping has a free plan
- Standout feature: unlimited warehouses, sales channels and users on Inventory Advanced
Ordoro sells Shipping, Inventory and Dropshipping as separate apps, which suits a seller who ships from several warehouses and routes some orders to suppliers. Inventory Advanced includes unlimited warehouses, channels and users, but purchase orders wait for Inventory Premium.
Inventory Advanced handles kitting, warehouse transfers and QuickBooks Online; Premium adds purchase orders, BOMs and manufacturing orders.
Order volume is the cost lever: each Inventory plan includes 1,000 orders a month, and each extra 1,000 costs $100. Cin7 Core counts orders per year instead.
Moving from Advanced at $349 to Premium at $499 adds $150 a month for purchase orders and BOMs; the page does not state a billing term.
| App and plan | Price | Key limit |
|---|---|---|
| Shipping Essential | Free | 100 labels a month |
| Inventory Advanced | $349/ | 1,000 orders a month; no purchase orders |
| Inventory Premium | $499/ | Adds purchase orders and BOMs |
| Dropshipping Advanced | $299/ | 1,000 dropshipments a month |
Sources: Ordoro pricing, checked October 2026.
Pros
- No per-user or per-warehouse fee on Inventory Advanced
- Shipping, inventory and dropshipping from one vendor
- 15-day trial with no credit card
Cons
- Purchase orders and BOMs need Inventory Premium
- $100 for every extra 1,000 orders a month
- Xero is not listed; QuickBooks Online is
- Skip it if:
- you ship about 2,000 orders a month and want that volume in the base price; Cin7 Core Pro allows 24,000 sale orders a year at $599 a month.
10. Unleashed: Best for Distributors That Track Batches and Landed Costs
- Starting price: $399 a month paid monthly, or $4,389 a year for Core
- Standout feature: batch and serial tracking and landed costs in the core
Unleashed puts multi-warehouse management, batch and serial tracking, landed costs and stock alerts on both plans, with Xero and QuickBooks Online. That fits an importer whose margins depend on freight and duty costed into stock. The cost is the allowance: 100 sales orders a month.
Landed costs separate it from inFlow, where lot and serial numbers are add-ons and landed cost is not listed. The production module (BOMs, assemblies, Kanban planning) costs $69 a month on Core and is free on Pro.
Order upgrades cost $70 a month for up to 500 orders, and onboarding starts at a $449 one-off fee.
Paying yearly brings Core to a $366 monthly equivalent; prices are in USD and exclude taxes.
| Plan | Paid monthly | Paid yearly | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $399/ | $4,389/ | 3 users, 100 sales orders/ |
| Pro | $729/ | $8,019/ | 5 users, 100 sales orders/ |
Sources: Unleashed pricing, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Landed costs and batch tracking without an add-on
- Xero and QuickBooks Online on both plans
- Production module with BOMs free on Pro
Cons
- 100 sales orders a month on both plans before upgrades
- Core includes 3 users; each extra is $69 a month
- Monthly plans need 30 days’ notice to cancel
- Skip it if:
- you sell many small online orders; Zoho Inventory’s Premium plan includes 3,000 orders a month.
11. Odoo Inventory: Best for Teams Wanting One Modular Suite
- Starting price: $0 (One App Free, unlimited users)
- Suite price: Standard, charged per user per month
- Standout feature: every app, Accounting included, on Standard
Odoo puts inventory inside a modular business suite you can grow into: One App Free runs Inventory alone for unlimited users, and Standard includes all apps for a single per-user fee. That pays off when Odoo replaces separate inventory and accounting tools.
The Inventory app lists min-max replenishment rules, lots and serial numbers, cycle counting and stock across multiple warehouses, with a barcode scanner that works offline. Lots and serial numbers serve the traceability buyer that Fishbowl reserves Scale for.
Min-max rules let Odoo propose, or trigger purchase orders automatically, the reorder job inFlow handles with recommended reorder points.
Standard and Custom are charged per user per month, with a discount valid for 12 months for the users first ordered; read the current US price on Odoo’s pricing page before you budget.
| Plan | Price | Key limit |
|---|---|---|
| One App Free | $0 | One app, unlimited users |
| Standard | Per user per month | All apps |
| Custom | Per user per month | Adds Studio, multi-company, external API |
Sources: Odoo pricing and Odoo Inventory, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Inventory free for unlimited users on One App Free
- Standard includes Accounting, eCommerce and POS
- Offline barcode scanning with GS-1 support
Cons
- Per-user pricing grows with every login
- The discount ends after 12 months
- Studio, multi-company and the API need Custom
- Skip it if:
- you need an online store beside Inventory on a bill that does not grow per user; Odoo’s Standard is charged per user, while Zoho Inventory’s Plus adds an online store builder for 10 users at $129 a month, billed annually.
12. NetSuite: Best for Companies Moving to a Full ERP
- Starting price: no published price; contact NetSuite
- Pricing model: annual license plus a one-time implementation fee
- Standout feature: demand-based replenishment of reorder points
NetSuite is on this list as the exit, not the entry: a full ERP whose platform license already includes inventory management. It makes sense when a QuickBooks-plus-inventory-app stack strains under entities, locations or volume. The trade-off is a license with no published price and a one-time implementation fee.
Replenishment goes beyond the apps above: NetSuite uses seasonal sales, lead time and days of supply to reset each item’s reorder point, and Smart Count runs cycle counts without freezing the location.
NetSuite publishes no price; its page says “Contact NetSuite Now”.
| Cost component | Basis |
|---|---|
| Core platform and modules | Annual license, no published price |
| Users | Annual license, by number of users |
| Implementation | One-time fee, no published price |
Sources: NetSuite inventory management, checked October 2026.
Pros
- Inventory included in the ERP platform license
- Demand-based reorder points from sales history and lead times
- Forward and backward lot and serial tracing
Cons
- No published price
- A one-time implementation fee on top of the license
- More system than a single-entity small business needs
- Skip it if:
- you run one entity on QuickBooks Online and stay under the order caps above; Cin7 Core covers that at a published price.
What a 5-User, Two-Location Team Pays per Year
For five users, two locations and about 500 orders a month, the first-year bill runs from $0 on Odoo’s One App Free (Inventory alone) to $8,019 on Unleashed Pro, plus $70 x 12 = $840 for its 500-order upgrade.
For each pick with a published price, the table shows the plan I chose to cover five users.
| Software | Plan that covers the team | First-year math | What the total leaves out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Odoo Inventory | One App Free (Inventory only, unlimited users) | $0 | Accounting and other apps need Standard, charged per user |
| Sortly | Ultra (5 users) | $888, billed for the first year | No sales orders; multiple locations not listed; renewal at 20% off |
| Zoho Inventory | Premium (5 users, 4 locations) | $79 x 12 = $948 | Order, user and location add-ons |
| Square for Retail | Square Plus at 2 locations | $49 x 2 x 12 = $1,176 | Processing fees; transfers need Premium |
| inFlow Inventory | Core (5 members) | $3,588 + $499 = $4,087 | Lot and serial add-ons |
| Cin7 Core | Standard (5 users) | $349 x 12 = $4,188 | B2B portal and POS add-ons |
| Ordoro | Inventory Advanced | $349 x 12 = $4,188 | Purchase orders need Premium |
| Fishbowl | Growth (5 users) | $429 x 12 = $5,148 | Implementation package, price not published |
| Unleashed | Pro plus the 500-order upgrade | $8,019, plus $70 x 12 = $840 for orders | Onboarding from $449 |
| Lightspeed Retail | Basic plus a second location | Custom plan | Extra locations by custom plan |
| Katana and NetSuite | Advantage; platform license | Katana: custom pricing; NetSuite: no published price | Katana’s contract includes implementation; NetSuite adds a one-time fee |
Sources: Sortly, Zoho, Square, Odoo, inFlow, Cin7, Ordoro, Fishbowl, Unleashed, checked October 2026.
Among the tools that take sales orders, Zoho Inventory is the lowest single-purpose bill here, which is why it heads the online-seller pick. Fishbowl and inFlow look mid-priced until their setup fees land.
The inventory bill sits on top of the accounting one: see QuickBooks Online plan prices or my breakdown of Xero pricing.
How to Choose the Best Inventory Management Software
Choose in three steps: your business type, the limit you will hit first, and the accounting file you must sync. The limit differs by vendor: Zoho Inventory and Ordoro count orders per month, Cin7 Core per year, Sortly counts items, inFlow counts members and locations, and Square and Lightspeed charge by location.
| Software | Multiple locations | Barcode scanning | Reorder points | BOMs or work orders | QuickBooks Online | Xero | Lot or batch tracking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Inventory | Standard | Premium (generation) | Listed | Composite items listed (Free, Standard); BOMs not named | Listed | Listed | Premium |
| Cin7 Core | Standard | Standard | Add-on (ForesightAI) | Standard | Standard | Standard | Standard |
| Katana | Free | Free | Free (replenishment) | Free | Listed | Listed | Free |
| Square for Retail | Per-location fee on Plus and Premium; Free $0 per location | Free | Free (low-stock alerts) | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Sortly | Not listed | Listed | Low-stock alerts | Not listed | Premium | Not listed | Not listed |
| inFlow Inventory | Core | Listed | Listed | inFlow Manufacturing | Lite | Lite | Add-on |
| Fishbowl | Growth | Essentials | Essentials | Advanced Manufacturing | Essentials | Essentials | Scale |
| Lightspeed Retail | Custom plan | Mobile Scanner App listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| Ordoro | Inventory Advanced | Shipping Essential | Not listed | Inventory Premium | Inventory Advanced | Not listed | Not listed |
| Unleashed | Core | Pro or add-on | Reorder report | Pro or add-on | Core | Core | Core |
| Odoo Inventory | Listed | Listed (offline) | Listed (min-max) | Standard (Manufacturing app listed) | Not listed | Not listed | Listed |
| NetSuite | Listed | Not listed | Listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Listed |
Sources: the pricing pages linked under the comparison table, plus Zoho Inventory features, inFlow integrations, Katana and QuickBooks Online, Katana and Xero and Odoo Inventory, checked October 2026.
Also Considered
- Linnworks: a multichannel platform for high-volume sellers, kept out because its plans are a tailored quote priced on order volume.
- Brightpearl: a retail and wholesale operations platform, kept out because pricing is a custom quote and Brightpearl says customers go live in 90-120 days on average.
Sources: Linnworks pricing, Brightpearl pricing, checked October 2026.
FAQ
Can QuickBooks do inventory?
For multi-location, barcode or BOM work, pair QuickBooks Online with an inventory app that syncs to it. Zoho Inventory, Fishbowl, Cin7 Core, inFlow Inventory, Katana, Ordoro, Unleashed and Sortly Premium all list a QuickBooks Online integration. My QuickBooks Online review covers what QBO handles on its own.
Is there free inventory management software?
Yes: Zoho Inventory’s free plan covers 50 orders, Sortly’s 100 items and Katana’s 30 SKUs. Odoo One App Free runs one app for unlimited users, and Square Free costs $0 per location.
Check the location cap before you add a second site: Zoho’s free plan stops at 1 location and 1 user, while Katana Free lists unlimited inventory locations.
Which software is most commonly used for inventory management?
It depends on the business type. A store starts with the inventory in its POS, such as Square for Retail. A QuickBooks or Xero shop adds a synced app, such as Cin7 Core.
What is the best inventory management software for construction?
Sortly fits construction and field crews best among these picks, because it links items to jobs, projects and work orders. Each plan caps active jobs: 2 on Free, 5 on Advanced and 10 on Ultra.
Final Verdict
A store on Square should move to Square Plus before buying anything else, and step to Lightspeed Retail when vendor catalogs matter. A small online seller should trial Zoho Inventory first; a seller that ships and dropships, Ordoro.
A brand selling wholesale and online should start with Cin7 Core for its unlimited locations. A distributor on a tighter budget should compare inFlow Inventory, onboarding fee counted, against Unleashed if landed costs matter.
Makers should open Katana’s free plan with a sample catalog; regulated distributors that need lot traceability should demo Fishbowl Scale. Odoo fits a business ready to run accounting in the same suite, and NetSuite is the step after all of them.
Teams that track tools and supplies rather than sell them should start on Sortly, which ties items to jobs, projects and work orders; move past Advanced once you need more than 500 items or 2 users.
