Software Shortlist
Here’s the list of the best tools that I’ll cover in this article.
The best free inventory management software helps ecommerce businesses keep track of stock, without having to pay monthly fees. That's right: Even small businesses with tight budgets still have excellent options to keep track of stock.
In this article, I’ll take a look at the best free inventory management software available on the market today. The review includes a short description and a screenshot of each tool that made it on the list, as well as a comparison chart so you can determine which solution is best for you.
What is Free Inventory Management Software?
Free inventory management software are cloud-based solutions that help you keep track of stock movements, manage your inventory levels, and oversee sales orders and product availability.
These SaaS tools offer ample functionality completely free of charge. In many cases, free inventory management software are the base or freemium plans offered by companies who also provide paid tiers. This means that as your business grows and you require greater functionality, there is room for your software to grow with you.
Overviews Of The 10 Best Free Inventory Management Software
Here’s a brief description of each free inventory management solution to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
UpKeep
Best free inventory management software for manufacturing
UpKeep is an inventory control software that helps you manage your stock and oversee order fulfillment. The platform creates a centralized location for your inventory counts, so you know exactly where each item is and how many items you need to replenish. This solution doesn’t offer a dedicated mobile app,] but it is mobile-optimized for web, so it will work on any mobile device.
Why I Picked UpKeep: Don't be fooled by their 'in-person' services (like technician planning and work orders), UpKeep is a comprehensive inventory management software great for any ecommerce business. The software automatically updates your inventory counts and sends you push and email notifications when stock levels are low. The platform also enables you to manage different locations. They focus on multi-location manufacturing companies, allowing you to sell products and replacement parts online.
Standout Features & Integrations
Features that I love from the free plan include robust asset management, meaning you can upload technical documents, images, text, and even video content for each of your products. Their inventory control software lets you manage product quantities and costs right from their mobile-optimized platform. Inventory counts are also automatically updated when a product is added to an invoice or work order.
Integrations are locked to paid plans for UpKeep. You won't have access to them on the freemium plan.
What's Free: UpKeep’s free-forever version has limited capabilities, but comes with unlimited view-only users, unlimited vendors, multiple location management, and chat & phone support.
Pros
- Generous freemium plan
- Robust asset management system
- Great for food services, parts selling, and hospitality
Cons
- Heavy focus on in-person services
- Integrations not on free plan
Zoho Inventory
Best free inventory management software for single warehouse operations
Zoho Inventory is a cloud-based inventory management tool that helps you track inventory changes, manage sales and purchase orders, and list your products on multiple sales channels. This solution creates a centralized inventory system for all your online sales.
Why I Picked Zoho Inventory: Zoho Inventory updates your inventory quantity whenever a sale is made, so it keeps your inventory levels in sync across different channels. The software comes with pre-built workflows that automate routine tasks such as purchase orders, sales orders, and shipment tracking.
One of the best things about this solution is its use of comprehensive dashboards. Zoho Inventory's dashboards offer you increased visibility into your business, allowing you to see inventory changes and best-sellers with ease.
Zoho Inventory Standout Features & Integrations
Features include multi-channel selling, enabling you to sell your products on multiple channels, including your online store, Amazon, eBay, and more. Supporting this initiative, you'll also have access to multiple currencies, making it easy for you to handle transactions with international customers.
Integrations include Shopify, eBay, Stripe, PayPal, Amazon, Etsy, Salesforce, and Google Shopping.
What's Free: Zoho Inventory is free for organizations with a single warehouse that sell up to 50 orders/month. The free version allows you to create 50 shipping labels per month.
Pros
- Heavy focus on ecommerce integrations
- Very ease to set up and use
- Connects to other Zoho software
Cons
- Not appropriate for multi-warehouse
- 50 orders/month limit
inFlow Inventory
Best free inventory management software for data-driven companies
InFlow Inventory is an inventory software that helps you track orders and stock levels. The software allows businesses to manage their sales orders, purchase orders, and work orders from a single platform. Businesses can create, track, and manage orders, as well as print invoices and packing slips.
Why I Picked InFlow Inventory: InFlow Inventory's reporting feature is great and delivers valuable insights into your organization. inFlow Inventory enables businesses to track their inventory levels in real time, so they always know how much stock they have on hand. The software also provides a history of inventory levels, allowing businesses to analyze trends over time.
With InFlow Inventory, you can create product categories, track any purchase order and items out for repair, manage returns, and keep accurate records of your sales. This free inventory software allows you to create an unlimited number of users with different permission levels for your local network users. However, two users cannot make changes to the inventory at the same time. When one user is making changes, the other users have read-only access.
InFlow Inventory Standout Features & Integrations
Features include easy barcode scanning, allowing businesses to scan products and update inventory levels using their dedicated mobile app.
Integrations are limited. InFlow does not integrate with other apps, but you can export your data to QuickBooks Online as CVS files. inFlow also supports businesses with multiple locations, allowing them to track inventory levels across multiple warehouses or stores.
What's Free: InFlow is free for up to 100 products and customers. If you reach this limit, you have to purchase a license to keep using the platform. The free version allows you to create 15 reports.
Pros
- Powerful reporting and analytics features
- Multi-location support
- Great customer service and support
Cons
- Time consuming setup
- Limited options for integrations
Sortly
Best free inventory management software for ease of use
Sortly is an inventory management software that enables you to add products to your inventory, segment your products into multiple categories, and track every sales order. The platform has a nice interface that’s easy to master, and it has a design that’s compatible with all mobile devices.
Why I Picked Sortly: Sortly makes inventory tracking easy with the help of automatic low stock alerts and date-based reminders for products with short warranties or expiration dates. You can also create custom dashboards so you can get a bird’s-eye-view of your business.
The free inventory software allows you to create one custom field. This enables you to create a custom inventory category for products that don’t fit into the product’s default fields. This can be helpful for businesses with unique products that are ahead-of-the-curve or just difficult to classify.
Sortly Standout Features & Integrations
Features worth noting include ridiculously easy item tracking—Sortly allows businesses to track their inventory items easily and quickly by creating an inventory database with images, descriptions, and custom fields. Plus, you can set up and use customizable alerts and reminders for low stock levels, and expiration dates. Sortly has a mobile app that allows businesses to manage their inventory on the go.
Integrations are not available on the free plan.
What's Free: Sortly is free for one user, one custom field, and up to 100 items.
Pros
- Customizable fields and alerts
- Easy to set up and use
- Well designed mobile app
Cons
- Limited reporting and analytics
- Limited integrations with other software
Odoo Inventory
Best free open source inventory management software
Odoo is an award-winning free and open source inventory management system that has amassed over 7 million users since its launch. They are currently used by companies across various selling and manufacturing industries, like Toyota, Cox, Hyundai, and Danone.
Why I Picked Odoo Inventory: Odoo Inventory is known in particular for its flexibility in customizations and broad range of solutions offered, including CRM, ecommerce, accounting, inventory, point of sale, and project management. You can pick a few you need or stitch them all together for a holistic business solutions.
Odoo Inventory is a comprehensive inventory management and selling solution and, with a bit of elbow grease, is completely flexible and can be molded to shape your exact needs. Robust documentation, open source DNA, and a thorough list of integrations can transform it into the exact tool that you need. Obviously, anything open source and with this level of customizability will require some additional technical knowledge. Odoo works best for those with IT staff on hand.
Odoo Inventory Standout Features & Integrations
Features worth noting include just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management—Odoo Inventory supports JIT inventory management, which helps businesses optimize their inventory levels to reduce waste and increase efficiency. You'll also get real-time inventory tracking with multi-location support, barcode scanning, integrated shipping/receiving, and a mobile app.
Integrations include rocketchat, Quickbooks, Google Sheets, WordPress, Slack, Hubstaff, Microsoft SQL, and other options. A paid plan through Zapier can unlock additional integration options. As an open source software, you can also build your own integrations with some technical know-how.
What's Free: The Odoo open source community edition is completely free to use with some feature limitations.
Pros
- Comprehensive and customizable
- JIT inventory management
- Great customer support + community forums
Cons
- Benefits of open source require technical knowledge
- Steep learning curve for some users
PartKeepr
Best free inventory management software for customization
PartKeepr is an open-source inventory management system that helps you keep track of your stock and orders via a completely customizable solution. PartKeepr allows businesses to track their inventory items easily and quickly by creating an inventory database with images, descriptions, and custom fields.
Why I Picked PartKeepr: PartKeepr is highly customizable, so you can include or exclude as many fields as you want in your product descriptions. You can also create custom data fields for every item and then include those fields in your search. The platform’s search functionality is very good and it enables you to sort and filter products by any field. Plus, PartKeepr is open-source software, meaning that the software code is available for free and can be modified to fit the specific needs of businesses with some coding knowledge.
PartKeepr supports businesses with multiple locations, allowing them to track inventory levels across multiple warehouses or stores. The software supports barcode scanning, making it easy to update inventory levels and track items in real-time. The software generates reports and provides analytics to help businesses make data-driven decisions. Businesses can track sales, inventory levels, and order history to identify trends and make informed decisions.
PartKeepr Standout Features & Integrations
Features worth checking out include multi-location support—PartKeepr supports businesses with multiple locations, allowing them to track inventory levels across multiple warehouses or stores. Plus, PartKeepr allows businesses to set user permissions and restrict access to sensitive inventory data.
Integrations are limited. PartKeepr doesn’t offer native integrations, but you can customize it to integrate with many popular ecommerce solutions if you know how to code.
What's Free: PartKeepr is open-source and completely free.
Pros
- Open source software
- Great mobile app
- Easy to use and intuitive interface
Cons
- Limited customer support options
- Limited integration options
ABC Inventory
Best free inventory management software on-premise solution
ABC Inventory is an on-premise inventory system that helps you with order management, procurement management, and inventory management. ABC Inventory does not limit the number of records you can store in its database, so you can manage large inventories with it.
Why I Picked ABC Inventory: ABC Inventory can track items across multiple warehouses, which is a feature many free solutions don’t offer (and even some paid ones). In addition, the platform also offers a kitting functionality, enabling you to sell multiple items as part of a set or kit.
ABC Inventory stands out from other free solutions because it includes some features you would normally find in paid apps, such as multiple currencies support, warehouse and stock movement logs, or automatic creation of serial and lot numbers. Currency rates also auto-update according to most recent conversion rate data.
ABC Inventory Standout Features & Integrations
Features worth noting include detailed purchase order document generation with purchase orders for inventory and fixed assets; receiving inventory and fixed assets against purchase orders; automatic purchase order generation based on historical data; quick price quotation based on purchasing history; and a supplier database with suspension and probation warning flags.
Integrations are limited. ABC Inventory does not integrate with any other software in your technology stack, so you can’t sync your inventory data in your favorite ecommerce platform or create reports for every sales channel.
What's Free: ABC Inventory is completely free for unlimited records.
Pros
- Feature-rich free plan
- Unlimited product records
- Desktop download for more security
Cons
- No integrations
- Not ecommerce specific
RightControl
Best free inventory management software for add-ons marketplace
RightControl is a software program that provides an integrated solution for managing stock inventory, sales, invoices, customer and supplier contacts, barcode generation and printing, dispatching, and reports. It is designed for small to medium-sized enterprises.
Why I Picked RightControl: RightControl is appropriate for SMBs seeking a comprehensive inventory management system that can handle different types of stock entry options, including tracking individual objects with unique barcodes, batch entry for items like tinned peas, or kit assemblies that require bundling from a Bill of Materials to create one product.
RightControl offers various versions, catering to different business needs, from start-ups and home users selling on eBay to expanding enterprises requiring a multi-user client-server system. Users can upgrade from the Lite program to the Enterprise system easily as their business grows.
RightControl Standout Features & Integrations
Features include everything listed above as well as a software marketplace where you can download additional free software to increase RightControl's functionality. Their marketplace is super comprehensive, including everything from ecommerce and project management solutions (also free) to stuff like barcode fonts. Not every add-on is free, but they are all clearly labeled so you know which ones are. The paid add-ons all come with a free trial before you're charged.
Integrations are not listed on their site.
What's Free: RightControl is completely free to use for inventory management. You can download their additional solutions for POS, bar code scanning, and ecommerce.
Pros
- Feature-rich with free add-ons
- Offers free ecommerce + inventory systems
- Generous free offerings
Cons
- Not regularly updated
- Not appropriate for large businesses
SalesBinder
Best free inventory management software for a range of features
SalesBinder is an easy-to-use inventory management software that has a generous free-forever version. The web-based platform has a nice interface that’s easy to navigate and helps you keep your stock organized.
Why I Picked SalesBinder: SalesBinder offers a lot of great functionalities, such as a CRM, unlimited locations, invoicing, estimates, shipment tracking, barcoding, sales orders, purchase orders, reports, and an iOS inventory app. You can mix-and-match systems to build the inventory management platform that's right for your needs.
SalesBinder also includes features for managing sales orders, allowing businesses to track order history, create invoices, and manage customer information—all in one software solution.
SalesBinder Standout Features & Limitations
Features include detailed vendor management, letting to track vendor proifles and inventory coming from or going to each one. This supports their general focus on customer relationship management as it's tied to inventory management. SalesBinder blends customer data, analyitcs, and communications with inventory tracking, shipping, and control.
Integrations include Xero, WooCommerce, QuickBooks Commerce, and more via a paid plan with Zapier. However, none of these integrations are available for the free version.
What's Free: SalesBinder is free for one user and up to 100 inventory records.
Pros
- Multi-location support
- Purchasing and vendor management
- Customer data management tools
Cons
- Integrations only on paid plans
- Only 100 active records
Stockpile
Best free inventory management software for unlimited items
Stockpile is an online inventory management software for small businesses and entrepreneurs. The platform helps you manage the stock level of inventory items across different locations and enables you to create multiple users with various permission levels.
Why I Picked Stockpile: Stockpile makes it easy to add inventory, keep track of sales, and handle returns or damaged goods. Built-in return handling is something not every inventory management system offers, so it's worthy of highlighting. Stockpile also has no stock item limitations, letting you upload as many products and variations as you need as you grow. You'll have access to multiple locations, physical areas/shelves, manufacturers, and preferences on one account.
Stockpile Standout Features & Integrations
Features worthy of consideration that weren't mentioned above include their comprehensive reporting tool, helping you gain valuable insights into inventory turnover. Stockpile is designed to be super easy to use, offering multiple tutorials so you can learn how to use all of its functionalities, and offers free support for all users. Stockpile supports multiple currencies and allows you to process and record sales. You can set up custom notifications for low stock levels.
Integrations are not listed on their site.
What's Free: Stockpile is completely free for unlimited inventory items, users, and locations.
Pros
- Responsive customer service
- Unlimited inventory
- Unlimited users
Cons
- Not updated frequently
- Feature-lite compared to others
The 10 Best Free Inventory Management Software Solutions Summary
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | UpKeep Best free inventory management software for manufacturing | 7-day free trial available | From $45/user/month | Visit Website |
2 | Zoho Inventory Best free inventory management software for single warehouse operations | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $79/month. | Visit Website |
3 | inFlow Inventory Best free inventory management software for data-driven companies | 14-day free trial | From $49.80/user/month | Visit Website |
4 | Sortly Best free inventory management software for ease of use | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $49/month | Visit Website |
5 | Odoo Inventory Best free open source inventory management software | 15-day free trial | From $31/user/month | Visit Website |
6 | PartKeepr Best free inventory management software for customization | Not available | Free to use | Visit Website |
7 | ABC Inventory Best free inventory management software on-premise solution | Not available | Free to use | Visit Website |
8 | RightControl Best free inventory management software for add-ons marketplace | Not available | Free to use | Visit Website |
9 | SalesBinder Best free inventory management software for a range of features | Free plan available | From $9/month | Visit Website |
10 | Stockpile Best free inventory management software for unlimited items | Not available | Free to use | Visit Website |
How I Selected the Best Free Inventory Management Software
Curious how I chose the free inventory management software for this list? I began by seeking out the free solutions with the highest user ratings. I poked around to understand their platforms, how they can help small businesses, and what functionality they offered for free.
After establishing my long list, I applied the evaluation criteria below to see how each platform stacked up against the next. When making the final cut, I drew on my experience in inventory management to finalize my list of the best inventory management software available for free. Here is how I whittled down my list of free inventory apps.
Selection Criteria
- User Interface (UI): Inventory management must sport a UI design that makes it easy to view inventory items individually or in groups. I’m looking for easy inventory reports, clean menus, and sensible dashboards. Free inventory apps should look and feel good to use.
- Usability: I look for free inventory management software that are easy to use. Your team should be able to learn how to use most of the tool’s functionalities after a brief onboarding or training period.
- Integrations: I look for free inventory management software that integrate with popular ecommerce platforms and other apps you would normally use. Free inventory apps may have limited integrations, as that's usually a paid-for feature, but I kept my eye out for options nonetheless.
- Value for Pricing: I look for free inventory management software that don’t limit your ability to manage your inventory despite being free. Freemium plans will often lack advanced features but I'm only including free inventory management software on this list if it thoroughly covers the basics.
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s take a look at some of the FAQs about free inventory management software.
What are the Key Features of Inventory Management Software?
Why Does a Small Business Need Free Inventory Management Software?
Is QuickBooks Online Inventory Management free?
Other Inventory Management System Reviews
You might find that you eventually outgrow your free inventory management software as your online store grows. You can try these other similar lists if that happens.
- Inventory Management Software
- Retail Inventory Management Software
- Cloud-Based Inventory Management
- Enterprise Inventory Management Software
- Simple Inventory Management Software
The Takeaway
Inventory management is important for ecommerce businesses. As Bala Ganesh, UPS Vice President of Marketing, said: “It’s about streamlining the supply chain and constantly updating real-time stock quantities so that customers get what they want when they want it without turning to another provider. [...] Automated purchasing activity and real-time inventory status can help businesses identify the most- and least-profitable locations.”
Free inventory apps have their limitations, but they can help you set up your ecommerce business and attract your first buyers. However, the ecommerce industry is always changing, so you need to stay up to date with the latest developments.
To learn more about inventory management, don't miss these articles:
What Is Ecommerce Inventory Management? And How to Get it Right
Inventory Management Software Features and Key Benefits
What is Cloud-Based Inventory Management and Why Should You Switch?
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