9 Best Free Inventory Management Software for 2022

Inventory management software makes it easy for businesses to track products, tools, and assets. They are used on their own, such as for tracking items in a factory or keeping track of retail items. Many work with point of sale (POS) or other systems. Free inventory management software usually limit features or the number of items you can use. Most have paid plans, but often, the free version has enough for a small business or solopreneur.

Based on our evaluations, the best free inventory management software for small businesses are:

• Zoho Inventory: Best overall free inventory management for mobile users
• Odoo: Best for e-learning and tutorial services (though good for manufacturing and warehouses too)
• Square: Best for retailers
• ABC Inventory: Best free desktop inventory management for manufacturing and repair shops
• Boxstorm: Best for users with small inventories that need QuickBooks or ecommerce integrations
• SalesBinder: Best for small international businesses
• Sortly: Best on-the-go inventory management app for multiple locations
• Stockpile: Best for large simple inventories
• RightControl: Best for service businesses with small inventories

Prefer to use a spreadsheet? Download our free inventory management workbook to track on-hand stock, sales, purchase orders, calculate inventory turnover, and set up low stock alerts.

Download Free Inventory Workbook

Best Free Inventory Management Software Compared

How We Evaluated Free Inventory Management Software

We only considered forever-free inventory systems and prioritized those that are cloud-based and easy to use and offer paid versions or add-ons at a price suited for SMBs. We sought a range of inventory management software, not just those in a POS system or that work for retail.

Click through the tabs below for a more detailed breakdown of our evaluation criteria.

Zoho Inventory: Best Overall Inventory Management Software for Mobile Users

Zoho Inventory

Overall Score: 4.16 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	4.00	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	4.00	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	4.25	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	4.81	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• Excellent mobile app
• Kitting capabilities
• Shipping management tools
• Ecommerce integrations

What's Missing

• Sales and purchase order limits
• Lacks Bill of Material (BOM), pick lists, or bin ID support
• No forecasting, only supports FIFO costing

What’s Included for Free:

• Users: Two
• Locations: One
• Items/products: Unlimited
• Transactions: 50 orders/month
• Paid Plans start at: $79/month with monthly billing

For its free plan, Zoho Inventory gives you a lot of inventory features that will enable your business to grow. It provides low stock alerts, kitting and bundling options, and multiple integrations to ecommerce platforms, CRM apps, and payment gateways. It also gives you shipping tools, allowing you to print packing slips and generate shipping labels. It’s the top-rated inventory software on our list; however, its mobile app makes it the best choice for entrepreneurs who do their work on the go.

Based on our evaluation, Zoho Inventory earned a 4.16 out of 5. Unlike Odoo and Square, Zoho’s free plan limits—such as limits on sales orders, shipping labels, and shipment tracking—and absence of real-time and multilocation tracking prevented it from getting a higher score. However, overall Zoho offers great value and earned the top spot in our evaluation of the best inventory management software.

Zoho Inventory Features

Zoho Inventory’s dashboard gives you a picture of your company’s sales, sales orders you have generated so far, top-selling items, purchased stock, and more. (Source: Zoho)

Zoho Inventory’s mobile app has a simple dashboard view and is highly rated. (Source: Zoho)

The free version includes bundling. (Source: Zoho)

Zoho Inventory offers central control of multiple warehouses. (Source: Zoho)

• Integrate one Shopify store
• Ecommerce integrations
• Item grouping and bundling
• Serial and batch tracking
• Sales order management
• Invoicing
• Packaging and shipping
• Barcode scanning
• Backorders and drop shipments
• Purchase order templates
• SKU generator
• Reorder points
• iOS and Android mobile apps
• Mobile app: 4.5 out of 5 on Android; 4.6 out of 5 on iOS

When to Upgrade

Zoho Inventory has limits on sales orders, even with its paid plans. If you need to track multiple warehouses, support multiple currencies, and perform custom views for your workflows, then upgrading to its first paid tier will suffice. The base plan starts at $79 a month with a 1,500 monthly order limit, three users, and two warehouses. Additional warehouses cost $10 per month, and additional users are priced at $3 per month. Higher tiers include batch and serial number tracking and automated workflows.

Odoo: Best Free Inventory Management Software for E-learning & Tutoring Services

Odoo

Overall Score: 4.13 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	4.75	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	3.88	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	3.50	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	3.63	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• Inventory forecasting
• Sales and customer portal
• Track e-learning products
• Apps make it easy to grow with your business

What's Missing

• No customizations
• No integrations, only with other Odoo apps
• Mobile app with the paid plan only

What’s Included for Free:

• Users: Unlimited
• Locations: Unlimited
• Items/products: Unlimited
• Transactions: Unlimited
• Paid Plans start at: $28/month (add-ons at $12–$36/month)

Odoo offers its open-source inventory management app for free as a standalone product. The inventory app alone contains nearly every function you need for straight inventory processing. With no limits on users, locations, or items, Odoo is a great choice for warehouses and dropshippers with high-volume sales (but so are others on this list). However, it alone offers tools specific for e-learning, including course tracking. Thus, we recommend it for tutoring services, schools, and other institutions that sell online courses along with physical materials like books, workbooks, or kits.

In our evaluation, Odoo earned a 4.13 out of 5, earning high marks for its unlimited allocation for users, items, transactions, and warehouse locations even on its free plan. The lack of available integrations (where Zoho and Square are both strong) prevented the software from earning a perfect score.

Odoo Features

From the dashboard, you can access all activities, such as delivery orders, receptions, dropshipping, and keep an eye on backorders and laid items. (Source: Odoo)

Odoo’s mobile app has good user scores but is only available with paid plans. (Source: Google Play Store)

Odoo has 34 paid apps, which can make it a more expensive plan than others on our list. However, you can get many of these functions at a basic level in the free plan. (Source: Odoo)

Odoo offers stock rules and tracking. (Source: Odoo)

• Handles digital products and consumables
• Double-entry inventory management (items are moved rather than removed)
• Unlimited products, users, locations
• Multiple locations, including zones, rows, shelves, and more
• Cycle counting
• Scrap products, transfer stock
• Preventive and scheduled maintenance
• Custom alerts on products or suppliers
• Automated request for quotes
• Custom fields, expiration dates, multiple units of measurement
• Multiple valuations: FIFO, LIFO, Average Cost, Landed Costs, and more
• Mobile app: 3.8 out of 5 on Android; 2.8 out of 5 on iOS (with a paid plan only)

When to Upgrade

Odoo Inventory’s Community plan has a lot of interesting features, but for the full power of Odoo—including workshop planning and scheduling, quality control, barcode scanning, and use of the mobile app—you need to upgrade to the paid license plan. You also need this paid plan to integrate with third-party software.

Square: Best Inventory Management Software for Retailers Needing a Full POS System

Square

Overall Score: 4.12 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	4.38	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	3.50	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	4.25	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	4.56	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• User-friendly platform
• Unlimited products including variants like size and color
• Syncs across online, mobile, and in-store sales
• Free POS system

What's Missing

• Relatively basic features
• No supplier, purchasing, or barcode features
• Only works with Square POS, payment processing

What’s Included for Free:

• Users: Unlimited
• Locations: Unlimited (though cross-location item tracking is not supported)
• Items/products: Unlimited
• Transactions: Unlimited
• Paid Plans start at: $60/month

Square is the best free point-of-sale (POS) system for small businesses and includes a complete set of inventory tracking tools for unlimited products and users. It even offers an ecommerce platform, which we consider ideal for storefronts. Square is the best fit for retailers looking to manage inventory for free and to sell in-store and online, as well as via invoice and mobile.

Square earned an overall score of 4.12 out of 5 on our inventory management ranking, just below Odoo, which has more features for inventory management, itself. Square, however, earned excellent scores for ease of use, pricing, and our expert ranking. The only things that kept Square from scoring higher were the lack of kitting and bundling abilities, managing stock across multiple locations, and limited customer service hours. It’s also not as customizable as Odoo.

Like Zoho, it has an excellent mobile app, although it’s focused more on sales than inventory. Overall, we recommend Square if you are looking for an all-in-one solution (ecommerce, point-of-sale-system, and inventory) for your storefront business.

Square Features

You can manage details like names, quantities, or prices quickly and easily from the Square Dashboard or directly on the point-of-sale app. (Source: Square)

You can set low-stock alerts. (Source: Square)

You can create inventory variations, edit stock to mark damaged or lost items, and more. (Source: Square)

Reports include inventory history. (Source: Square)

• Create product or item categories
• Add pictures, descriptions, and SKU numbers to each item
• Add and track item modifiers like colors and sizes
• Import and manage products in bulk
• Create automated low stock alerts
• Download reports or export to a printable spreadsheet
• Unlimited products, users, and locations
• Mobile app: 4.4 out of 5 on Android; 4.8 out of 5 on iOS

When to Upgrade

The free version of Square doesn’t include advanced inventory tools like kitting, automatic purchase orders, COGS tracking, or smart stock forecasts. For these features, you’ll need to upgrade to Square for Retail for $60 per month. Read our full Square POS review to find out why it’s the best free inventory management software for retailers. However, it can integrate with other inventory software if you prefer.

ABC Inventory: Best Desktop Inventory Manager for Repair Shops & Manufacturing

ABC Inventory

Overall Score: 3.27 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	3.88	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	3.13	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	1.63	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	3.56	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• Includes repairs, leasing, asset management
• Multiple languages, currencies
• Supports kitting
• Manufacturing functions like machine assembly orders, parts consumption, more

What's Missing

• PC only
• Forum support only
• Older interface

What’s Included for Free:

• Users: One
• Locations: Unlimited
• Items/products: Unlimited
• Transactions: 50 orders/month
• Paid Plans start at: $435 one-time fee

Although a locally installed system with an older interface, ABC Inventory by Almyta Systems offers a lot of features that make it an excellent choice for manufacturers or repair shops on a tight budget who have simple needs. It includes unlimited custom fields, 10 custom dropdown lists for extra properties, and up to 20 levels in its bill of materials.

It’s a more complex inventory system than Square, Zoho, or even our top-rated Odoo. Further, it offers dozens of functions specifically for manufacturing, like work orders, approvals, repair and maintenance orders, and special serials for manufacturing or engineering.

In our evaluation, ABC Inventory earned 3.27 out of 5. Though it earned points for being able to track unlimited products by location, the dated interface and slow speed make ABC Inventory hard to use. Plus, there’s no customer support available outside of a community forum and the software can only be installed on PCs and cannot connect to any other programs.

ABC Inventory Features

One of the user views you will get with ABC Inventory. You can categorize your items, assign a unit ID, weight, price, and stock accordingly. (Source: Almyta Systems)

The free version contains all the same inventory features as the paid, but you cannot tie workstations together. (Source: Almyta Systems)

You can create custom invoices with your own logo. (Source: Almyta Systems)

• Unlimited companies, warehouses, locations, currencies, logos
• Multiple languages with translations (popup or in-field)
• Export data to Microsoft Excel, Word, HTML, and text
• Purchase orders
• Warehouse appointments, invoicing, shipping
• Positive/negative adjustments
• Barcode Scanning
• Inventory repairs
• Inventory leasing
• Forecasting
• Fast browse and advanced search
• Sales and shipping orders
• Work orders
• Tangible and intangible asset management

When to Upgrade

ABC’s free version comes with every tool, making it a great option for a small business with a single workplace. However, you need the paid version if you want to network the software across multiple workstations. You’ll also need to purchase one of its licenses if you want support of any kind. Purchased licenses also include free add-ons and lifetime updates.

Boxstorm: Best Inventory Manager for QuickBooks & Ecommerce Integration

Boxstorm

Overall Score: 3.19 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	2.38	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	3.75	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	3.75	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	3.69	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• Vendor management
• Multiple integrations, API
• Mobile app
• Tracks expiration dates

What's Missing

• Limited items and transactions
• No variants

What’s Included for Free:

• Users: One
• Locations: One
• Items/products: 25 Items
• Transactions: 100/month
• Paid Plans start at: $79/month

Created by Fishbowl Inventory, Boxstorm delivers a fully featured and user-friendly interface that integrates with ecommerce and QuickBooks. The limits on item numbers and transactions make it useful for smaller businesses, but if you grow beyond the free version, it offers an affordable paid plan. It also has a mobile app, though it’s not as highly rated as those from Zoho or Square. One standout feature, however, is the ability to track items by expiration date and by lot or serial—a great tool for items with a shelf life.

Boxstorm earned an overall score of 3.19 out of 5 on our inventory management ranking system. It earned solid scores for its inventory features—such as barcoding, cycle counting, and automated reordering—but its limits on transaction and inventory items prevented it from scoring higher. It doesn’t have as in-depth a CRM manager as Zoho, although it has stronger vendor management features than Square’s free version.

Boxstorm Features

Boxstorm’s Sales module lets you assign per-customer elements such as tax rates and discounts.
(Source: Fishbowlinventory.com)

It’s easy to access the inventory information from the list of items in the Items module. (Source: Boxstorm)

You can set tracking for existing inventory. (Source: Boxstorm)

Reports include item histories. (Source: Boxstorm)

• Barcoding, including with mobile app
• Up to five photos per item
• Scan items and apply action to an entire list (ex: location change)
• Sales and purchase orders
• Set min/max stock levels; email and text stock alerts
• Cycle counting
• Returns processing
• Track items by lot, expiry, or serial (up to five rules)
• Automated reorder for low-inventory
• Works for service orders as well as sales
• Native integrations with QuickBooks Online, Shopify, BigCommerce, Stripe, and Shippo
• API available for custom integrations
• Mobile app: 3.4 out of 5 on Android; 3.2 out of 5 on iOS

When to Upgrade

Boxstorm’s free plan contains all the features of the paid plan, so you only need to upgrade when you need to handle more transactions or items. The paid option offers unlimited locations, items, and transactions for $79 per month for one user. If you need more users, you can add them for $9 per month.

SalesBinder: Best Free Inventory Management Software for Small International Companies

SalesBinder

Overall Score: 3.10 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	2.38	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	3.75	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	2.63	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	4.19	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• Available in over 130 countries
• Customer relationship management
• Inexpensive starter plan
• Barcode documents and items

What's Missing

• No integrations in the free plan
• Limited items
• No mobile app for Android; low-ranking app on iOS

SalesBinder Pricing

• Users: One
• Locations: Unlimited
• Items/products: 100
• Transactions: Unlimited
• Paid Plans start at: $9/month

While we have several inventory managers made outside the US on our list, SalesBinder offers excellent inventory software that works in over 130 countries. This intuitive interface also includes lots of room for customization. Its free plan limits monthly records, which it counts as inventory items, accounts, or orders—no other inventory tracker on our list sets limits this way.

SalesBinder’s free plan does not allow integrations. However, it has robust features for recording and tracking inventory and strong sales and customer relationship management features. Add that the plans start at a mere $9 monthly (the cheapest beside RightControl), and it’s a great pick for small businesses with limited customers and inventory or those that are just starting out.

Overall, SalesBinder scored a 3.1 out of 5 in our evaluation. It performed well in the inventory features and expert score categories. SalesBinder could’ve scored better if it had no product or user limits and allowed integrations in its free plan.

SalesBinder Features

Item pages include multiple images and variations. (Source: SalesBinder)

You can create as many custom fields as you wish. (Source: SalesBinder)

You can create custom barcodes for items and documents. (Source: SalesBinder)

Item variations let you break down items by attributes from size to location. (Source: SalesBinder)

• Five photos per item
• Track items by location
• Kitting/bundling
• Custom fields
• Item variations
• Barcode scanning
• Account management for customers, prospects, and suppliers
• Note additional expenses for profit analysis
• Invoices, estimates, purchase orders
• Inventory and sales reports
• Set user permissions
• Mobile app: none for Android; 2.3 out of 5 on iOS

When to Upgrade

The free plan includes all the features of the paid plans, except for integrations. The only limits are to records and users. If you need more users, records, or integrations, the paid plans are among the most affordable we’ve seen. The paid plans range from $9 per month for one user, 2,500 records, and no integrations, to $99 per month for 100,000 records, 50 users, and unlimited integrations. It also has unlimited records pricing plans.

Sortly: Best On-the-Go Inventory App for Multiple Locations

Sortly

Overall Score: 2.76 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	2.50	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	2.88	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	2.25	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	3.75	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• Built-in barcode scanning, support for QR codes
• Multiple warehouses
• Has offline mode, allowing you to scan incoming and outgoing items even without internet access
• High-ranking mobile app for iOS; also good for Android

What's Missing

• No low-stock alerts
• Lacks kitting services
• Zero integrations

What’s Included for Free:

• Users: One
• Locations: Unlimited
• Items/products: 100
• Transactions: Unlimited
• Paid Plans start at: $49/month

Sortly is a cloud-based inventory management platform that provides activity tracking, location tracking, barcoding, and audit trails. Its noteworthy feature, though, is its built-in barcode scanner mobile app that allows you to scan barcodes and QR codes even in offline mode. This allows you to scan incoming and outgoing inventory even when your phone app doesn’t have a signal. It automatically syncs with your account once you go online. Zoho also has an offline mode to its mobile app, but Sortly offers inventory for multiple locations.

On our inventory management evaluation, Sortly scored a 2.76 out of 5. The absence of low-stock alerts and integrations on its free plan, as well as its item limits, prevented it from earning high scores, but its multilocation tracking and mobile inventory count features set it apart. Like RightControl, it lacks integrations. However, its interface is cloud-based and modern, setting it apart from RightControl and ABC Inventory.

Sortly Features

Sortly is cloud-based and works on mobile and desktop. (Source: Sortly)

Sortly’s barcode generator system includes QR codes and works on its mobile app. (Source: Sortly)

The full Sortly program offers item grouping, custom fields, barcodes and QR codes, and more. (Source: Sortly)

Sortly offers automatic low stock alerts, custom dashboards, and more. (Source: Sortly)

• Desktop and mobile app access
• In-app scanner
• Barcode auto lookup
• Scan and connect third-party barcodes
• Quick action scanner (check in/out items)
• Add custom fields (limited to one)
• Attach up to eight photos per item
• Add custom tags and notes
• Bulk editing details
• Basic CSV and PDF reports
• Support: help center, tutorials, and weekly onboarding seminars
• Mobile app: 3.6 out of 5 on Android; 4.7 out of 5 on iOS

When to Upgrade

Sortly provides in-depth access to its barcode scanning system even on its free plan. However, upgrading to its Ultra plan ($99/month) will allow you to have integrations, generate custom barcodes, and use external/handheld scanners. The less expensive Advanced Plan ($49/month) has low-stock alerts and more entries and custom fields.

Stockpile: Best for Small Businesses With Large Simple Inventories

Stockpile

Overall Score: 2.49 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	2.63	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	1.88	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	1.88	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	4.00	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• No user or product limits
• Free support
• Easy to use

What's Missing

• No integrations
• No kitting/bundling
• No sales, purchase orders

What’s Included for Free:

• Users: Unlimited
• Locations: Unlimited
• Items/products: Unlimited
• Transactions: Unlimited
• No paid plans

Canvus’ Stockpile inventory system is the only software on our list without a paid plan. It’s a pure inventory system, as opposed to Square which is tied to its retail, or others on our guide that include ecommerce tools and integrations. Thus, we recommend it for businesses with a lot of simple inventory that don’t need the sales arm. However, if you need kitting or bundling, please consider Odoo.

Stockpile earned 2.49 out of 5 based on our evaluation. While it allows unlimited products, users, locations, and more, the actual functions are limited to very simple inventory management. You can’t program variations, make purchase orders, or create bundles. It’s a good system for tracking items in multiple locations.

Stockpile Features

An item catalog view inside your Stockpile dashboard. You can see detailed transactions, stock, and report charts per item. (Source: Thecanvus.com)

The instructions are simple but not illustrated. (Source: Thecanvus.com)

You can manage multiple locations. (Source: Thecanvus.com)

You can track inventory by multiple fields, including job costing. (Source: Thecanvus.com)

• User levels: base, manager, owner
• Track SKUs and UPCs, location, area, and manufacturer
• Add images
• Low stock alerts
• Multiple currencies
• Inventory and transaction reports
• Support Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern time; limited weekend support
• Mobile app: 1 out of 5 on Android; none for iOS

When to Upgrade

Stockpile does not have a paid upgrade. If you think your business may outgrow Stockpile’s features, we recommend choosing a system that can grow with your business, like Zoho Inventory or Square.

RightControl: Best Free Inventory System for Service & Low-product Industries

RightControl

Overall Score: 2.34 OUT OF 5

RATING CRITERIA	Pricing	2.38	OUT OF	5
	Inventory Features	2.25	OUT OF	5
	Ease of Use	1.63	OUT OF	5
	Expert Score	3.13	OUT OF	5

What We Like

• Provides shipping and warehouse features
• UK designed
• Barcode generation
• Excellent CRM that includes credit limits for customers

What's Missing

• Doesn't support multiple warehouses
• 10 product limit
• Available only on Windows

RightControl Pricing

• Users: One
• Locations: One
• Items/products: 10
• Transactions: 50 orders/month
• Paid Plans start at: £0.99/month

RightControl provides a lite version of its inventory management software that tracks stock levels, processes new sales and purchase orders, and creates invoices for billing. It also has shipping and warehouse management features. However, because the free plan allows only 10 items but has the best included CRM system of those on our list, we recommend it for service industries that need to track only a few items.

It scored a 2.34 out of 5 based on our evaluation, primarily because of its 10-product and single-warehouse limits. Like ABC, it’s only available on desktop, has no mobile app, and does not integrate with other software. Its inventory features are pretty basic, but it does let you drill down and each purchase order and sales dispatch link back to a customer. These features earned the system a place on our list.

Note: RightControl was designed in the UK, so some of the terms are different from US-only versions, like Square’s, or those with separate US/UK versions, like Zoho’s.

RightControl Features

RightControl has a clear, if outdated, interface. (Source: RightControl)

Add product details view in RightControl (Source: RightControl)

Invoices are searchable and easy to pull up to see details. (Source: RightControl)

• Invoicing
• Dispatching
• Barcode scanning, design, and generation
• CRM includes contact, payment history, credit limits, notes
• Purchase and sales order management
• Returns management
• Contact management
• Kit assembly

When to Upgrade

All features are the same through RightControl’s subscription plans. The only drawback with RightControl’s free plan is its product limit of 10 items, so upgrading to its paid plan will allow you to have up to 300.

Bottom Line

When deciding which free inventory management platform to use, consider asking yourself the following:

• Does it integrate with the platforms I currently use in my business?
• Does it offer room for growth such as plan upgrades?
• What type of support can I get as a free user?

If you are looking for free inventory management tools that work with sales, such as for a retail or storefront business, consider point-of-sale software (such as Square). Most include primary inventory functions or have integrations. However, standalone free inventory management software works well for offices, warehouses, dropshippers, or stores that already have sales platforms that they prefer.

While inventory management greatly depends on the variety of products and the needs of a business, we found Zoho Inventory to offer the best solution for most small businesses. The inventory app contains nearly every function that you need for inventory processing, plus the ability to integrate with other software, particularly those made by Zoho. Visit Zoho to create a free account.

Visit Zoho Inventory