Inventory management software makes tracking products, tools, and assets easy for all kinds of businesses—from offices to stores to warehouses. Most free inventory management software has feature limits but offers paid plans if you need a more advanced system. Many small businesses, however, find the free versions sufficient for their needs.
Based on our evaluations, the best free inventory management software for small businesses are:
- Odoo: Best for warehouse management and dropshipping businesses
- Zoho Inventory: Best for growing businesses and retailers
- Square: Best for tracking unlimited products
- Boxstorm: Best for small SKU counts and QuickBooks connectivity
- SalesBinder: Best full-featured program for limited inventory items
- ABC inventory: Best for volume sellers and manufacturers needing advanced stock and workflow management
- Stockpile: Best standalone solution for simple item tracking
- Sortly: Best on-the-go inventory management app
- Right Control: Best barcode generation and pick-and-pack for online order management
Prefer to use a traditional 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
How We Evaluated Free Inventory Management Software
We only considered forever-free inventory systems and prioritized those that are cloud-based, are easy to use, and offer pricing plans or add-ons suited for SMBs. We also looked at each of the software’s free plan limits such as the maximum number of inventory items and the number of included users. Points were also awarded to important features such as real-time and multi-location tracking, the ability to do mobile inventory counts and granular inventory, and the types of reports it can deliver (such as COGS).
We also considered how well each software works in industries other than retail, whether it can handle multiple warehouses or sales channels, what integrations each system allows, and availability of customer support.
Click through the tabs below for a more detailed breakdown of our evaluation criteria:
40% of Overall Score
We prioritized software that includes pricing plans and add-on options to grow with your business. We also awarded points to systems that provide an unlimited number of users and inventory items in its free plan.
30% of Overall Score
We gave heavier weight on inventory features, such as real-time tracking (includes barcoding, batch, serial, and RFID tracking), low-stock and reorder alerts (using EOQ), multi-location and warehouse tracking, mobile inventory counts, and granular inventory management (kitting and assembly, variants, etc.) We also considered whether they provide purchase order, vendor, and centralized multichannel management. Finally, we examined whether each system has CRM functionality or integrates with popular CRM software.
15% of Overall Score
We gave full points to platforms that are cloud-based, offer 24/7 customer support, and provide online training, forum, or help documentation. We also considered its integrations with popular accounting, ecommerce, marketplace, and POS software.
15% of Overall Score
We reviewed the overall quality of each system’s features—and if there are any stand-out qualities—and whether or not it offers a good value for its price point. Finally, we accounted for our personal experience using each system and interacting with its customer service representatives, its reviews, and the personal experience of other small business owners.
Need more functionality? If you think your business can benefit from an inventory software without limitations, read our recommendations on the best inventory management software.
Odoo: Best Free Inventory Management Software for Warehouses and Dropshipping
Odoo
What We Like
- Inventory forecasting
- Sales and customer portal
- Order points and automated requests for bids
What's Missing
- No customizations
- No integrations, only with other Odoo apps
Odoo Free Plan Pricing and Limits:
- Users: Unlimited
- Locations: Unlimited
- Items: Unlimited
- Transactions: Unlimited
- Paid Plans: $36 per month if you use it with other Odoo apps
Odoo offers its inventory management app for free as a standalone product. The inventory app alone contains nearly every function you need for straight inventory processing. However, there is a fee to connect other Odoo products. With no limits on users, locations, or items, Odoo is a great choice for warehouses and dropshippers with high-volume sales.
Based on our evaluation, Odoo earned a 4.21 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 integrations available prevented the software from earning a perfect score.
Odoo Free Inventory Features
From the dashboard, you can access all activities such as delivery orders, receptions, dropshipping, or keep an eye on backorders and laid items. (Source: Odoo.com)
- 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
- Barcode scanning
- Cycle counting
- Scrap products, transfer stock
- Custom alerts on products or suppliers
- Schedule inventory operations based on product availabilities or order forecasting
- Automated request for quotes
- Barcode or serial number tracking
- Custom fields, expiration dates, multiple units of measurement
- Multiple valuations: FIFO, LIFO, Average Cost, Landed Costs, and more
A look at Odoo’s mobile app on an Android device. Inventory is just part of a network of Odoo applications.
(Source: Google’s Play Store)
When to Upgrade
Odoo Inventory is free forever as long as it’s the only Odoo app you use. However, if you need to integrate other functions such as accounting or purchase orders, then you would need to upgrade and to use other Odoo applications. Since it is only designed to work with other Odoo applications, like Sales, Purchase, or Accounting, your choice will be limited and if you add these applications, you will then be charged a subscription price for Inventory, plus the other apps. This can add up fast.
Zoho Inventory: Best Free Inventory Management Software for Growing Businesses
Zoho Inventory
What We Like
- Cloud-based
- 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
Zoho Inventory Free Plan Pricing and Limits:
- 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 give room for your business to grow. It provides low-stock alerts, kitting and bundling options, and multiple integrations to ecommerce platforms, CRM, and payment gateways. It also gives you shipping tools, allowing you to print packing slips and generate shipping labels.
Based on our evaluation, Zoho Inventory earned a 3.98 out of 5, earning perfect marks from our experts and its ease of use. Zoho’s free plan limits such as limits on sales orders, shipping labels, and shipment tracking, as well as the absence of real-time and multi-location 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 for small businesses.
Zoho Inventory Free Inventory Features
Zoho Inventory’s dashboard is the first thing you’ll see when you log in to your account. It gives you a picture of your company’s sales and stock summary such as the sales orders you have generated so far, top-selling items, stock purchased from your vendor for the selected period, and more. (Source: Zoho.com)
- 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
Zoho Inventory’s mobile app dashboard view.
(Source: Zoho.com)
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 1,5000 monthly order limit, 3 users, and 2 warehouses. Additional warehouses cost $96 a year.
Square: Best Free Inventory Management for Unlimited Products
Square
What We Like
- User-friendly platform
- Unlimited products including variants like size and color
- Syncs across online, mobile, and in-store sales
What's Missing
- Relatively basic features
- No supplier, purchasing, or barcode features
Square Free Plan Limits:
- Users: Unlimited
- Locations: Unlimited (though cross-location item tracking is not supported)
- Items: Unlimited
- Transactions: Unlimited
Square is the best free point-of-sale (POS) system for small businesses, and it also 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 sell in-store, online, via invoice, or mobile.
Square earned an overall score of 3.79 out of 5 on our inventory management ranking. It earned the highest 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, purchase ordering, and vendor management.
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 Free Inventory 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)
- 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
When to Upgrade
The free version of Square doesn’t include advanced inventory tools like kitting or bundling (connecting several unique parts or items under one SKU), purchase order management, vendor management, COGS tracking, or cross-location inventory tracking. 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.
Ready to get started? Learn how to manage inventory using Square.
Boxstorm: Best for Ecommerce and QuickBooks Integrations
Boxstorm
What We Like
- QuickBooks integration
- Multiple integrations, API
- Mobile app
What's Missing
- Limited items and transactions
- No variants
- No kitting or bundling
Boxstorm Free Plan Pricing and Limits:
- Users: One
- Locations: One
- Items: 25
- Transactions: 100 per month
- Paid Plan: $79 per 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.
Boxstorm earned an overall score of 3.24 out of 5 on our inventory management ranking system. It earned stellar marks for its inventory features—such as barcoding, cycle counting, and automated reordering—but its transaction and inventory item limits prevented it from scoring higher.
Boxstorm Free Inventory Features
Here is a sample view of Boxstorm’s Sales module. You can assign per-customer elements such as tax rates and discounts. Sales order line items include sale, misc. sale, misc. credits, notes, and per-line discounts.
(Source: Fishbowlinventory.com)
- Barcoding
- 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 stock alerts
- Cycle counting
- Returns processing
- Automated reorder for low-inventory
- Native integrations with QuickBooks Online, Shopify, BigCommerce, Stripe, and Shippo
- API available for custom integrations
When to Upgrade
Boxstorm’s free plan contains all the features of the paid plan, so the only reason to upgrade is if you need to handle more transactions or items. The paid plan 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 Limited Products
SalesBinder
What We Like
- 100 records per month limit
- Variations, photos, categories
- Customer Relationship Management
What's Missing
- No integrations
- Limited items
- No Mobile App
SalesBinder Free Plan Pricing and Limits:
- Users: One
- Items: 100 records per month (records are inventory items, accounts, or orders)
- Paid Plans start at: $9 per month
SalesBinder offers an intuitive interface with lots of room for customization. Its free plan has a monthly records limit but its robust features for recording and tracking inventory, plus the sales and customer relationship management features make it a great pick for businesses with limited products.
Overall, SalesBinder scored a 3.18 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.
SalesBinder Free Inventory Features
This is a sample view of an inventory item inside your SalesBinder dashboard. You can see your item supplier, the item’s selling price, stock, and any backorders you have from purchase orders and its estimated date of arrival. (Source: SalesBinder)
- Five photos per item
- Track items by location
- Kitting/bundling
- Custom fields
- Item variations
- Bar code 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
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.
ABC Inventory: Best for Manufacturing and Distribution
ABC Inventory
What We Like
- Includes repairs, leasing, asset management
- Multiple languages, currencies
- Supports kitting
What's Missing
- PC only
- Forum support only
- Older interface
ABC Inventory Free Plan Pricing and Limits:
- Users: One
- Locations: Unlimited
- Items: Unlimited
- Transactions: Unlimited
- 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 good for manufacturing. It can handle multiple locations and warehouses, complex shipping needs, high-volumes, and multiple supply chain models.
In our evaluation, ABC Inventory earned a 2.79 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, the software can only be installed on PCs, and cannot connect to any other programs.
ABC Inventory Free 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.
- 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 offers the complete software for free. However, if you need support or want to network the software across multiple workstations, you need to purchase one of its licenses. Purchased licenses also include free add-ons and lifetime updates.
Stockpile: Best Free Inventory Management Software for Simple Inventory Tracking
Stockpile
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
Stockpile Free Plan Limits:
- Users: Unlimited
- Locations: Unlimited
- Items: Unlimited
- Transactions: Unlimited
Canvus’ Stockpile inventory system is completely free and cloud-based, earning a 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 businesses with a lot of simple inventory that don’t need the sales arm.
Stockpile Free Inventory Features
An item catalog view inside your Stockpile dashboard. You can see detailed transactions, stock, and report charts per item. (Source: Stockpile)
- 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
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.
Sortly: Best for Offline and On-the-Go Inventory Management
Sortly
What We Like
- Built-in barcode scanning, support for QR codes
- Multiple warehouses
- Provides an offline mode, allowing you to scan incoming and outgoing items even without internet access
What's Missing
- No low-stock alerts
- Lacks kitting services
- Zero integrations
Sortly Free Plan Pricing and Limits:
- Users: One
- Items: 100 entries
- Paid Plans start at: $39 a 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 that allows you to scan barcodes and QR codes even on 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.
On our inventory management evaluation, Sortly scored a 2.21 out of 5. The absence of low-stock alerts and integrations on its free plan prevented it from earning high scores, but its multi-location tracking and mobile inventory count features earned perfect marks.
Sortly Free Inventory Features
(Source: Sortly.com)
- Desktop and mobile app access
- In-app scanner
- Barcode Auto Look-up
- 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
Sortly’s barcode generator system
(Source: Sortly.com)
When to Upgrade
Sortly provides in-depth access to its barcode scanning system even on its free plan. However, upgrading to its Ultra plan (starts at $99/month) will allow you to have integrations, generate custom barcodes, and use external/handheld scanners.
Right Control: Best for Barcode Generation and Pick-and-Pack Management
Right Control
What We Like
- Provides shipping and warehouse features
- Picking Lists
- Barcode generation
What's Missing
- Doesn't support multiple warehouses
- 10 product limit
- Available only on Windows
Right Control Free Plan Pricing and Limits:
- Users: One
- Inventory items: Up to 10
- Warehouse: One
- Paid Plans start at: £0.99 a month
Right Control 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.
It scored a 2.19 out of 5 based on our evaluation, primarily because of its 10-product and single-warehouse limits. Its inventory features are pretty basic, but its free plan allows you to create picking lists and generate new barcodes for your products. These features earned the system high marks on our evaluation.
Right Control Free Inventory Features
Add product details view in Right Control.
(Source: Right Control)
- Invoicing
- Dispatching
- Barcode scanning
- Barcode design and generation
- Barcode printing
- Purchase and sales order management
- Returns management
- Contact management
- Kit assembly
Invoice generation (Source: Right Control)
When to Upgrade
All features are the same through Right Control’s subscription plans. The only drawback with Right Control’s free plan is its product limit of 10 items, so upgrading to its basic 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 software that they prefer.
While inventory management greatly depends on the variety of products and the needs of a business, we found Odoo to offer the best solution for most small businesses. The inventory app contains nearly every function that you need for straight inventory processing, including custom alerts and unlimited users, locations, items, and transactions. Visit Odoo to create a free account.
You May Also Like…
- Learn inventory management best practices
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