Best Restaurant Inventory Management Software for 2024

Monthly Software Fees:

• Operator: $239
• Professional: $299
• Ultimate: $429

Installation Fee: A one-time $500 installation fee is required for new users.

• One-on-one setup: When you sign up for MarketMan, you’ll be assigned a dedicated account executive. This rep will help walk you through installing and setting up your account, and tuning the software to your business’s specific needs.
• Maximum food cost threshold: In the app, you can set a maximum food cost for each recipe. This then tracks ingredient prices, alerting you when the recipe does go over cost. This is super helpful when trying to track or lower food costs.
• Vendor Integrations: MarketMan comes with prebuilt integrations to 10 mainline distributors, such as Sysco and US Foods. These are $25 per vendor, per month unless you have the Ultimate plan. This integration allows for easier order placing, credit tracking, and price analysis per ingredient.
• Cloud-based inventory: MarketMan tracks your data in the cloud, allowing you to take inventory counts on whatever device you’d like. This proves useful when multiple stakeholders are taking inventory counts in your restaurant.
• Staff task tracking: In the dashboard, you can assign access levels to different staff members to delegate inventory responsibility. This tool will send you reports on their counts—especially handy in case of errors or discrepancies.

Monthly Software Fees (Tiers include inventory software):

• Essential: $189
• Premium: $399
• Enterprise: Custom-quoted

Installation Fee: No setup fee is required.

• One-click reordering: Lightspeed Restaurant depletes your on-hand inventory count as you sell items throughout the day. As supplies dwindle, your POS sends low-stock alerts and generates suggested orders from your suppliers. You can review these orders and submit them all with one click in your back-office dashboard. Lightspeed Restaurant is the only tool on this list with a one-click reordering feature.
• Smartphone scanning: You can download the Upserve Inventory App from the App Store and Google Play and transform your smartphone camera into a barcode scanner to receive and count inventory items.
• Color-coded order alerts: Orders change color in your inventory dashboard so you can see at a glance when a vendor order has been submitted, received by the vendor, delivered, and completed. You’ll see your order status change in real time as suppliers open and read your order emails and text messages.
• Offline functionality: We all know the walk-in cooler has zero internet connection. Lightspeed leverages the POS system’s robust offline functionality to support inventory counts on mobile devices. When you lose internet connection, the system saves updated item quantities in your mobile device’s local cache.
• Auto-86’ing: Since the inventory tools are built into the POS, the Lightspeed U-Series can automatically 86 menu items you sell out of. Many freestanding inventory tools like MarketMan lack this feature. This helps prevent customers from ordering items that are actually no longer available—a major pain point in restaurant operations.

Monthly Software Fees (Plans include inventory software):

• Starter Kit: $0 (Pay-as-you-go)
• Point of Sale: $69
• Build Your Own: Custom quote needed

Installation Fee: You can typically self-install a simple Toast POS system following Toast’s excellent online tutorials and guides. For more complex installations, you’ll need on-site assistance, which requires a custom quote from Toast.

Currently, adding xtraChef by Toast to your POS requires a custom quote. You’ll need to talk to a Toast sales representative to get a complete idea of your total costs.

• Rebate program: Your xtraCHEF system will check your orders against manufacturers’ rebates available on the Buyer’s Edge platform. These rebates help ensure you’ve gotten the best price and earn some cash back whenever possible.
• Visual interface: xtraCHEF’s dashboard is designed to be visual first. Reports condense complex cost analysis into easy-to-read charts, so there is no chance of misreading your metrics.
• Invoice scanning: Like MarketMan, xtraCHEF includes invoice scanning tools for easy invoice entry. Unlike MarketMan, however, with xtraCHEF, there is no limit to how many invoices you scan each month. The more you scan, the more intelligent your xtraCHEF system becomes.
• EDI functions: Like MarketMan, Crunchtime, and Yellow Dog, xtraCHEF includes a full EDI connection to place orders and place payments with suppliers directly from your xtraCHEF dashboard.
• Accounts payable automation: Lost invoices can cost businesses money. xtraCHEF digitizes invoices in the cloud, where they can be easily searched on desktop and mobile devices.

Custom-Quoted: Crunchtime doesn’t list pricing publicly; you’ll need to contact them for a custom quote. The drawback is that every custom quote takes time and it can be hard to tell if you are getting a good deal. On the other hand, a custom quote lets you customize your software and only pay for the tools you’ll actually use.

Installation Fee: The installation fee for Crunchtime is also a custom quote generated by the conversations you have when signing up.

• Detailed analytics: You can customize your Crunchtime dashboard and alerts to track what data you see. POS integration allows you to track profit and loss (P&L) in real time, so you can make critical business decisions in time to impact your bottom line.
• Crunchtime Impact: This attached mobile reporting app shows up to 50 KPI metrics on any mobile device. Impact works on Android and iOS devices and even integrates with Apple Watches, so information can be relayed immediately to those who need it most.
• In-depth order suggestions: Crunchtime’s suggested ordering pulls relevant data and smart forecasts ahead, helping you determine what exactly is needed. This tool is vastly helpful for newer restaurant managers and is why multi-unit locations may prefer this service.
• Counter: This app is available on different mobile app stores to download and is a great tool for in-depth inventory management. You can utilize this app to have multiple users take inventory on the same count sheet, reducing time spent in total.
• Sales forecasting: This tool can help determine prep levels and coincide with the suggested orders for your restaurant. The Crunchtime ecosystem allows you to prep and order the right amounts, saving you money while keeping your inventory tracking organized and easy to access.

Custom-quoted: Yellow Dog doesn’t list pricing publicly; you’ll need to contact them for a custom quote. While custom quotes tend to take time, they let you customize your software and only pay for the tools you’ll actually use.

Installation Fee: The installation fee for Yellow Dog is also a custom quote generated by the conversations you have when signing up.

• Detailed barcode label printing: Yellow Dog’s barcode printing system supports design templates for an unlimited number of barcode label types. You choose what information to include, from ingredients and price to nutrition information, expiration date, and graphics.
• Commissary kitchen support: If you supply multiple locations with prepped food from a central kitchen—commonly called a commissary kitchen—you have unique product tracking needs. Yellow Dog allows you to create internal transfers of prepared items like fresh juice blends that deplete your commissary inventory based on the attached ingredients.
• Freepour integration: Yellow Dog is the only system on this list that integrates with Freepour, an app that counts liquor with barcode scans and an integrated scale. Because of this, there is no chance that your liquor counts will be off. You can know exactly how much wine, beer, and spirits you have served down to the last drop.
• Connect to suppliers via EDI: Like xtraCHEF, Crunchtime, and MarketMan, Yellow Dog Inventory integrates directly with the most popular restaurant suppliers via EDI. This integration downloads your vendor invoices automatically and adds them to your inventory system. Set up invoices to be processed automatically or require manager approval before posting.
• Rugged hardware: Yellow Dog sells inventory counting devices that are as user-friendly as smartphones but much more secure and drop-resistant. If you don’t want to spend the money, though, you’ll find Yellow Dog’s inventory counting and reporting apps available on both iOS and Android devices.

Monthly Software Fees:

• MarginEdge: $330
• Freepour + MarginEdge: $480

Installation Fee: A one-time $300 setup fee is only paid for the Freepour addition.

• Invoice processing: MarginEdge makes it easy to process invoices. You can send pictures to be processed, regardless of whether they are typed or handwritten. All of your invoices are processed within 48 hours, saving you a lot of time on admin work.
• Inventory counting: Done on your smartphone, inventory counts can be done in low-wifi settings such as a walk-in. Counts can be received in various packaging types and will be converted to your total count in MarginEdge’s inventory system.
• Growth tools: While this software is great for a single restaurant, it supports growth in commissary support and multi-unit transfers. MarginEdge treats commissary kitchens as separate businesses, allowing you to manage inventory and costs easily and in an organized and compartmentalized way.
• Accounting and credit Tracking: MarginEdge helps restaurant managers with tracking credits and ensuring all invoices are paid on time to the correct vendor. Managing accounting work can be tough for small business owners, and MarginEdge helps alleviate this burden with robust accounting management tools for the restaurant business.