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With so many different inventory management solutions available, figuring out which one is right for you is tough. You know you want to optimize stock levels, reduce holding costs, prevent stockouts, and improve overall supply chain efficiency that ensures a healthy cash flow but need to figure out which tool is best. I've got you! In this post I'll help make your choice easy, sharing my findings from researching dozens of tools and leveraging my consulting experience with similar software with my picks of the best inventory management software.

What is Inventory Management Software?

Inventory management software is a digital solution designed to automate and optimize the tracking and control of a company's inventory. It facilitates the recording of stock levels, manages orders and shipments, and provides valuable data to support decision-making in inventory-related processes.

Through features like real-time tracking of inventory levels, order management, demand forecasting, barcode scanning, and reporting, these tools help businesses optimize working capital, ensure accurate financial reporting, manage cash flow, and mitigate risks associated with inventory.

Overview Of The 10 Best Inventory Management Software

Let’s dive into these inventory management software tools. I’ll cover key features, strengths, weaknesses, and pricing.

Best for high sale order volume management

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $349/month
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Rating: 3.7/5

Cin7 Core is an inventory management tool that caters to businesses managing high volumes of sales orders across multiple channels. It provides a suite of features including accounting integrations, warehouse management, and point-of-sale systems, which support businesses in effectively managing large quantities of transactions and inventory.

Why I picked Cin7 Core: As an inventory management software, it offers extensive features that cater to the needs of businesses looking for robust inventory management, accounting integration, and detailed reporting and forecasting.

Its most advanced plan has the ability to handle up to 120,000 orders per year. The software also offers features such as real-time tracking, automated replenishment, and ecommerce integration, making it easier to understand your stock levels and keep up with demand.

Cin7 Core Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features include cost tracking, order consolidation, automated notifications and reports, and mailing lists. It also offers barcode scanning and track transfers between locations and warehouses for better inventory management.

Integrations include Shopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, Etsy, eBay, Walmart, Quickbooks, Xero, and more.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Responsive and quick interface with detailed reports
  • Handles multiple warehouses
  • Integration with accounting software

Cons:

  • CRM features are not fully developed
  • Concerns about the software's ability to keep up with business growth

Best for cross-module workflows

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
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Rating: 4.4/5

Acumatica Cloud ERP is a comprehensive business management system designed to cater to the needs of various industries and roles through a wide array of modules and solutions. The inventory management software is part of its larger ERP system and includes tools for warehouse management, order management, and point-of-sale capabilities.

Why I picked Acumatica Cloud ERP: This tool stands out due to its comprehensive inventory management features, which include real-time updates, replenishment, location management, matrix items, physical inventory, pricing, discounts, promotions, customer and vendor items, packaging, and shipments.

Furthermore, Acumatica Cloud ERP facilitates cross-module workflows with its integrated system. Information can flow between various business functions without the need for manual intervention or data re-entry. This integration encompasses modules such as sales, purchasing, accounting, and customer management, ensuring data consistency.

Acumatica Cloud ERP Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features include barcode scanning, lot and serial number tracking, expiration date management, financial management, project accounting, CRM, payroll, reporting, and warehouse management.

Integrations include Velixo, Celigo, BigCommerce, Heuristyc, Transcard, DataSelf Corp, 1Retail, Amazon, Shopify, ShipEngine, ADP, EazyStock, and more.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Scalable system
  • Advanced reporting
  • Extensive customization options

Cons:

  • Learning curve for new users
  • Customizations may be overwhelming

Best for secure, no-fee card processing

  • Free account available
  • From 0.50% + $0.25 per transaction
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Rating: 4.4/5

Helcim is a payment processing tool designed to support small businesses by offering secure card processing without additional fees. It emphasizes transparency and affordability, providing a suite of services such as in-person and online payment acceptance, virtual terminal, invoicing, and subscription management, catering to businesses aiming to reduce credit card processing costs.

I chose Helcim for CFO inventory management software due to its commitment to low processing rates and its transparent approach, which is particularly beneficial for managing financial operations. What makes Helcim different is its Interchange Plus pricing model and Level 2/3 Commercial Optimization, which are designed to reduce processing costs for businesses. I believe Helcim is the best tool for secure, no-fee card processing because it not only offers affordable payment solutions and transparent pricing but also includes a secure card vault and robust third-party integrations, ensuring both cost-efficiency and security in financial transactions.

I also like that Helcim's POS software integrates with inventory management tools, allowing retailers to track stock levels, manage product information, and generate sales reports. Additionally, the system offers customer management features that enable retailers to store customer information and purchase history, which can be used for marketing and loyalty programs. 

Integrations include QuickBooks, Xero, WooCommerce, Shopify, Foxy.io, and Great Exposure.

Best for small manufacturers' production planning

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $49/user/month
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Rating: 4.3/5

MRPeasy is a leading cloud-based ERP software solution specifically designed for small and mid-sized manufacturing and distribution companies. With a focus on simplicity and accessibility, it offers a comprehensive suite of tools to streamline operations, including inventory management, production planning, procurement, CRM, and sales management.

MRPeasy stands out for its user-friendly interface, affordable pricing, and the ability to integrate seamlessly with a wide range of third-party tools, making it an ideal choice for businesses looking to optimize their manufacturing processes and improve overall efficiency without the complexity and high costs associated with traditional ERP systems.

MRPeasy excels in providing small to mid-sized manufacturing and distribution businesses with a highly intuitive and efficient cloud-based ERP software solution. Its strengths lie in seamlessly integrating critical business processes such as inventory management, production scheduling, CRM, procurement, and sales management into a single platform. This integration enables companies to gain real-time visibility into their operations, enhance decision-making, and improve productivity and customer satisfaction.

With its focus on ease of use, affordability, and flexibility, MRPeasy empowers businesses to streamline their operations, reduce manual efforts, and focus on growth without the need for extensive IT resources or infrastructure.

MRPeasy offers a unique feature that allows factory floor workers to report their progress in real-time directly through the system. This capability not only ensures accurate and up-to-the-minute tracking of manufacturing operations but also significantly enhances the ability to quickly respond to production issues, setting MRPeasy apart from competitors by prioritizing direct worker input and operational transparency.

MRPeasy integrates natively with a variety of essential business tools, including QuickBooks, Xero, Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, Zapier, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Google Drive, and Slack. 

Best free option for small shippers

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $79/month.
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Rating: 4.3/5

Many of the inventory management solutions on this list offer free trials, but Zoho has a truly free plan that includes two users and 50 orders per month. For a small business, this is an accessible path to inventory and order management with an intuitive interface.

Why I picked Zoho Inventory: Best known for its customer relationship management (CRM) system, Zoho now offers a full suite of accounting, commerce, and customer service tools. If you already use other Zoho products, Zoho Inventory is an easy way to track the goods you use Zoho to sell.

Zoho Inventory Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features include a centralized real-time inventory count that's linked to all major e-commerce channels, and the ability to create product variants for different colors or styles—ideal for clothing retailers.

The item kitting functionality allows sellers to bundle popular items and I found the fulfillment workflow straightforward.

Integrations include Zoho Commerce, Shopify, UPS, USPS, FedEx, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Mailchimp, Hubspot, and Salesforce.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Automatic SKU generator
  • Automatic reordering
  • Multi-currency buying and selling

Cons:

  • Limited customization options
  • No Xero or Intuit integrations

Best for reporting features

  • Free demo
  • Pricing upon request
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Rating: 4.5/5

Infoplus is a cloud-based inventory management software for e-commerce and logistics providers. It serves as your hub for inventory, order management, and fulfillment. With customization scripts, warehouses and 3rd party logistics (3PL) providers can build their unique workflows.

Why I picked Infoplus: While there are many options for retailers and e-commerce sellers, I wanted to highlight Infoplus because of its strong warehouse management features. Software capabilities related to shipping and receiving management, picking, and automated routing are crucial for third-party logistics companies that many retailers rely on.

Infoplus Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features include inventory lost control with ID tags and allocation rules. Infoplus has automatic quality control workflows, such as weight verification and barcode scanning, to minimize human error. I love that it provides granular control over each stage of the fulfillment process, which allowed me to mold Infoplus to specific use cases.

Integrations include PayPal, Shopify, Quickbooks, Squarespace, ShipStation, WooCommerce, Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce, Authorize.net, and Braintree.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • 3PL billing automation
  • Mobile app
  • Custom reporting features

Cons:

  • Slow servers
  • Requires coding for customization

Best for large-scale manufacturing and warehousing

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request
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Rating: 4/5

Fishbowl Inventory (not to be confused with the professional community and social network, Fishbowl) is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution designed for manufacturing and warehousing organizations.

You can easily track and categorize by serial number, creation date, expiration date, lot number, or tag number. With multi-location tracking, Fishbowl gives you more inventory visibility in one place.

Why I picked Fishbowl: I think Fishbowl’s all-in-one approach to manufacturing and fulfillment saves time and effort for businesses that need full visibility and traceability. I love that it gives businesses a full history of each product and automation workflows cut down on manual tasks.

Fishbowl can automate processes for creating purchase orders, stock counts, barcode scanning, and financial reporting, among others. For manufacturers and other large-scale organizations, these operating efficiencies can pay off quickly.

Fishbowl Standout Features and Integrations:

Features include allowing you to trace items back to lot number, creation and expiration dates, and assembly stages, as well as multi-location inventory tracking. In my opinion, Fishbowl is a good fit for businesses that sell perishable products or need to maintain high compliance standards.

You also have the option to measure inventory in different ways (weight and number of units, for example).

Integrations are available for 40+ tools, including Amazon, eBay, FedEx, Hubspot, Quickbooks, Salesforce, Shopify, and Xero.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Offers add-ons for a point-of-sale product, Salesforce integration, and shipping solutions
  • Custom part tracking for increased traceability
  • Easy to set up and implement

Cons:

  • Software purchase only includes customer support for one year
  • Limited reporting functionality

Best all-in-one manufacturing system

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $99/month for one user
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Rating: 4/5

Katana is a cloud-based manufacturing software that offers live inventory management, production planning, and multichannel order management. Popular among furniture companies, custom craft makers, and industrial machinery providers, it provides an end-to-end solution for manufacturers to produce and sell their products.

Why I picked Katana: While many retailers and e-commerce businesses purchase and resell products, companies that manufacture goods have different inventory needs. By allowing you to separately track raw materials, work in process, and finished goods, Katana brings the entire product lifecycle to one system.

The tool is also well-organized and easy to navigate.

Katana Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features include the Katana Shop Floor App, which allows you to assign incoming resources and materials to specific orders. I was pleased to see the platform also supports food and beverage manufacturers with batch tracking, expiration dates, and other compliance features.

Integrations include Quickbooks, Xero, Shopify, Amazon, 2Ship, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, eBay, Magento, Pipedrive, ShipStation, and Wix. With their open API and documentation, you can also build your own Katana integrations.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • User-friendly interface
  • Labor time and cost tracking
  • Job prioritization for custom orders

Cons:

  • Lack of advanced reporting
  • Limited customization

Best retail inventory and POS

  • Customized 14-day free trial for your industry
  • Plans start at $69/month (billed annually)

Lightspeed Retail’s multi-location inventory system automatically syncs with e-commerce channels and data from in-store point-of-sale (POS) systems.

Why I picked Lightspeed Retail: While other solutions on this list can be used for brick-and-mortar retail inventory, Lightspeed Retail’s included POS system works for managing inventories of companies with both virtual and physical storefronts.

With your POS and inventory systems connected, your employees will have better visibility into what’s in stock.

Lightspeed Retail Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features include the ability to sell both online and in person, and to have data from both incorporated into inventory counts and sales forecasts. I’m a big fan of the reporting features because you can create inventory reports for high-spending customers and promptly identify low stock levels.

Lightspeed also allows you to track inventory items across multiple stores or warehouse locations.

Integrations include Mailchimp, Quickbooks, Shipday, Shopify, Xero, WooCommerce, Perkville, and Homebase.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Integrates inventory with e-commerce
  • 24/7 support
  • Includes a POS system

Cons:

  • Disappointing customer support
  • Complex pricing for the toolset

Best mobile inventory tracking

  • Free demo available
  • Pricing upon request

Flowtrac is an inventory management software that also allows you to track assets and works-in-process. The cloud-based solution can be accessed across desktops, smartphones, and barcode scanners, but you can also choose Flowtrac as an on-premise system. Some of the system's top industries are government, construction, and the nonprofit sector.

Why I picked Flowtrac: Among all the inventory management systems I reviewed, Flowtrac has the best mobile app and mobile experience. Businesses can save time and money when teams aren’t limited to desktops.

Flowtrac Standout Features and Integrations:

Standout features include flexible barcode scanning functionality for fixed assets and inventory, but Flowtrac also supports RFID tagging and doorway readers. I noticed that the inventory and order logs can display changes by date, time, and user. Warehouse managers can generate labels for bins, shelves, and aisles to expedite picking.

Integrations include Quickbooks, ShipStation, Shopify, Salesforce, Xero, FedEx, UPS, and WooCommerce. You can add to Flowtrac’s 100+ integrations with the REST API.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • Fixed asset tracking
  • Mobile app
  • Onsite onboarding and training

Cons:

  • Cannot delete products or users
  • Rigid importation templates
Tools Price
Cin7 Core From $349/month
Acumatica Cloud ERP Pricing upon request
Helcim From 0.50% + $0.25 per transaction
MRPeasy From $49/user/month
Zoho Inventory From $79/month.
Infoplus Pricing upon request
Fishbowl Pricing upon request
Katana From $99/month for one user
Lightspeed Retail Plans start at $69/month (billed annually)
Flowtrac Pricing upon request
Preview Image - <h2 class="c-block__title b-summary-table__title c-listicle__title h3" > Compare Software Specs Side by Side</h2>

Compare Software Specs Side by Side

Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.

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Other Inventory Management Software Options

Here are some other inventory management options that didn’t quite make the list:

  1. InFlow

    Best for tracking product costs and profit

  2. NetSuite

    Best for enterprises

  3. Linnworks

    Best automation and workflows

  4. ShipStation

    Best shipping and inventory combo

  5. Finale Inventory

    Best small business order management

  6. Extensiv Order Manager

    Best for dropshippers and outsourced fulfillment

  7. Marketman

    Best for hotels and restaurants

  8. Agiliron

    Best POS + inventory for mobile businesses

  9. GOIS Pro

    Best for construction companies

  10. Cyberstockroom

    Best drag-and-drop interface

  11. Inventory Planner by Sage

    Best for wholesale businesses

  12. Netstock

    Best for supply chain management

  13. ArbiMed Inventory

    Best for healthcare providers

  14. Bellwether Purchasing Software

    Best for high-value products

  15. Ordoro

    Best automated purchasing

Selection Criteria for Inventory Management Software

Here’s a short summary of the main selection and evaluation criteria I used to develop my list of the best inventory software for this article:

Core Functionality

More than anything else, inventory management software should help you keep track of the products you have on hand. I looked for tools that can automate parts of the inventory process, and interface with sales channels and fulfillment to streamline operations.

Inventory management software should also be able to::

  • assign inventory costs using specific cost methodologies (e.g. First in First Out (FIFO), Last in First Out (LIFO), average cost)
  • track and manage raw materials inventory, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods inventory
  • track inventory across multiple warehouses or locations
  • update and adjust inventory values for shrinkage, spoilage, and obsolete items
  • maintain appropriate stock levels for different types of inventory

Key Features

Beyond just tracking inventory numbers, I chose tools that offered other important features like:

  • inventory cost reports
  • custom alerts for low-stock items and slow-moving inventory
  • multi-location tracking
  • inventory costing reports
  • materials purchasing and budgeting tools
  • RFID identification and tracking
  • cost variance analysis
  • quantity variance analysis

Usability

How easy is it to set up the system and get started? Is the interface intuitive and easy to navigate? Does the tool eliminate repetitive manual tasks (or just create new ones)? I always look for well-designed tools that power users and new employees can both work with. I paid special attention to the home dashboards and noted how each software used product tours and popups to guide new users.

Customer Service

Along with usability, the quality and availability of customer service have a big impact on successful adoption. I compared what support channels different systems offered and what hours they were in service, as well as reading feedback from user reviews.

Pricing

Different software providers offer different pricing structures. Some have flat license fees, some have monthly payments, and others price their product based on the number of users or transactions.

I chose software that I thought provided good value at a number of different price points, ranging from basic tools for $9.99 per month to premium solutions starting at $999 per month.

Most of the inventory management systems on this list cost between $59 and $300 per month.

Integrations

The most accurate inventory and the best insights come from combining different data sources. What’s more, modern commerce is multi-channel. My selections took into account how each software integrates with major e-commerce channels (like Amazon, eBay, and Shopify) and business tools (such as email tools and CRMs).

People Also Ask

Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about inventory management software and why businesses need it.

What is the difference between inventory management software and warehouse management software?

Inventory management software is primarily concerned with tracking the quantity and cost of inventory items to ensure stock levels are able to meet sales demands. This can include sourcing raw materials and tracking assembly, but it also involves sales forecasting and understanding seasonality and trends.

Warehouse management, on the other hand, is concerned with tracking and managing the operations of the warehouse that typically stores the inventory. It includes fulfillment tasks, like picking and packing, as well as how items are organized and stored.

It’s not uncommon for one software to provide both inventory and warehouse management functionality.

What are the benefits of inventory management software?

Inventory management software helps businesses track their stock. This prevents overselling and allows brands to maintain delivery and shipping guarantees. Effective inventory management also prevents inefficient over-stocking, freeing up budget for other business needs. Inventory software also reduces human error by automating processes and centralizing data.

What are the most popular inventory management systems?

The inventory management needs of businesses vary so widely, but some of the most popular inventory management systems are Fishbowl Inventory, Lightspeed Retail, Netsuite by Oracle, and Cin7 Omni.

For small businesses, ShipStation and Zoho Inventory are popular affordable options.

Summary

The best inventory management system is the one that works for your industry, your business, and your team. Many of the tools I selected have features for different stages of the production, sales, and fulfillment process. It’s worth considering which of those stages you want to manage in your inventory software.

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By Simon Litt

Simon Litt is the Editor of The CFO Club, where he shares his passion for all things money-related. Performing research, talking to experts, and calling on his own professional background, he'll be working hard to ensure that The CFO Club is an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to stay informed on the latest financial trends and topics in the world of tech.

Prior to editing this publication, Simon spent years working in, and running his own, investor relations agency, servicing public companies that wanted to reach and connect deeper with their shareholder base. Simon's experience includes constructing comprehensive budgets for IR activities, consulting CEOs & executive teams on best practices for the public markets, and facilitating compliant communications training.