Software comparison
Best Inventory Management Software for Small Business
The right tool depends more on what you sell than how much. A wholesaler quoting B2B orders, a retailer with a physical counter, and a maker tracking raw materials all need genuinely different feature sets, not just different price tiers of the same thing.
Independent research · Verify current pricing with each provider
Pricing reality
Most vendors here price per warehouse, per order volume, or per user - three different models that aren't directly comparable without knowing your own volume. Confirm current tiers directly.
At a glance
Which one fits?
Best for: Online sellers on a budget, especially multi-channel (Shopify + Amazon + retail)
Free: Free tier with a real order cap, not just a trial.
Best for: Small teams who want dead-simple visual, photo-based tracking
Free: Free tier available for a small item count.
Best for: Brick-and-mortar shops that want POS and inventory in one system
Free: Free tier available; paid plans layer on more inventory depth.
Best for: Wholesale and B2B sellers who need a customer-facing ordering showroom
Free: No free tier.
Detailed review
What to know before you choose.
Zoho Inventory
Best for Online sellers on a budget, especially multi-channel (Shopify + Amazon + retail)
Free plan and limits
Free tier with a real order cap, not just a trial.
The Trade-off
Genuinely capable multi-channel sync at a price point nothing else here matches, and it connects cleanly if you're already using Zoho Books or Zoho CRM. The interface has a steeper learning curve than Sortly's simpler visual approach.
Sortly
Best for Small teams who want dead-simple visual, photo-based tracking
Free plan and limits
Free tier available for a small item count.
The Trade-off
The photo-based, QR-label approach is the easiest of these four to onboard a non-technical team onto - genuinely faster to start using than a spreadsheet. It's asset/item tracking more than full inventory operations - don't expect purchase order automation or multi-channel sales sync.
Square for Retail
Best for Brick-and-mortar shops that want POS and inventory in one system
Free plan and limits
Free tier available; paid plans layer on more inventory depth.
The Trade-off
If you're already using Square to take payments, getting inventory in the same system avoids syncing two separate tools - a real practical win. Less suited to a business that doesn't have a physical point of sale at all.
inFlow Inventory
Best for Wholesale and B2B sellers who need a customer-facing ordering showroom
Free plan and limits
No free tier.
The Trade-off
The built-in B2B showroom - letting wholesale customers browse and place orders themselves - is a genuine differentiator few competitors offer. Flat pricing (not per-user) is friendlier for a small team than seat-based competitors, but it's overkill if you're not doing wholesale.
Test your real stock movement
Inventory software is easiest to judge with one real product rather than a feature checklist. Add an item, receive stock, sell or issue one unit, adjust the quantity, and look for the audit trail or low-stock signal your business needs.
- Item data: Record the variants, units and identifiers you actually use.
- Movement: Test receiving, selling and correcting stock.
- Locations: If you have more than one location, verify transfers before buying.
- Reporting: Check whether the stock view answers your daily question without exporting to a spreadsheet.
StackPick verdict
The bottom line.
Selling across multiple online channels on a budget? Zoho Inventory. Just need simple visual tracking for a small team? Sortly. Already running Square for payments? Add Square for Retail rather than a second system. Doing wholesale/B2B orders? inFlow's showroom feature is worth the price on its own.
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