Inventory management platforms vary in cost. While some providers offer free versions, others cost hundreds or thousands of dollars per month. But remember, free has its limitations. Additionally, some software offer free trials to show you how they work, so you can upgrade to their premium versions when you find they suit your business needs.
They typically have different pricing tiers with different features and capabilities, including customization options, number of users or warehouses, and store locations you’ll get. Therefore, expect higher-priced plans to support high volumes or offer advanced automation, analytics, or integration.
Other software requires a custom subscription. You can choose the features in your package so you only pay for what your business needs. Since they are usually cloud-based, you need to pay monthly or annually to access inventory management features. Some providers also offer annual payment discounts and lower subscription fees for the first year.
Here’s how much the inventory management software we reviewed costs:
- Xin 7: Starting at $349 per month
- Odoro: Free; $59 to $149 per month
- Inflow: $89 to $439 per month when billed annually
- Samurai sword: $99 to $799 per month when billed annually
- Zoho Inventory: Free; $29 to $249 per month when billed annually
- Sort by: Free; $29 to $59 per month when billed annually
- Monday.com: Free; $8 to $16 per user per month when billed annually
monday.com also offers per-quote plans for businesses. For ShipBob Merchant Plus, Fishbowl Inventory and Extensiv you will need to contact them to get a quote. Note, however, that Extensiv starts at $1,000 per month and ShipBob Merchant Plus requires a minimum of 3,500 orders per month.
Free vs Paid Inventory Management Systems
You can choose between free and paid inventory management systems. But at best, you’ll only find basic functionality on free software. For example, the free version of Zoho Inventory limits orders, shipping labels, and AfterShip tracking to 50, while its lowest paid version allows up to 1,500 per month. It also only offers two user licenses and does not support multi-warehouse management.
The free version of Ordoro is only for shipping – it allows unlimited shipping, but lacks advanced analytics and API access. It also doesn’t integrate with QuickBooks Online. Sortly provides a user license and a custom field, and only allows 100 entries. After enabling up to 2,000 entries, you won’t get volume-based alerts, nor the unlimited QR code label generation and in-app barcode scanner that its lowest-priced plan offers.
While a free system may be sufficient for smaller businesses with smaller inventory needs, businesses with complex inventory needs are better off with a paid inventory management system.
