Introduction
Managing inventory is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of running a successful small business. An effective inventory system allows business owners to track stock levels in real-time, place timely reorder orders, and gather valuable insights. This ensures optimal stock availability and profitability. With many free and paid inventory management software available today, choosing the right one for your specific needs can be challenging. This guide examines 15 of the best free inventory management solutions based on key criteria to help you make an informed choice.
Methods of Evaluation
To evaluate and rank the solutions, key conventional criteria like features, pricing, ease of use and support are considered. Additionally, metrics like number of backlinks, traffic and keyword search trends on Google and other search engines have been leveraged to gauge popularity and demand over time. This provides a more well-rounded perspective on ranking the software realistically based on both traditional and modern evaluation methods.
1. Shopify Inventory
Shopify Inventory is the native inventory management solution from Shopify, one of the leading ecommerce platforms. It provides merchants with a simple yet powerful way to track products, manage stock levels, generate purchase orders, and more all from within the Shopify admin.
Pros: The main advantages of Shopify Inventory include its tight integration with the Shopify platform, simple yet effective stock tracking and replenishment workflows, multi-location inventory support, and ability to manage inventory from the Shopify dashboard and POS without needing additional plugins or apps.
Cons: As an integrated solution from Shopify, Shopify Inventory may not be as fully-featured as specialized inventory management software. Advanced features like lot/serial tracking, advanced reporting, or sophisticated replenishment algorithms are not available.
Pricing: Shopify Inventory is included with all Shopify plans starting at $29/month. There are no additional fees to use the core inventory management features.
Some key features of Shopify Inventory include tracking products across multiple locations, generating purchase orders when stock levels hit a threshold, seamless integration with Shopify POS for point-of-sale inventory adjustments, and real-time syncing of inventory data across all sales channels.
2. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an open-source ecommerce platform built on WordPress. It allows merchants to create online stores for selling physical and digital goods. With over 5 million active installs, WooCommerce is the leading ecommerce platform used by both large and small businesses. Key features include free inventory management, multichannel sales, and a robust extension library for building advanced storefronts.
Pros: Some key advantages of using WooCommerce include:
– It is free to use for basic online store needs
– Built on WordPress so it has a robust developer community
– Offers free inventory tracking and management out of the box
– Supports sales on websites as well as marketplaces like Amazon and eBay
– Shop builder makes it easy to customize store layouts and designs without coding
Cons: The main disadvantage of WooCommerce is that advanced features require installing paid extensions. This adds to the total cost of ownership compared to other ecommerce platforms with more features included out of the box.
Pricing: WooCommerce has a freemium pricing model. The basic platform is free and open source. However, many advanced features require installing premium extensions that have monthly/annual subscription fees starting from $49/month.
Some key stats about WooCommerce include:
– Over 5 million active installs worldwide
– Supports sales in over 200 countries globally
– Integrates with 50+ payment gateways
– Over 200,000 extensions available to customize stores
3. Odoo
Odoo is an open source ERP and CRM software that offers a comprehensive free inventory management module. Odoo can be used in the cloud or self-hosted on-premise. It provides multi-user inventory tracking and management features along with integration capabilities for other modules like purchasing, accounting, eCommerce, and more.
Pros: Key advantages of Odoo’s inventory management include: Open source and customizable nature of the software, Extensive multi-user inventory tracking features, Integration with Odoo’s other modules like purchasing and manufacturing, Ability to manage multiple warehouses and locations in one system, Real-time stock updates across the enterprise.
Cons: A potential disadvantage is that as open source software, Odoo requires in-house technical expertise or hiring an implementation partner for customizations or advanced configurations beyond basic usage.
Pricing: Odoo has a freemium model where the core application and basic usage is free to use indefinitely. For advanced features, support, hosting and customizations, paid subscription plans start at $40/user/month.
Some key stats and facts about Odoo’s inventory management module include: It allows businesses to track hundreds of thousands of inventory items and manage stock levels across multiple warehouses and locations. Real-time inventory updates are also available to track stock levels in real-time as items are purchased or sold. The manufacturing module also provides materials requirement planning (MRP) to help calculate replenishment requirements.
4. 123RF
123RF offers an online marketplace of royalty-free stock images, vectors, illustrations and video clips that are available for editors and designers to license for their creative projects. Founded in 2001, 123RF today has a vast collection of over 100 million photos, graphics, and videos that are paid and free to use.
Pros: Some key advantages of using 123RF include:
– Affordable pricing for commercial and editorial use of both paid and free images
– Wide range of high resolution stock content across multiple categories and genres
– Large selection of stock photos, illustrations, graphics and video clips in one place
– Option to search for free stock images too alongside paid commercial content
Cons: The main disadvantage is that while some images are available for free download, high quality professional images typically require a paid subscription or individual download license.
Pricing: 123RF offers both free and paid stock content. Free images are lower resolution but can be used for personal and low-budget projects. For commercial use, pricing starts from $1.99 for single image downloads and subscription plans beginning at $29/month for smaller teams and businesses.
Some key stats about 123RF include:
– Over 100 million stock photos, vectors, videos and illustrations
– New images added daily by its global community of photographers and illustrators
– Available image categories include people, nature, food, lifestyle and more
– Advanced search and filtering tools to find images easily
5. Bamboo Inventory
Bamboo Inventory is a free inventory management software created by BambooHR. BambooHR is an HR software company based in Lehi, Utah that provides a comprehensive cloud-based HR and payroll solution. Some key facts about Bamboo Inventory include that it has over 10,000 customers worldwide and offers both free and paid plans.
Pros: Some key advantages of Bamboo Inventory include its intuitive and easy to use dashboard, ability to track purchase orders and sales orders, mobile optimization for inventory management on the go, robust user and permission settings to control access, and its generous free plan that includes basic but useful features.
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that the free plan has limited features compared to the paid plans. For more advanced reporting, custom fields, integrations, and support, businesses may need to upgrade to a paid subscription.
Pricing: Bamboo Inventory offers a generous free plan for basic inventory needs. Paid plans start at $15/user/month for additional features and support. Upgrades provide more visibility into inventory, custom fields, AWS/Azure support, and priority support.
Bamboo Inventory allows for unlimited items, locations, and users on the free plan. It also includes features like purchase orders, sales orders, mobile optimization, and basic reporting. The free version is ideal for small businesses with simple inventory needs.
6. Lucidchart
Lucidchart is a leading online diagramming tool that provides visual inventory workflow mapping and real-time collaboration capabilities. With Lucidchart, users can create flowcharts, mockups, and other visuals to represent their inventory processes and systems.
Pros: Some key advantages of Lucidchart include:
– Visual inventory workflow mapping allows creating diagrams to represent physical and digital inventory flows
– Collaborative editing allows multi-user and real-time collaboration on diagrams
– Connects to services like Dropbox and Google Drive for easy file sharing
– Basic templates and features are free to use with no watermarks or ads
Cons: A potential disadvantage is that the free plan has limited storage and collaboration capabilities. For larger inventory management workflows, a paid enterprise plan may be required.
Pricing: Lucidchart offers both free basic accounts as well as premium paid enterprise plans starting at $5/user per month for additional storage, features, and support. Team and business plans are also available.
Some key stats about Lucidchart include:
– Used by over 30 million users worldwide
– Integrates with Dropbox, Google Drive and other services for easy file sharing and collaboration
– Offers both free basic accounts as well as premium paid enterprise plans
7. Lightspeed POS
Lightspeed POS is a cloud-based POS and inventory management solution for retailers, restaurants, and golf courses. It offers an all-in-one platform to manage sales, inventory, customers, and reporting across physical and online stores.
Pros: Main advantages of Lightspeed POS include being an all-in-one solution with integrated POS, inventory, CRM, and loyalty features. It also offers omnichannel order management, robust reporting and analytics, and support for multiple locations.
Cons: Potential disadvantages could include upfront costs for hardware and monthly subscription fees. Advanced features may not be needed for very small businesses.
Pricing: Lightspeed POS pricing starts at $49 per month for a basic POS plan and goes up to $199 per month for an omni-channel retail plan. Additional fees apply for hardware, customized integrations, professional services, and premium support.
Some key stats about Lightspeed POS include: used by over 65,000 locations worldwide, offers support in 11 languages, integrations with over 200 partners, and processes over $30 billion in annual payments.
8. Drip
Drip is a marketing automation platform that helps brands understand their customers and drive revenue through email, popups, and automation. As a customer-centric platform, Drip provides features to segment audiences, customize content for different customer types, and automate targeted marketing based on user behavior.
Pros: Some key advantages of Drip include:
– Basic version available for free with up to 100 contacts
– Intuitive and visually pleasing drag-and-drop interface
– Robust purchase order and inventory management system
– Integrations with common ecommerce, email, and CRM platforms
– Flexible item and customer attributes for customizing campaigns
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that more advanced features require paid upgrades, so the free basic plan has limited functionality.
Pricing: Drip offers three paid tiers after the free basic plan:
– Standard: $49/month for up to 1,000 contacts
– Professional: $99/month for up to 5,000 contacts
– Enterprise: Custom pricing for enterprise-level use
Some key stats about Drip include:
– Used by over 50,000 brands globally
– Average customer sees a 529% increase in website traffic and 40% increase in conversion rates
– Integrates with over 150 apps including Shopify, Mailchimp, and ActiveCampaign
9. Vend
Vend, now known as Lightspeed after being acquired in 2021, is a free inventory management and point of sale software specifically designed for inventory-based retailers. It offers a full-featured all-in-one solution to help manage products, customers, sales and analytics across physical stores, ecommerce platforms and more.
Pros: Some key advantages of Vend/Lightspeed include:
– All-in-one POS and inventory solution to streamline operations
– Robust reporting and analytics to glean insights from sales data
– Customizable item attributes to track details like size, color, supplier etc
– Point of sale features to quickly ring up sales and process payments
Cons: A potential disadvantage is that as a fully-featured all-in-one solution, it may have more features than needed for some smaller retailers on a tighter budget.
Pricing: Vend/Lightspeed offers 3 pricing tiers – Basic, Plus and Pro. The Basic plan starts free for up to 2 staff members. Paid plans start at $79/month for the Plus plan.
Some key stats and facts about Vend/Lightspeed include:
– Used by over 50,000 retailers around the world
– Fully customizable item attributes for accurate tracking and filtering
– Integrates with over 100 platforms including Shopify, WooCommerce, Square, QuickBooks and more
10. ERPNext
ERPNext is a free and open source ERP software developed by Frappe Technologies. It is one of the most popular open source ERPs used globally by over 10,000 companies across various industries like manufacturing, distribution, services and more. ERPNext offers a full-fledged ERP solution with features for accounting, inventory, CRM, HR and project management.
Pros: Key advantages of ERPNext include:
– It is open source and free to use with no licensing costs
– Offers solid accounting and ERP features out of the box
– Highly customizable workflows and forms
– Integrates with various payment gateways and apps
– Robust item and stock management with batch and serial tracking
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that as an open source project, it may not have the same resources as paid proprietary ERPs for round-the-clock support
Pricing: ERPNext has a freemium business model. The open source version is free to download and use. It also offers paid Cloud ERP plans starting from $30 per user per month which includes priority support.
Some key stats about ERPNext include:
– Used by over 10,000 companies globally
– Translated into over 30 languages
– Available on cloud or can be self-hosted
– Active developer community with regular updates
11. Streak Inventory
Streak Inventory is a free inventory management software that integrates directly with Gmail. Streak aims to provide a simple yet powerful tool to help businesses manage their inventory directly within their email client. By managing inventory, purchase orders, receiving, sales orders, and more all in one place within Gmail, Streak looks to eliminate the need for multiple separate systems.
Pros: Some key advantages of Streak Inventory include:
– Simple yet powerful tool to manage core inventory tasks without a learning curve
– Ability to create and manage purchase orders as well as track goods receiving
-Tracks sales orders and links them to inventory adjustments
-Features user permissions and task delegation capabilities
-Offers a beautiful, intuitive dashboard interface
Cons: As a free plan, data export capabilities are limited which could be an issue for some businesses.
Pricing: Streak Inventory offers a free Basic plan as well as Standard and Premium paid plans starting at $10/user per month. The free Basic plan includes inventory for up to 5 warehouses and 5 active users.
Some key stats about Streak Inventory include:
– Used by over 50,000 businesses worldwide
– Integrates securely with Gmail and Google Workspace accounts
– Offers both web and mobile apps to access inventory from anywhere
12. Keepa
Keepa is a popular free inventory management software for Amazon sellers. Keepa provides Amazon price tracking, price drop alerts, product research tools and inventory management capabilities to help Amazon sellers track inventory levels, analyze sales performance and optimize pricing. Keepa has tools to help sellers of all sizes whether just starting out or running an extensive Amazon business.
Pros: Some of the key advantages of Keepa include: – Comprehensive Amazon price tracking and history charts – Set up price drop and competitor price alerts – Ongoing product and market research tools – Basic inventory level monitoring and reorder alerts – Free basic version with additional paid subscription tiers for more features
Cons: The main disadvantage is that Keepa only focuses specifically on Amazon products and seller activities without integrations for other sales channels. The free version also has limited functionality compared to the premium paid tiers.
Pricing: Keepa offers a free basic version for individual users. Paid premium plans start at $49/month and provide additional user accounts, enhanced reports and alerts, customized dashboards and support.
Some key stats about Keepa include: – Over 1 million users – Tracks pricing data on over 100 million Amazon products – Supported in the US, UK, DE, FR and CA Amazon marketplaces – Integrates with major spreadsheet and accounting software like Excel and QuickBooks
13. Deskera Inventory
Deskera Inventory is an inventory management software created by Deskera, a leader in providing comprehensive business management solutions. Deskera Inventory allows businesses to manage their inventory across locations with ease.
Pros: Some key advantages of Deskera Inventory include:
– Purchase order and receiving
– Locate and replenish inventory
– Track inventory across locations
– Customizable reports and alerts
– Multi-location inventory visibility
Cons: As a free version, paid support may not be available. Premium paid plans provide priority support.
Pricing: Deskera Inventory offers a free Basic plan for up to 3 users. Paid Professional and Enterprise plans start at $49/user/month billed annually with add-ons like warehouse management and mobile apps.
Some key stats and features of Deskera Inventory include:
– Track inventory levels for over 250,000 SKUs
– Manage inventory across unlimited locations
– Real-time inventory visibility across all locations
– Set automatic replenishment levels to avoid stock-outs
14. TradeGecko
TradeGecko is a free inventory management software that helps product businesses manage products, orders, customers, shipping and inventory across multiple sales channels. Founded in 2015 and based in Singapore, TradeGecko serves over 10,000 customers worldwide including large brands and growing businesses.
Pros: Some key advantages of using TradeGecko include:
– Suitable for product-based businesses focusing on multi-channel selling
– Purchase order and sales order management to track orders from different channels
– Warehouse and bin location management with barcode scanning support
– Insights into sales, inventory and purchases through customizable reports
Cons: The free version has limited functionality with restrictions on the number of products, users and sales channels supported. For larger inventory and sales volumes, one may need to upgrade to a paid plan.
Pricing: TradeGecko offers 3 pricing plans:
– Free plan supports up to 10 products/SKUs and 3 users
– Basic plan starts at $49/month billed annually supporting unlimited products and 5 users
– Advanced plan starts at $99/month billed annually with additional features like purchase order approvals, customizable roles and mobile inventory app.
Some key stats about TradeGecko include:
– Serves over 10,000 customers globally
– Integrations with over 50 sales channels including Amazon, Shopify, eBay, Lazada and more
– Free version supports up to 10 products/SKUs and up to 3 users
– Pricing starts from $49/month for the Basic plan
15. Unleashed Software
Unleashed Software is inventory management software designed for small and medium sized businesses. Their flagship product allows businesses to track inventory, sales, purchases and vendors all in one platform. With both a web and mobile app, Unleashed Software aims to give businesses complete visibility and control over their inventory wherever they are.
Pros: Some of the key advantages of Unleashed Software include:
– Web and mobile inventory apps for managing inventory on the go
– Purchase orders and receiving to streamline the purchasing process
– Real-time dashboards and reports to monitor inventory levels and track sales
– Multi-location inventory tracking for businesses with multiple warehouses or retail locations
– Advanced user permissions to customize user roles and access
Cons: One potential disadvantage is that the pricing may be out of reach for very small businesses on a tight budget.
Pricing: Unleashed Software offers three pricing tiers:
– Basic Plan: $39/month billed annually – suitable for up to 3 users
– Pro Plan: $79/month billed annually – suitable for up to 10 users
– Custom Enterprise Plan: Contact sales for a custom quote – suitable for larger businesses
Some key stats about Unleashed Software include:
– Used by over 5,000 businesses worldwide
– Integrations with over 50 shopping carts and accounting software like QuickBooks
– Mobile apps available for both iOS and Android
– 24/7 customer support
Conclusion
Whether you need basic tracking or advanced features like purchase orders, bin management and multi-location sync, there is an option for every budget on this list. Do your research, read reviews, test top contenders and choose the inventory software that best complements your unique business needs and workflow. Proper inventory management is crucial for business success – the right tool will help streamline processes and provide actionable insights for better decision making.