On a typical day, an operations manager reviews stock levels across warehouses, reorders stock, tracks inventory, and coordinates with suppliers.
With so much to do, it is easy to miss things like low stock levels or slow-moving items. This is where inventory apps can come to your rescue.
Inventory apps help streamline inventory processes. They track items, give reminders to place orders, and automate workflows to make the job of inventory managers easier.
That’s why my team and I have taken the time to research the most effective inventory apps. We’ve researched several inventory management tools and compiled a list of the top ten inventory software in the market today.
Let’s get into it.
10 Best Inventory Apps You Should Try in 2024
- What Should You Look for in Inventory Management Apps?
- The 10 Best Inventory Apps to Use in 2024
- 1. ClickUp (Best for streamlining and managing inventory operations from a single platform)
- 2. Katana (Best for managing sales channels)
- 3. Ordoro (Best for eCommerce inventory management)
- 4. Zoho Inventory (Best inventory management software for scaling businesses)
- 5. Upserve (Best inventory management system for restaurants)
- 6. Lightspeed (Best for tracking inventory in real-time across online marketplaces)
- 7. Odoo (Best inventory app for order management)
- 8. Spocket (Best dropshipping software)
- 9. Fishbowl Inventory (Best for QuickBooks users)
- 10. Boxstorm—Now Fishbowl Drive (Best for cloud-based inventory management)
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Should You Look for in Inventory Management Apps?
However, here are a few must-haves that you shouldn’t miss out on when shopping for inventory apps.
- Ease of use: Pick tools that are easy to implement so you can reduce training time and costs
- Real-time updates: Check if the tool auto-syncs inventory changes, giving you real-time inventory tracking with updates on product information, pricing, and availability
- Automated alerts: Choose tools that support custom reorder points and automated stock notifications on low stock levels, reordering, and expiring items
- Mobile responsiveness: Go for a tool that offers a mobile app to track and manage inventory from mobile devices
- Customization options: Check if the tool offers features like custom reports, fields, statuses, views, etc., to ensure efficient inventory management
- Reporting and analytics: Get a tool that analyzes inventory trends and generates customized reports to provide visibility and insights into inventory operations
- Easy search functionality: Make sure it has features to find the inventory tasks or items you need quickly
- Integration capabilities: Pick inventory apps that integrate with solutions like accounting software and popular eCommerce platforms
Also read: A day in the life of an operations manager
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe 10 Best Inventory Apps to Use in 2024
The best inventory app depends on your business needs, industry, and team size.
Let’s discuss the top ten inventory apps to help you master inventory control and help with all your inventory planning needs.
1. ClickUp (Best for streamlining and managing inventory operations from a single platform)
ClickUp is the most convenient inventory management tool I’ve come across. It is an all-in-one solution that helps users track their existing inventory list, order statuses, costs, vendors, and more, simplifying the inventory processes.
ClickUp’s Inventory Management Template gives you complete visibility into stock, revenue, orders, purchase orders, sales data, and other metrics.
It helps organize product information with pricing in inventory folders, add multiple product photos in a database, and analyze inventory trends to make data-driven decisions.
And the best part? ClickUp’s mobile app the perfect way to track and manage inventory levels on the go.
With ClickUp’s Task Management, tracking to-dos and inventory items becomes easy. You can simply track action items, categorize tasks with custom tags, and get real-time inventory updates.
ClickUp Dashboards, on the other hand, are ideal to effectively monitor the current inventory levels of various products or categories.
By utilizing this feature’s capabilities, businesses can gain a comprehensive overview of their inventory health, identify trends, and make better decisions.
That’s not all; ClickUp’s Gantt Charts make inventory operations strategy robust and streamlined.
They help plan, schedule, and coordinate tasks, track order processing and fulfillment, forecast inventory levels, and track supplier lead times.
If you want to generate summaries of inventory performance or specific item details, use ClickUp’s AI personal assistant, ClickUp Brain.
ClickUp best features
- Create task fields with ClickUp Custom Fields to manage order quantity and dates, cost per unit, etc.
- Add ClickUp Custom Task Statuses to inventory tasks such as ‘Out of Stock’, ‘In Stock’, and ‘No Longer Used’ to track current items
- Access seven views in different ClickUp configurations, such as Table, List, Timeline, Order Updates, and Value, to understand your inventory better
- Set up ClickUp Automations to trigger notifications when the stock reaches certain thresholds
- Set start and due dates for inventory tasks to keep them on track
- Find the average, sum, or range of numerical fields created in the List View to track metrics like total cost and total ordered units
- Leverage ClickUp Kanban Boards to track the different stages of your inventory management process with custom columns, such as ‘In Transit,’ ‘To order,’ and ‘Sold’
ClickUp limitations
- With so many features and customization options, new users might experience a learning curve
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
- ClickUp Brain: Add to any paid plan for $7 per user per month
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.7/5 (9,500+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (4,000+ reviews)
2. Katana (Best for managing sales channels)
Katana is a cloud inventory management software. It has an intuitive platform that manages sales channels, physical inventory, purchase orders, and warehouse systems.
Katana easily integrates with platforms like Shopify to identify out-of-stock products and reflect them in Shopify so that the user can take immediate action.
It also improves tracking with add-on features like traceability, stocktake, and a barcode scanner. Katana automatically syncs inventory and accounting data, helping you better understand the cost implications of your inventory management.
Katana best features
- Track expiry dates, batches, and more with end-to-end traceability
- Consolidate and manage online and offline sales into a single dashboard
- Set custom reorder points to ensure timely purchase
Katana limitations
- Limited features and customization options
- Users reported that Katana has no backup feature, which means if you lose inventory data, there’s no way to recover it
Katana pricing
- Starter: $199/month
- Standard: $399/month
- Professional: $899/month
Katana ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (40 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.6/5 (150+ reviews)
3. Ordoro (Best for eCommerce inventory management)
The next on the list is Ordoro’s eCommerce inventory management software, which comes with dropshipping features.
Its inventory management features are great at simplifying stock management. It auto-syncs stock levels, provides automatic low-item alerts, helps you track supplier lead times, manages order routing, and much more.
However, among all the features, Ordoro’s vendor portal stands out.
With this feature, vendors get direct access to their orders, which means you don’t need to communicate tracking updates. This streamlines communication and improves supplier relationships.
Ordoro best features
- Manage multiple suppliers with drop shipping features
- Automate inventory writeback and order tagging for faster operations
- Automate flash shipping and postage reporting
Ordoro limitations
- The free plan has limited features
- Users have reported that customer support takes a long time to respond
Ordoro pricing
- 15-day free trial
- Advanced: $349/month
- Premium: $499/month
Ordoro ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.8/5 (13 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.7/5 (70+ reviews)
4. Zoho Inventory (Best inventory management software for scaling businesses)
Zoho Inventory is an easy-to-use inventory management app that scales with your business.
Like all the other apps, it tracks and manages orders. The highlight is its reporting feature.
It helps you create detailed reports to visually track sales fluctuations, customer retention data, supplier payments, purchase orders, FIFO reports, etc., without any manual effort.
However, Zoho Inventory works best with the other tools in the Zoho suite. If you’re a Zoho Books user, you can easily integrate it with Zoho Inventory to sync all data, invoices, and purchase bills.
Zoho Inventory best features
- Manage inventory at multiple locations and track inter-warehouse transfers
- Use the built-in barcode reader for quick and easy scanning
- Leverage the online SKU generator for consistent item naming
Zoho Inventory limitations
- The pricing plans could be more customizable to fit all business sizes
- The features are more focused on B2C businesses; B2B is slightly complex to handle
Zoho Inventory pricing
- Standard: $39/month per organization
- Professional: $99/month per organization
- Premium: $159/month per organization
- Enterprise: $ 299/month per organization
Zoho Inventory ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (90 reviews)
- Capterra: 4.5/5 (350+ reviews)
5. Upserve (Best inventory management system for restaurants)
Upserve Inventory by Lightspeed is a back-of-house purchasing and inventory app for restaurants. It works with restaurant POS systems to reduce waste, save money, and speed up operations.
Its inventory system has a clear, easy-to-use reporting feature along with an integrated POS. The inventory management software is intuitive so you can set it up easily and find products and features as per your needs.
Upserve also has other features, such as coupon application, online order authentication, and automatic menu exchanges.
It allows users to create payment types to streamline order and payment processing.
Upserve best features
- Update or change unlimited items on the menu from anywhere
- Track inventory and sales fluctuations with reporting and analytics
- Leverage POS integration for profitability reporting
Upserve limitations
- Some users note that once the launch period ends, customer support becomes unresponsive
- Connectivity issues result in inaccurate inventory tracking. A user reported lost sales due to a credit card data transfer from offline to online
Upserve pricing
Custom pricing
Upserve ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.1/5 (80+ reviews)
- Capterra: NA
6. Lightspeed (Best for tracking inventory in real-time across online marketplaces)
Lightspeed simplifies inventory management with its integrated POS that helps manage multiple store inventories. It allows you to track orders, set reorder points to avoid stockouts, and make price changes.
The best part is that the inventory app has an in-built supplier catalog that can be added to the POS system.
You can browse, connect with suppliers, and make purchases in a few clicks. Lightspeed also offers basic reporting features, making it easy to generate inventory, sales, and purchase reports.
Additionally, I can also integrate discounting and customer loyalty accounts easily.
Lightspeed best features
- Order new inventory quickly with built-in purchase orders
- Get an instant view of item quantities with stock lookup
- Auto-sync accounting data with integrated accounting system
Lightspeed limitations
- There is no centralized space for editing stock in multiple inventory locations. Users have to switch between stores to control inventory
- Unresponsive customer support
Lightspeed pricing
Custom pricing
Lightspeed ratings and reviews
- G2: 4/5 (280+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.1/5 (900+ reviews)
7. Odoo (Best inventory app for order management)
Next up is Odoo, an inventory app and order management software.
It accelerates operations and provides real-time visibility into stock levels while automating stock replenishments and vendor follow-ups. With Odoo, you can also set reminders to reduce risks.
This inventory management app helps you track stock levels in real time and track product quantities, locations, and movements.
Odoo facilitates reporting, integration, and order fulfillment processes. Plus, it offers consultant services for supply chain management.
Odoo best features
- Automate the counting inventory process and product routing to storage locations based on real-time capacity
- Track sealed packages with barcode scanning
- Send products automatically to storage locations based on real-time capacity
Odoo limitations
- Limited reports and customization options
Odoo pricing
Custom pricing
Odoo ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.5/5 (50+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.2/5 (800+ reviews)
8. Spocket (Best dropshipping software)
Spocket is a dropshipping software that allows you to choose products from several dropshipping suppliers, process orders, prepare shipping labels, and sell them.
Spocket offers an interesting feature—testing free samples. It lets you order samples from specific suppliers to see how good the product is.
Additionally, it has a long list of US and European dropshipping suppliers to choose from.
Spocket best features
- Add customer reviews to products
- Integrate with eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, etc.
- Filter products that meet specific criteria
Spocket limitations
- Users report that the charges are high compared to features and services
- Most features are available on premium plans
Spocket pricing
- Starter: $39.99/month
- Pro: $59.99/month
- Empire: $99.99/month
- Unicorn: $299.99/month
Spocket ratings and reviews
- G2: 4.4/5 (60+ reviews)
- Capterra: 3.1/5 (Not enough reviews)
9. Fishbowl Inventory (Best for QuickBooks users)
Fishbowl Inventory is a great inventory management app for QuickBooks users.
It automates syncing with QuickBooks as inventory moves in and out of warehouses. Plus, you get insights into actual landing costs, cash flow impacts, and COGS.
With Fishbowl, you can manage your manufacturing and warehousing operations from a single platform. It offers custom workflows and inventory reports alongside scanning and barcoding features across locations.
Fishbowl Inventory best features
- Build custom workflows and track inflow inventory for quality control
- Track all operations, from purchase to client delivery, with end-to-end traceability
Fishbowl Inventory limitations
- The UI is not intuitive. The tool’s layout has a steep learning curve
- Records inaccurate inventory numbers if there are network issues
Fishbowl Inventory pricing
Custom pricing
Fishbowl Inventory ratings and reviews
- G2: 4/5 (240+ reviews)
- Capterra: 4.2/5 (900+ reviews)
Bonus: You can also check out other popular tools like Square Inventory and the Inflow Inventory app.
10. Boxstorm—Now Fishbowl Drive (Best for cloud-based inventory management)
Boxstorm’s cloud inventory management software centralizes core business operations.
You can access the tool from any mobile device using a web browser without downloading it. It helps manage inventory in real time across multiple warehouses.
Boxstorm helps set up quick automation for different processes. I receive timely alerts for actions like reordering, which has made the inventory management process more efficient.
Boxstrom best features
- Quick access to inventory data with the mobile app
- Increase efficiency with pickup, packing, and shipping inventory automations
- Manage multiple currencies in a single platform
Boxstrom limitations
- There is no functionality to track already sold products in this inventory system
- Basic inventory reports; limited customization
Boxstrom pricing
- Basic: $199/month
- Scaling: $476/month
Boxstrom ratings and reviews
- G2: Not enough reviews
- Capterra: 5/5 (Not enough reviews)
Summarize this article for me pleaseManage Your Inventory Better with ClickUp
All the inventory apps listed above can streamline your inventory management processes.
However, you need to choose one that offers all the features you’re looking for within your budget. The app should also fit your specific business and industry requirements. To meet these needs, give ClickUp a shot.
ClickUp lets you track inventory, manage sales, and control your inventory operations from a single platform. It is ideal for small businesses, mid-market companies, and large enterprises.
Try ClickUp for free today!
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