Best Inventory Management Software of 2023

Zoho Inventory, launched in late 2015, is the 28th release from the software company. The platform is one of the most inclusive options in the space, offering ample centralized functionality from the Free membership plan onward.


Zoho Inventory greets new users with an intuitive tutorial, so you get the most out of your product experience. You’re also just a click away from chat support and referral. 

Zoho Inventory is a part of the expansive Zoho ecosystem, empowering hundreds of small businesses and enterprise brands to manage their operations in a more centralized way.

With Zoho Inventory, I tested the tool’s advanced automated workflows, SKU generation tools and management support, and comprehensive vendor relations tools such as purchase order management, billing support, and price list functionality. You can start with the platform’s Free plan, and scale up as your business grows.

This is just a fraction of the reports currently available in the Zoho Inventory platform. 

While there isn’t 24/7 support available, it has automated support chatbots, extensive documentation, and email ticket-based assistance for less urgent matters. Phone support is available on weekdays during regular business hours.

The strongest points I experienced with Zoho Inventory were its inclusivity, competitively inexpensive membership tiers, and multilevel item management functionality for accurate reporting and seamless management.

Who is Zoho Inventory best for?

I recommend Zoho Inventory for e-commerce businesses at any stage of development. The tool truly can add value in your current stage, as you can scale up or down easily, minimizing your learning curve. You can take advantage of competitive tools such as custom reports, autoscan support for automatic data capture and transaction registration, and the library of over 500 integrations to automate business growth.

You can try integrations from the library with one-click installation, all of which can be searched by type for more effective evaluation. 

Recent upgrades to Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory releases updates seasonally, at least a few times per quarter. Most recently, the platform introduced features such as the Ultimate plan (giving you more granular access to Zoho Analytics and insights), and the ability to create shipping zones in the Google Merchant Center. This is incredibly helpful for shipping to international customers in countries without a “state” designation or zip code.

You can stay up-to-date on the latest updates in the “What’s New” area of the blog.

Zoho pricing

Pricing is competitive compared to other options in the space, especially with its inclusive packages and extensive opportunities to integrate both in and outside of its ecosystem. Business owners can begin with the site’s Free plan, giving you access to core functionality and support through 50 orders per month. After that, you’ll be prompted to upgrade to any of the advanced plans, which range from $59 to $329 per month, respectively.

inFlow, a top choice in supply chain management software options, has supported brands for nearly two decades. Its main competitive advantage remains its commitment to centralized, easy-to-use management workflows.


The purchase order dashboard offers an at-a-glance summary that gives you all of the critical details you need without overwhelming the page. 

inFlow has been a top choice of inventory management software options since it launched in 2007, offering businesses a more centralized means of operational management.

In the native inFlow interface, I was able to seamlessly manage purchasing needs, inventory flow, and sales; all courtesy of the included templated workflows and assets. It was incredibly easy to access any area of the tool courtesy of the intuitive dashboard, organized by block categories for easy navigation. While the median membership price for this tool was higher than other options on this list, I believe it is worth it for the depth of functionality you gain with each use.

You can choose from an extensive list of reports in your dashboard, getting real-time data to help you refine your strategy more effectively. 

inFlow offers some of the most variable customer support on the market, offering the option for live chat, callbacks, and extensive tutorials and knowledge base articles through the site’s support page. I was surprised to see such limited hours (i.e. some days had 11:00 am to 1:30 pm PST availability for chat and callback).

inFlow’s strongest selling points are its centralized, easy-to-navigate infrastructure, advanced and varied reporting methods, and the diversity the platform offered for product upload, designation, and management.

Who is inFlow best for?

Given the higher overall price point, I believe inFlow is best for midsize e-commerce brands and established business enterprises. While businesses at every stage of development could benefit from the tool, the justification for price and extensive reporting options could give larger businesses the versatility and agility to refine their strategies.

Adding a product manually was extremely simple. I customized nearly every element of the product I uploaded, including custom fields, remarks, cost, quantity, and appearance. 

Recent upgrades to inFlow 

inFlow offers monthly updates, keeping you up-to-date with the most cutting-edge functionality updates. You can filter by update type via the inFlow update page, or scroll the historical timeline. Most notably in November of 2022, we saw bug fixes, tax registration number updates on subscription invoices for write-off purposes, and the addition of reCaptcha to the inFlow site.

inFlow pricing

Pricing is less competitive than other options, starting at a tiered cost of $79 per month, billed annually. However, for the inclusive dashboard access, centralized structures, and two hours of concierge setup assistance you get, I believe it is worth the price. As you scale, you can unlock additional benefits, such as user access rights, purchase order approvals, sales rep support, and more.

DEAR Systems has completely revolutionized its platform since the launch in 2012 when it was an inventory management solution for larger-scale brands and enterprises. Today, it’s been compared to the likes of ORACLE-Netsuite, serving as a fully-operational cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that extends to every area of business.


The DEAR dashboard displays everything you need to operate in the most simplified, agile way possible, covering dashboards for key performance indicators (KPIs), billing, purchase orders (POs), knowledge base support, sales, and purchase records – to name a few.

DEAR Systems has been compared to industry titans like ORACLE-Netsuite and Hubspot with good reason. It’s advanced, robust, and is redefining thousands of e-commerce businesses with its streamlined interface and comprehensive structure.

I found DEAR slightly difficult to navigate, but definitely worth the effort. You can fully manage and automate your e-commerce businesses with tools such as the production scheduling support wizard, e-commerce-specific automation and integration opportunities, and PO management dashboards. Also, the extensive native report library features over 50 ways to see insights and data points in your business.

You can view and use over 50 reports with the DEAR Systems reporting tool. 

DEAR Systems’ customer support channels were easy to use and largely independently structured, as they featured an in-depth knowledge base, discussion boards, and support ticket functionality. For more urgent matters, you can reach out via chat, powered by Facebook Messenger. This will require prior authentication, so be prepared to sign in before speaking with a representative.

DEAR Systems’ strongest selling points are its comprehensive design and structure, in-depth inventory management and support, and unlimited location, channel, and POS management extension included in its membership tiers.

Who is DEAR Systems best for?

I found that DEAR Systems is the best for large enterprise brands looking to centralize their operations through a single ERP solution. Smaller brands would have a hefty learning curve for minimal return, as the tool goes 3 inches wide (but a mile deep) on many of its features.

DEAR offers some of the most extensive personalization options per product add that I’ve seen on any platform. I was pleased to see how granular you can take it – truly personalizing your customer and brand experience. 

Recent upgrades to DEAR Systems 

DEAR Systems releases updates multiple times per month, all of which are trackable via the Release Notes area of the website. Most recently, it updated the manufacturing resource planning (MRP) scheduler to allow for manual start dates and allocate space for a quantity count column. This helps you see relevant data with incoming production orders and sales.

DEAR Systems pricing

I was truly shocked to see such extensive benefits being given for under $1,000 per month. You won’t often find that level of agility and inclusivity in support options within a single ERP-style tool for e-commerce inventory management. I definitely recommend this platform if you’re rapidly expanding and are managing multiple sales channels.

Katana is one of the newest additions to the inventory management software landscape; it recently raised $34 million dollars to expand its flagship launch. Its model is built on centralization and transparency, allowing business owners to get a bird’s eye view and remain in control of every element of their business.


The Katana dashboard shows the status of each order and deadline once you log in, color-coding by record and stage for easy identification. 

Although Katana is one of the newest software options to enter the inventory management arena, I see that as an advantage – it had the time to see what works, what doesn’t, and what customers really want. Plus, it seems like the company has done its homework. The interface was incredibly easy and robust.

Katana offers a flexible framework that’s easily accessible and button-driven. I experienced little-to-no learning curve onboarding with the tool. When you sign on, you’ll get the extensive “make” reports showing the stage of each product and order element, purchasing and outsourcing tracking tables, and light CRM functionality for both clients and suppliers.

You can save costs on accessory tools with Katana’s native CRM – allowing you to connect with customers in just a few clicks. 

I was happy to see that Katana offers 24/7 customer support via phone and live chat, featuring team members from Canada, Europe, and New Zealand to cover all time zones. It also offers in-platform tutorial wizards and an extensive knowledge base and documentation center for self-serve support.

Katana’s strongest selling points include its visibility and traceability tools, robust customer support, and e-commerce specific features such as shipment and outsourcing tracking, stage reports, and true time stock tracking and updates.

Who is Katana best for? 

I believe Katana could provide value to businesses at every stage of development. But it may be the most beneficial to rapidly scaling midsize businesses transitioning to becoming full-scale enterprises. The depth and reach of the tool offer everything needed to grow and refine your business, all supported by a fantastic customer service team and setup resources to help maximize your total investment.

Katana offered excellent insights that showed the KPIs such as profit margin, revenue, and COGS – or cost of goods sold.

Recent upgrades to Katana 

Katana offers frequent updates to its platform, all centered around expansion and user experience. You can view a full list of the most recent changes in the Product Updates tab of the blog.

Most recently, we’ve seen a partnership with Make for more diverse and extensive ranges of automation and integration opportunities, as well as a collaboration with BigCommerce for order management operations you can count on while growing and scaling your business.

Katana pricing

I found Katana to be competitively priced, given its overall quality and depth. The base Essential plan starts at $99 per month, allowing you to ship up to 500 sales before prompting you to upgrade. This comes with three warehouse connection opportunities, a full-access user license, and the ability to customize your plan with add-ons (such as additional user logins.) You also get native e-commerce integrations and live chat and email support.

Shopventory is unique: it was made by business owners, for business owners. It’s designed to offer automatic and seamless management of your brand’s manual tasks while integrating with your choice of POS and social channels for the highest overall revenue opportunity. It currently serves over 10,000 merchants around the world and is continuing to disrupt the industry.


This will be your first introduction to the Shopventory space. I was pleasantly surprised at how organized and compartmentalized it was, giving me direct access to a product summary, low inventory items, and my custom list of alerts (which weren’t set up yet.) 

I was fascinated by Shopventory. It’s not every day you find an e-commerce tool created by e-commerce business owners. Shopventory has grown immensely since its launch a decade ago and continues to support thousands of small business owners daily.

Shopventory supports the features that all e-commerce brands are looking for. When you sign on, you’ll get the unlimited SKU feature, kit and bundle functionality for more advanced product designation, and barcode scan transaction support – offered at the Professional membership tier or higher.

The native PO creation tool helps you to easily manage and track your outstanding orders. Those migrating from a third-party tool can enjoy easy bulk upload capabilities in this section.

The platform offers convenient customer support options, such as a text line with 13 hours of live support per day. You can also opt for live chat, callback request, or email support – or simply review the extensive support articles and user documentation for additional help.

Shopventory’s strongest selling points are its robust customer support (especially compared to other platforms in the space), extensive vendor management and analysis options, and native invoicing tool that’s Stripe-compatible. I haven’t come across many platforms that offer this level of vendor analysis and management.

Who is Shopventory best for?

I recommend Shopventory to small- and midsize businesses (SMBs) looking to rapidly grow and scale. It’s easy to onboard, get launched, and explore the depth of the tool’s functionality. I believe the time you spend will be cost-efficient and beneficial to you since the tool is so easy to navigate and features little to no learning curve.

The native invoicing tool lets you see your outstanding billing in dashboard form, as well as the options to create price lists and custom payment setups. 

Recent upgrades to Shopventory 

Shopventory hasn’t released a public-facing change report. However, I didn’t encounter a single bug as I tested the functionality of each area. And I found the interface to be impeccably up to date with what I’d expect to see from an industry titan, like HubSpot or Zoho Inventory.

Shopventory pricing

Pricing was so inclusive for the value you can get – starting at just $79 per month, billed annually for the base Standard plan. I haven’t encountered a list of perks per plan as extensive as Shopventory’s, intentionally designed to meet the needs of growing midsize business owners. For the price of the base plan alone, you get unlimited SKUs and transactions, advanced reporting, and tracking tools for your business’s quality management.

MRPeasy was one of the first software companies in the 2000s to branch out into multiple web applications outside of Microsoft, providing e-commerce businesses with the tools they needed to grow. It led the charge for cloud migration in the SCM space in 2010 and has continued to support thousands of small businesses around the world.


The MRPeasy interface was incredibly modular and easy to navigate, simplifying my onboarding process. 

MRPeasy has been known in the SCM space since its launch in 2000 and has since expanded to create one of the most centralized and inclusive workspaces for e-commerce brands I’ve seen.

A drawback to MRPeasy is the relative lack of support compared to most modern-day tools. You can work with a chatbot or independently in its resource center to get your questions answered or opt for the site’s email ticketing systems. I had to make an MRPeasy account prior to submitting any questions, which makes sense (but could be a barrier for some).

I was impressed with the flow and centralized structure of the “Stock” tab, showing exactly where your inventory is at any given point. You can also track write-offs, shipments, and reporting through the tabs above.

MRPeasy’s strongest selling points include its intuitive dashboard and sleek overall user experience, procurement tracking and forecasting tools, and production planning dashboard to keep your teams on track and effective.

If you’re looking to keep it streamlined and simple, MRPeasy is definitely a strong choice. While it is comprehensive in scope, it’s extremely modular in design, allowing your team to master the platform quickly.

Who is MRPeasy best for?

I found that MRPeasy would be the best choice for rapidly growing smaller brands or those that have developed an international customer base. The multilingual and multicurrency features are a definite perk for expanding SMBs. But I don’t believe the reporting and other key features are advanced enough to support large-scale e-commerce titans and enterprises.

MRPeasy sorts by general category vs. dashboard and “areas” of the platform. For example, this is the production planning tab expanded, allowing you to sort data and dashboards by workstation, groups, or routings already in progress. Reporting is included in most of the key operational dashboard areas. 

Recent upgrades to MRPeasy

There are no customer-facing update areas that detail the timeline of product updates and changes to the software. We do hope to see this in the future, as this would allow customers to visualize the progress the platform is making to stay relevant and cutting-edge.

MRPeasy pricing

I found pricing is where MRPeasy really shines. It’s cheaper per month than many other alternatives on the list while providing competitive functionality I’d expect to see with triple-digit membership tiers.

You can begin with the Starter plan for $49 per month, which includes core functionalities such as production planning, dynamic scheduling, advanced reporting, and SCM, WMS, and CRM support. Also, you can do centralized accounting processes within your native dash.

Craftybase serves independent, in-house manufacturers and vendors, giving them the tools to successfully launch their businesses. Starting as a bootstrapped company, it expanded rapidly in a decade on the market. It has continued to hold true to its values of quality tools at an affordable rate, empowering small business owners, crafters, and e-commerce startups through its digital tools.


I was immediately blown away by the user-friendliness and light “feeling” the dashboard gave off as soon as I logged in. I felt ready to master the software – something that doesn’t happen frequently. 

Craftybase is one of the most personified, supportive, and small-business-oriented tools I have come across in my hunt for the best inventory management software options.

With Craftybase, you‘ll get a lightweight, user-friendly management experience, greater ranges of customization for both manual and bulk product additions, and intuitive, smart reports across every key area of business. The best part was its inclusive membership tier plans, giving you most of the core functionality you’ll need with its $19 per month base plan. I feel this is especially empowering to small brands looking to scale and automate their processes, but who aren’t quite ready to invest heavy double or triple digits per month into their tech stack.

While there is currently no support for custom reporting, the reports in the native interface are useful, updated, and easy to reference. 

Customer support was extensive (and helpful) and is reachable via chat, email, or social channels. You are also encouraged to solve your problems independently if you prefer and can do so with the site’s extensive documentation and forum support (via Craftybase’s Facebook group).

Craftybase’s strongest selling points are its e-commerce specific integrations and granular inventory management (allowing you to track product components and not just the assembled inventory stock). Also noteworthy is the location-based record-keeping for streamlined multi-warehouse management.

Who is Craftybase best for?

I recommend Craftybase for e-commerce startup brands or SMBs looking to refine and master their processes. The system goes deep into the full-scale implications of every sale. This includes tracking, financial management, and assembly review and support. It provides the foundational information for SMBs to perfect their processes before scaling up to the next membership tier or advanced tracking tool for their business.

You can add as many locations as you want in the native Craftybase dash, seamlessly tracking your flow across your different e-commerce web fronts and storefronts. 

Recent upgrades to Craftybase 

Craftybase seems to release seasonal updates, all visible in the Product Updates area of the blog.

Most recently, the site released an integration with FAIRE, as well as different sales channel connection enhancements. We were excited to see automatic updates, a feature that can be toggled to either permit or halt automatic inventory imports to meet demand from your clients.

Also, we noticed the added ability to use automatic location setting to designate a warehouse or a location to ship from. This can be especially helpful if you’re looking for additional flexibility in your distribution and management for your e-commerce brand.

Craftybase pricing

Craftybase offers some of the lowest pricing on this list, without compromising on essential functionality or overall tool quality. You can start with the Pro plan at $19 per month (billed annually), which allows perks such as an integrated sales channel, reports, expense importing, and unlimited orders, materials, and products. The plans scale up to $59 per month (billed annually), extremely competitive in its offers.

Fishbowl, Boxstorm’s parent company, made headlines when it launched the first forever free, online, and unrestricted* inventory management software options for e-commerce brands on a budget. Boxstorm’s goal is to provide holistic, cloud-hosted support to help you grow and scale your business effectively in a more customizable way than other tools offer.


Boxstorm’s interface is user-friendly and very visually driven, taking you right into your key data points to keep you at your most efficient level of operation.

Boxstorm shook up the industry when it rolled out a no-limits free plan – while empowering thousands to take charge of their inventory management and processing tasks.

My experience with Boxstorm was largely positive. Business owners will appreciate the depth of the features offered, including over 40 advanced report options, CRM functionality, and comprehensive item listing options that give your customer the best possible experience with each product they encounter.

Boxstorm has a unique “tiered support system” to keep its tools as accessible as possible. Free users can access the general knowledge base for support, while basic users can enjoy email ticking options.

Boxstorm offers over 40 intuitive reports, giving you down-to-the-minute insights for your growing business.

Premium tier members unlock chat support (during business hours), and Ultimate members get phone support. You can also opt for phone support if you’re Premium or above, paying a convenience fee of $25 per incident.

Boxstorm’s strongest selling points are its free membership tier (which lacks little to no functionality or core features), and vendor profiles and tracking. Also, I like its advanced location management, which includes features such as item transfer tracking between locations, truck, van, or person-designated distribution centers, and nested location data for row, shelf, or bin specificity.

Who is Boxstorm best for?

I found that Boxstorm is best for SMBs looking to integrate inventory management operations with their financial side, as the brand easily integrates with QB for advanced reporting, sales, and purchase records. It’s also a great choice for startups with small or no budgets, as you can run your business seamlessly via the platform’s free plan.

Boxstorm allows you to easily add new items and offers convenient bulk migration options. This is pretty standard for tools in the space, but it was supplemented with agile processes and documentation for an even easier experience. 

Recent upgrades to Boxstorm

Boxstorm does not currently offer public-facing changelogs or records of its upgrades. We do hope to see this in the future. But during the testing phase, the system was efficient, easy to use, and bug-free, indicating that upkeep is regularly done on the platforms.

Boxstorm pricing

Boxstorm is one of the only vendors on this list that offers a “no strings attached” free plan with about the same functionality you would expect from its paid membership – only limiting you to 100 transactions and 25 listed items.

While this isn’t ideal for all SMBs, this is helpful to startups or businesses that aren’t cash-positive yet, allowing you to transition into the next tier of membership when ready. The paid membership allows for unlimited “everything” (i.e. locations, items, and transactions) at just $79 per month. This is competitively affordable compared to any of the other mentions on this list.

Trunk is designed in a minimalistic, simplified way, giving you access to the data you need (and nothing more). While it may seem toosimple, its design is an asset to many – keeping them on track and working in the background as they grow and scale, acting as an effortless and integral element of their tech stack.


The initial dashboard screen may look bare, but you can populate it with intuitive dashboards and your migration elements in minutes with the onboarding support. 

Trunk’s user-friendly (and painfully simplified) platform surprised me – but after a bit of a learning curve and experimentation with the tool, I see how its design can be one of your greatest assets.

You get tracking support exclusively, a major advantage if you already have centralized systems you love, especially if you’re just looking for a little more support. The dashboard-like layout shows your counts across every sales channel, in the most simplified form of asset management yet.

Any SKU you add through the manual add process will sync as if it was added traditionally or in bulk, keeping inventory from falling through the cracks. 

Trunk offers chat or email support, efficiently connecting you with a customer service rep. A tip: your ad blocker must be turned off, or the chat box will not load properly. In addition, you can leverage any of the in-depth documentation and knowledge base resources, helping you connect and optimize quickly.

Trunk’s top selling points are its perfectly simplistic dashboard views, variety of e-commerce integrations, and overall design. You can slide this tool directly into your tech lineup with minimal effort, allowing it to act as a set of “binoculars” for your inventory across channels.

Who is Trunk best for?

I found Trunk would be best for larger, established brands with multiple channels they need to track for, or drop-shipping e-commerce professionals looking to keep tabs on channels as they expand. The sleek interface has an affordable price point to gain visibility exclusively in addition to what your other tools cover. But I don’t believe small brands would see the value if they only have one or two channels they’re selling on.

You can add a sales channel in minutes thanks to the easy onboarding process and click-through authentication. Trunk connects with top e-commerce sites such as Etsy, Shopify, and Squarespace, giving you a direct integration point to expand. 

Recent upgrades to Trunk

Trunk’s periodic updates are accessible via the in-platform changelog in the upper right hand corner. Most recently, the team went through some bug fixes, correcting repeat space errors with SKU reading and removing the eBay subscription barrier from the onboarding process.

Most notably, it rebuilt the infrastructure to be even more streamlined, simple, and reliable. We look forward to seeing what Trunk rolls out in future updates.

Trunk pricing

The Trunk pricing scheme is a bit complex, based on the number of incoming orders you receive per month.

There are two main membership plans: The Essential Plan and the Pro Plan. With the Essential Plan, you can begin for just $35 per month, unlocking core functionality such as real-time stock syncing and low stock alerts. Pro Plan members start at $39 per month and enjoy additional benefits such as bundling and knitting, as well as duplicate SKU support and sync – minimizing your risk of errors and inefficiency.

Monday.com launched a decade ago and has changed the industry since. Popularized as a cloud-based platform for project management and organization, it has since expanded to support several niches of e-commerce business management. Most notably, e-commerce inventory management – allows business owners to manage and optimize their processes.


I was greeted with a dashboard that featured a few sample projects, showing me how every area of functionality worked. It was like a built-in onboarding call. As a more independent learner, I appreciated seeing a structure like this. 

Monday.com has already made a name for itself as a powerful CRM, extensively automation-friendly tool, and now a user-friendly inventory management software option for growing brands.

When you onboard, you’ll get low-cost membership tiers and designated and easy-to-access workspaces that offer the potential for centralization (now or in the future). Also, smart templates reveal e-commerce and inventory-management-specific capabilities and designations – saving you hours of setup and giving you a fantastic headstart on experience personalization.

The site’s embedded Product Store connects you with the tools you need to build out your tech stack on Monday.com’s convenient platform. 

Beyond these benefits, Monday.com offers helpful customer support, which includes 24/7 email ticket-based support and the largest library of knowledge base help resources that I have seen in my research.

Monday.com’s top selling points include the extensive ability to integrate with e-commerce platforms and other management tools. Also, it has a designated template design for inventory management that fits seamlessly between your other workspaces and offers potential for centralization should you want to merge systems in the future.

Who is Monday.com best for?

I recommend Monday.com for inventory management if you already use it to run and organize your e-commerce business or if you’re a startup or SMB business owner looking for a product that offers the potential to be a fully-scaled centralized system.

Monday.com provides simple reports that give you a direct view of your business’s KPIs. And every element is customizable since this is an editable template. Track what you want, when you want.

Recent upgrades to Monday.com

Monday.com offers regular updates, most occurring at the core platform level. Recently, it rolled out nested workdoc tables, board workdocs that clear when you complete them fully, and autofill form suggestions. These come alongside the expansive additions to the platform’s automation and integration suite, which we continue to see even more frequently.

You can view the updates under Products on the Monday.com blog. 

Monday.com pricing

Pricing isn’t just specific to the inventory management template. When you sign on for a membership, you’re paying for the platform itself – which is customizable and sandbox-like in structure. I believe pricing is incredibly competitive for the range of possibilities you unlock with Monday.com, starting for free for accounts with two seats or fewer.