Inventory Management for Small Business
Small businesses do not need enterprise pricing to get great inventory control. From genuinely useful free plans to capable $29 to $179 per month tools, there is a right option at every budget. Here is what works in 2026.
Sortly Free
Up to 100 items, 1 userBest for: Freelancers, sole traders, tiny inventory
- +Visual, photo-based inventory
- +QR code scanning via mobile app
- +Basic low-stock alerts
- +Custom fields for any item type
Sortly Free is genuinely usable for micro-businesses tracking assets or a small product range. Upgrade to Plus ($29/mo) for unlimited items.
Zoho Inventory Free
Up to 50 orders/mo, 1 userBest for: New ecommerce sellers with low volume
- +Multi-channel sync (Shopify, Amazon, eBay)
- +Purchase orders and sales orders
- +Barcode scanning
- +Basic reporting
The most feature-rich free inventory plan available. 50 orders/mo is restrictive, but covers most businesses just launching.
Zoho Inventory Standard
$29/mo, 1,500 orders/moBest for: Growing ecommerce SMBs
- +Everything in free, plus higher limits
- +Composite items and kitting
- +Batch and expiry date tracking
- +2 warehouses
Outstanding value at $29/mo. Handles most small ecommerce businesses comfortably. The Standard plan is the most common choice for Shopify sellers with fewer than 1,000 orders per month.
Lightspeed Retail Basic
$89/mo, unlimited productsBest for: Brick-and-mortar shops with an online store
- +POS and ecommerce unified
- +Supplier catalog with 3,000+ suppliers
- +Employee management
- +Basic analytics
If you have a physical store, Lightspeed is worth the $89/mo over a pure-play IMS because it replaces your POS too.
inFlow Inventory
$99/mo (Entrepreneur), 100 orders/moBest for: Product businesses needing proper purchase orders and multi-location
- +Multiple locations
- +Purchase orders and receiving
- +Sales orders and invoicing
- +Barcode scanning with offline app
inFlow hits a sweet spot for small product businesses that have outgrown Zoho's free tier but need more operational depth than Lightspeed's retail focus.
Katana MRP Essential
$179/mo, unlimited productsBest for: Small manufacturers and make-to-order businesses
- +Bill of materials and work orders
- +Production scheduling
- +Material and capacity planning
- +Shopify and WooCommerce sync
If you manufacture or assemble products, Katana is the best small-business option. Its manufacturing features are far ahead of general inventory tools.
Getting the most out of a small business budget
Start free, upgrade when it hurts
Zoho Inventory free is genuinely capable for new ecommerce sellers. Sortly free works well for asset and small-product tracking. Use the free tier until order volumes or team size forces an upgrade. Migrating data from Zoho free to Zoho paid is seamless because it is the same platform.
Annual billing saves 15 to 20 percent
Almost every inventory management vendor offers a significant discount for annual billing versus monthly. If you are confident in a platform after a trial, switching to annual billing typically saves the equivalent of two to three months of subscription per year.
Avoid paying for unused features
Many small businesses pay for multi-warehouse or multi-channel features they do not yet need. Audit your actual usage every six months. If you are consistently using fewer than half of a plan's features, consider downgrading or switching to a lighter tool.
Factor in time cost, not just subscription
A free tool that takes three hours per week to maintain costs your business real money in labour. A $99/mo system that automates purchase orders and low-stock alerts can pay for itself in the first month if it saves four hours of admin work per week at a $30/hr labour rate.
Quick comparison: small business pricing
| Software | Free Plan | Paid From | Order Limit (entry) | Best Budget Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sortly | Yes | $29/mo | Unlimited (Plus) | Asset and item tracking |
| Zoho Inventory | Yes | $29/mo | 1,500/mo | Ecommerce and multi-channel |
| inFlow Inventory | No | $99/mo | 100/mo | Multi-location product businesses |
| Lightspeed Retail | No | $89/mo | Unlimited | Retail POS plus online |
| Katana MRP | No | $179/mo | Unlimited | Small manufacturers |