Here’s a scene we hear about a lot. Someone at a small business downloads three inventory apps on a Sunday afternoon, adds five products to each, and by Monday can’t remember which one they liked. Three weeks later the stock list is back in a spreadsheet.
The problem usually isn’t the apps. It’s that they were compared as if they did the same thing. So in this roundup we sort 10 inventory apps that run on iPhone and Android into five types first, and only then look at what each one does well.
App or “software”? It doesn’t really matter
People search for “inventory app” when they picture a phone, and “inventory software” when they picture a desk. In practice nearly every modern tool is cloud-based and runs in both places: you scan on the phone and review reports on a laptop. For this list we picked tools that work well on a phone on the shop floor. If you’re comparing more desktop-heavy business systems, see our 10 inventory management systems compared.
Five types of inventory app
| Type | What it does | Who it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| General-purpose | Record Stock In, Stock Out and counts on your phone; stock levels update automatically | Any small business that wants accurate, shared stock counts |
| POS | Stock goes down automatically when the register rings up a sale | Shops, cafés and pop-ups that sell at a counter |
| Order & warehouse | Purchase orders, sales orders and pick lists alongside stock | Wholesalers and B2B sellers with steady order flow |
| Manufacturing | Tracks raw materials, recipes/BOMs and finished goods | Makers: food producers, cosmetics, small-batch manufacturing |
| ERP | Inventory as one app in a suite with sales, purchasing and accounting | Companies building one platform for the whole business |
Not sure? If you mainly want to know how much you have and share it with your team, start with general-purpose. Move to a specialist type only if your main headache is register sync, order handling, production or company-wide processes.
The 10 apps at a glance
| App | Type | Free plan | Free trial | Pricing published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KuraPro | General-purpose | Yes | — (use the free plan) | Yes |
| Sortly | General-purpose (visual) | Yes | 14 days | Yes |
| BoxHero | General-purpose | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Zoho Inventory | General-purpose (e-commerce) | Yes | 14 days | Yes |
| Square for Retail | POS | Yes | — | Yes |
| Shopify POS | POS | With a Shopify plan | Yes | Yes |
| Lightspeed Retail | POS | No | Yes | Yes |
| inFlow | Order & warehouse | No | Yes | Yes |
| Katana | Manufacturing | Yes (small catalogs) | — | Partly |
| Odoo | ERP | Yes (one app) | Yes | Yes |
(From each vendor’s official site, 2026. “—” means that option isn’t offered.)
General-purpose: record and share stock from your phone
1. KuraPro
KuraPro is a cloud inventory app for small businesses, shops and field teams, available on iOS, Android and the web.
- Scan with the phone camera to record Stock In, Stock Out and Stock Count. No handheld scanner.
- Location, lot and expiry-date tracking you can switch on per need, plus low-stock, overstock and expiry alerts.
- Automatic cost and gross-profit calculation, ABC analysis, and AI analysis that flags which items need attention.
- Free plan for 50 items, 1 user and 1 site. Paid plans start at $29/month (3,000 items, 3 users), and every paid plan gets every feature.
- Honest limitation: no built-in Shopify or Amazon sync yet. Data moves via CSV/Excel import and export.
→ Pricing · What KuraPro can do
2. Sortly
Sortly is the visual one. Every item gets a photo, and you organize everything in folders that mirror real life: van → shelf → box.
- Very easy for people who’ve never used inventory software.
- Makes its own QR and barcode labels.
- Free plan for 100 items and 1 user. Barcode scanning starts on the Advanced plan, low-stock alerts on Ultra, QuickBooks sync on Premium.
- Ideal for tools, equipment and supplies. Costs climb fast once you pass a few thousand items.
3. BoxHero
BoxHero is a clean, barcode-centered app that a lot of small teams pick for its simplicity.
- Scan to record stock movements, and design and print barcode labels inside the app.
- Excel import/export, team permissions, low-stock alerts and simple stock reports.
- Free plan for 1 member and 100 items. The Business plan starts around $24/month for 3 members and 1,000 items, with add-ons for more.
- A strong, affordable pick for straightforward stock tracking; lot and expiry tracking aren’t its focus.
4. Zoho Inventory
Zoho Inventory leans toward e-commerce: it handles orders, invoices and shipments alongside stock.
- Integrates with Shopify, Amazon, Etsy and more, and with the rest of the Zoho suite (Books, CRM).
- Free plan for up to 50 orders a month and 1 user. Paid plans from $29/month billed annually.
- Batch and serial tracking start on the Professional plan, so check which tier you’d actually need.
- A good choice if you already live in Zoho or sell mainly online.
POS: let the register keep count
5. Square for Retail
Square is the POS a lot of small US shops start with.
- Every sale reduces stock automatically, in person and online.
- Free plan covers the basics. Square Plus ($49/month per location) adds stock intake, vendors, purchase orders and cost-of-goods reporting.
- Card processing fees are on top. Built for selling at a counter; not meant for warehouses or production.
6. Shopify POS
If your online store already runs on Shopify, Shopify POS keeps store and web stock in one place.
- In-person selling is included with Shopify plans; POS Pro is a paid add-on per location for things like staff roles and stock counts in store.
- Stock syncs between your online store and physical locations automatically.
- Makes the most sense when Shopify is already the center of your business.
7. Lightspeed Retail
Lightspeed is a more powerful retail POS for shops with deep catalogs and lots of variants.
- Excellent matrix handling for sizes and colors, purchase orders and multi-store inventory.
- Plans from $89 to $289 a month, with discounts for annual billing.
- More than a small single store needs; very good for specialty retail.
Order & warehouse: stock plus order flow
8. inFlow
inFlow pairs inventory with purchase orders, sales orders and invoicing, plus a separate scanning app for warehouse staff.
- Pick, pack and receive by barcode, with Shopify, Amazon and QuickBooks integrations.
- No free plan; entry pricing is around $129/month billed annually, according to inFlow’s own 2026 pricing guide.
- Best for wholesale and B2B businesses where order handling is as big a job as counting stock.
Manufacturing: from raw materials to finished goods
9. Katana
Katana is built for makers: it tracks raw materials, recipes or bills of materials, and finished products in one view.
- Shop-floor app for recording production steps from a phone or tablet.
- Connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, QuickBooks and Xero.
- There’s now a free plan for very small catalogs (up to 30 SKUs); the paid Core plan starts at $299/month.
- A great fit when production, not just storage, is where you lose track.
ERP: build the whole business on one platform
10. Odoo
Odoo is an open-source suite of business apps. Inventory and Barcode are two of them, sharing a database with Sales, Purchase, Manufacturing and Accounting.
- Handles multi-warehouse, lots and serials, and replenishment rules properly.
- “One App Free” gives you a single app with unlimited users at no charge; more apps means a per-user paid plan.
- Flexible to a fault. Most companies need some technical skill or a partner to set it up well.
How to choose, in three steps
- Pick the type. Record and share stock? Sync with the register? Handle orders? Track production? Run everything? Choose the type that matches your main problem, not the flashiest demo.
- Shortlist two or three apps inside that type. Compare the features you need, how quick the phone app is to use, how pricing scales and whether you can import and export CSV. Our guide to choosing an inventory app covers each check in detail.
- Test with your real products. Put your top sellers into a free plan and use it on the floor for a week or two. For what free tiers can and can’t do, see free inventory management software: what you actually get.
Running a very small operation? Read how to pick an inventory system as a small business.
FAQ
Is there a completely free inventory app?
Yes. KuraPro, Sortly, BoxHero, Zoho Inventory and Katana all have free plans with no time limit, and Square’s free POS tracks stock as you sell. Every free tier is capped by items, users, orders or features, so once you need sharing or alerts, expect to move to a paid plan. → What free plans actually include
What’s the difference between an inventory app and inventory management software?
Mostly the word people use. Nearly all modern tools are cloud-based and run on both phones and computers.
Do these apps work on both iPhone and Android?
All ten have iPhone and Android apps or a mobile web version, but features sometimes differ by platform. Test on the phones your team actually carries.
Do I need a barcode scanner?
Usually not. Most of these apps scan with the phone camera. A Bluetooth scanner only pays off when someone scans hundreds of items a shift.
Summary
- Choose an inventory app by type first: general-purpose, POS, order & warehouse, manufacturing or ERP.
- For accurate, shared stock counts, general-purpose is the quickest route, and several apps let you start free.
- POS for counter sales, order & warehouse for B2B order flow, manufacturing for production, ERP for everything on one platform.
- Compare within a type, then test with your own products before paying.
- Prices change often — check each vendor’s pricing page before you subscribe.
KuraPro’s free plan (50 items, 1 user) lets you start scanning stock with your phone today, and every paid plan comes with every feature.
