Best Inventory Management Software (Warehouse Manager’s Picks)

If you’re not sure which inventory management software is best for your business, this guide will compare the top solutions so you can make the right decision.

I’m Oliver Munro—I was an inventory manager and warehouse manager for over six years. I’ve worked in multiple organizations in different sectors, including manufacturing, distribution, and retail, and used many different inventory management software tools along the way.

To make a fair assessment of the top inventory management software, I compared the pricing, reputation, and functionality of dozens of popular inventory management tools—combined with my own experience using different systems.

Keep reading for a complete breakdown of the seven best inventory management software systems for 2024.

7 best inventory management software options

Katana, also known as Katana MRP, is a cloud-based inventory management system that helps businesses manage inventory control, materials planning, and manufacturing processes.

When I was an inventory manager at D-Wave Systems—a manufacturer and distributor of quantum computers—we used Katana daily to streamline production planning and keep track of our electrical components and finished goods inventory as it moved through the production process.

The software itself features a sleek, easy-to-use interface and robust integrations for popular ecommerce and cloud accounting systems, along with all the functionality you can expect from a modern inventory management system.

What makes it stand out

Katana features at the top of my list for one reason: it does nearly everything right.

From its dynamic set of features for tracking and managing inventory and production processes, to how easy it is to set up and learn—Katana hits all the right notes.

Its pricing is also in line with other inventory management software systems serving similar markets and business sizes, and users frequently rave about the quality of Katana’s customer support.

Who it’s best for

Katana’s advanced manufacturing functionality, which includes materials resource planning (MRP), bill of materials management, and a Shop Floor App, makes it the perfect inventory solution for manufacturers.

However, businesses that don’t require production management features can still benefit from the real-time inventory tracking and reporting capabilities Katana provides.

Unleashed is a perpetual inventory software program for small to medium enterprises. It provides robust features for managing purchasing, inventory, sales orders, and production.

I use Unleashed to manage stock for my ecommerce store, Bucket Hats NZ, so I can say with good authority it’s a great inventory management system. The managed Shopify integration keeps stock availability up-to-date on my website and passes customer order data from Shopify to Unleashed, while seamless integration with Xero saves me hours of administrative work.

In the interest of transparency, I should add that I’ve written content for Unleashed and have a professional relationship with them. However, that relationship does not affect my recommendation here. It’s genuinely a great piece of software.

What makes it stand out

Unleashed is a good all-round inventory system with functionality that supports and streamlines much of the supply chain management process.

However, it’s just not the functionality that makes Unleashed one of the best inventory management software you can buy. Its reputation for above-and-beyond levels of customer support is reflected in a 4.9/5 Trustpilot rating based on over 800 verified user reviews.

Who it’s best for

Unleashed’s high customer satisfaction rates and dynamic feature set make it a good option for most small-medium businesses, but the production planning and bulk inventory management functions make it especially suitable for companies in the Manufacturing, Food & Beverage, Wholesale, and Distribution sectors.

Pros and cons

inFlow Inventory is an intuitive inventory management software program designed specifically for small and medium businesses. It makes the list of best inventory management software for its easy-to-use functionality and affordable subscription plans for entrepreneurs and small businesses.

What I love most about inFlow Inventory is how clean and simple the user interface is—without sacrificing powerful features like its complete barcode scanning system and the B2B showroom.

What makes it stand out

Several unique features make inFlow one of the best inventory management software systems. 

For starters, it doesn’t just integrate with other software—it offers robust integrations with many of the world’s top carrier companies, including Canada Post, DHL, and UPS.

Unlike most inventory management software providers, inFlow also provides solutions for asset tracking and field service management, plus branded hardware for easy barcode scanning.

Who it’s best for

inFlow Inventory is one of the best inventory systems for small–medium businesses and entrepreneurs. It’s a relatively low-cost solution (compared to products offering similar functionality), though it can easily scale with your operations. inFlow’s broad feature set also makes it a great choice for entrepreneurs, HVAC and Solar installation companies, and field service technicians.

Pros and cons

ShipStream is a warehouse logistics software that combines warehouse management, inventory management, and ecommerce shipping features. It’s designed to specifically tackle the fulfillment challenges of ecommerce merchants and third-party logistics (3PL) providers.

What makes it stand out

ShipStream enables 3PLs and their ecommerce clients to manage inventory and fulfillment with a lean approach. In other words, it optimizes supply chain processes to reduce waste and maximize efficiency so costs stay low without hindering productivity.

Who it’s best for

ShipStream is a suitable inventory management system for third-party logistics providers and ecommerce merchants working with a 3PL. It combines the best features of a warehouse management system (WMS)—such as warehouse design, shipping, and workforce management—with critical inventory management functionality that includes real-time inventory updates and automated order picking.

Pros and cons

NetSuite is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software used by over 40,000 companies worldwide. Its core features include inventory management, procurement, finance and accounting, and order management.

Acquired by Oracle in 2016 for $9.3 billion, NetSuite is one of the oldest and most popular cloud software systems in the world.

I’ve used NetSuite at two of my previous jobs and was impressed by its robust functionality. It provides a comprehensive platform for managing all your basic business workflows, saving the need for multiple subscriptions and app integrations.

What makes it stand out

As an ERP system with robust inventory management features, NetSuite provides an all-in-one solution that gives you a unified view of your business by synchronizing data between different departments and projects. This makes reporting on business performance faster and more accurate, empowering strategic decision-making and agile growth.

Who it’s best for

NetSuite is best suited to large or complex organizations seeking to benefit from using a single system to manage inventory, orders, procurement, and administration.

It’s a good option for companies with a large software budget and is used by major enterprises like GoPro, ASICS, and Adobe Systems.

Pros and cons

Zoho Inventory is an online inventory management software for small and medium businesses. It features useful multichannel ecommerce and shipping integrations alongside key inventory functionality that includes basic forecasting, real-time stock control, and multi-location inventory management.

If you’re already using Zoho products like Zoho Books or Zoho People, Zoho Inventory is a great option as it runs off the same platform—enabling easy data sharing and a smaller learning curve compared with a multi-provider tech stack.

What makes it stand out

Zoho Inventory may be the best inventory management software for you if you’ve got a limited software budget or low order volume. Why? Because, unlike most subscription-based inventory systems, Zoho offers a completely free plan.

It’s worth mentioning that this free plan is limited to a maximum of 50 orders, 1 user, and 1 warehouse. Still, the $0 monthly fee eliminates the risk of investing in a platform that might not work out.

Who it’s best for

Small businesses and entrepreneurs with basic inventory management needs are best positioned to benefit from Zoho Inventory’s cheap subscription plans. Zoho Inventory also complements companies already using other Zoho products.

Pros and cons

Cin7 Omni is an order and inventory management software system for small–medium B2C, D2C, and B2B businesses. It helps retailers and wholesalers streamline inventory management with automated workflows for stock control, order fulfillment, and sales.

The Cin7 Omni product is one of the best inventory management systems currently out there. It’s a flexible, accessible platform with all the functionality SMBs need and robust inventory reporting dashboards. 

It’s worth noting that the Cin7 company was acquired in 2019 by Rubicon Technology Partners

Since then, it has received a swathe of negative reviews from disappointed customers citing a notable drop in customer support and implementation standards post-acquisition, resulting in a 2.4/5 rating on Trustpilot. This is why Cin7 Omni features at the bottom of my list, despite the product still being one of the top systems on the market.

What makes it stand out

Cin7 Omni is a robust inventory management software system with extensive functionality for everything from stock control and purchasing to order management and production. What really makes Cin7 great, however, is its native integration with ecommerce sales channels. 

These include top platforms like: 

Who it’s best for

Cin7 Omni is a reliable inventory management software for small- and mid-sized businesses that require an all-in-one system for managing sales, purchasing, and stock—whether you’re selling B2B or B2C. It’s frequently used in the ecommerce, wholesale, retail, and fashion sectors.

Pros and cons

How to choose the best inventory management system

So, you’ve got a grasp on what inventory management software is out there—now what?

Choosing the right system for your company means finding a solution that meets your needs, budget restraints, and any overarching business goals.

Here’s a seven-step process for choosing the best inventory management system:

Let’s take a closer look.

The first step in choosing the right inventory software is identifying the problems you need it to solve. This means analyzing your existing workflows and determining which processes will benefit the most from automation.

It also means determining whether inventory management software is actually the right option for your business.

You might realize that your problems are better solved by a similar business software solution, such as a WMS or ERP software. Likewise, outsourcing operations to a third-party logistics partner could make more sense than investing in new software.

Involvement from stakeholders within the organization is essential for ensuring you end up with the right inventory management system.

Your warehouse staff, for example, likely has a better understanding of workflow bottlenecks and where the most errors occur. Finance teams could have specific requirements for managing purchase orders, suppliers, and procurement.

Find out if any of your employees have experience using specific inventory management systems, and whether they think those systems are suitable for your business.

Once you know the problems you’re trying to solve, research common inventory management software features to determine the essential functionality required.

This table shows some common inventory software features and the problems they solve:

To narrow down your search parameters, work out a software budget that is justified by your profit margins, growth goals, and revenue.

It’s important not to focus solely on subscription costs.

Consider hidden fees like:

While some software is cheaper than others, it may require extra legwork to do everything you need. For example, if you need to forecast sales and your chosen software doesn’t offer demand forecasting, you’ll need to weigh the additional costs of investing in a separate tool for this task.

Depending on the needs and goals of your business, there are other factors to consider when researching inventory management systems.

Some questions to consider:

• Scalability.
  Can the software grow with your business and continue to support you two, five, 10 years from now?
• Accessibility.
  Is the software easy to use or highly complex? Will you require extra training to use it?
• Security.
  How secure is the system? Will your inventory data be safely encrypted? What does their privacy policy say?
• Integrations.
  Does the software integrate with your existing business systems? If not, is there a workaround to enable data sharing between departments?
• Customer support.
  What levels of customer support are available? Is onboarding a do-it-yourself process or does every plan include 1:1 support?
• Compliance.
  Does the software and its functionality comply with local laws? Does it value inventory using a method that’s accepted under local laws?

This is not an exhaustive list. Add or remove any considerations unique to your business type, industry, and requirements.

Some solutions may seem too good to be true for a reason. Suppose a company has invested all its money into marketing, rather than building a solid product. In that case, it’s easy to fall into a contract for unreliable software that doesn’t deliver the ROI you want.

The solution? Research online reviews to understand how real users feel about the software and its provider.

Here are some good places to start:

• Capterra, GetApp, Software Advice
  These are software review sites produced by Gartner. They feature the same reviews, presented differently, so just pick one for your research.
• Trustpilot
  Reviews on this site typically focus on the quality of the software provider, rather than how well the product works.
• G2
  A software review site with over 2.7 million reviews across different products.

I also recommend speaking to anyone in your network familiar with inventory management software—business owners, accountants, and advisors are a good place to start.

Most inventory management system providers offer a free trial experience or a product demo (or both). This is a great way to see the product in action and better understand if it’s fit for your needs.

If you’re starting a free trial, you might be better off testing the functionality with a small portion of your inventory. This will allow you to make the learnings you need without wasting too much time entering product data and setting up the system.

Unsure whether inventory management software is right for you?

Inventory management software makes controlling stock easier—there’s no doubt about it. But it doesn’t change the fact you still need to dedicate time, labor, and training to inventory management.

Red Stag Fulfillment takes the stress out of worrying about stock levels and order management, so you can spend less time managing your products and more time selling them. We combine decades of expertise with industry-leading inventory management systems to ensure your customers get what they need when they need it.

Speak to one of our logistics experts today to learn more about the benefits of partnering with Red Stag Fulfillment.