Best inventory management apps for small businesses (2026)
Ofisx Inventory Management (listed on Google Play as "Inventory Management: Barcode") is an inventory app for shops and small businesses: stock, barcode sales and purchases with the phone camera, low-stock alerts, customer and supplier accounts and profit reports — on Android, iPhone and the web with one account; download and sign-up are free. Below we compare it honestly with the apps small businesses check most often: inventory apps, POS systems with stock, inventory and ERP software, and the spreadsheet.
Short answer: which one to pick
- A shop that sells at the counter and runs everything from the phone, with staff: Ofisx Inventory Management — barcode sales with the phone camera, low-stock alerts, stock count, customer accounts and store credit, receipts on 58/80 mm printers, multi-user access and a web version at web.ofisx.com.
- You count items, tools and supplies rather than sell them: Sortly or BoxHero — visual inventory with photos, folders and barcode/QR labels, each with a small free plan.
- You sell online and manage orders across channels and locations: Zoho Inventory or inFlow — order-based inventory software with more setup and higher paid tiers.
- You need a full card-payment POS first: Square for Retail or Lightspeed Retail — point of sale with inventory built in.
- You want a modular ERP and have time to set it up: Odoo Inventory.
- The shop or warehouse has no internet, or one phone is enough: Ofisx Offline Inventory — works 100% without internet and without an account, on one device.
Inventory apps for small businesses compared
| App | Platforms | Barcode scanning | Free option | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ofisx Inventory Management | Android, iPhone, web (web.ofisx.com) — one account | Yes, with the phone camera; multiple barcodes per product | Free download and sign-up; Premium features by subscription | Retail stores, grocery shops, boutiques, hardware stores and wholesalers that sell at the counter |
| Sortly | iOS, Android, web | Yes, barcode and QR in the app | Free plan: 100 unique items, 1 user; paid plans from Advanced upward | Tracking items, tools, equipment and supplies with photos |
| Zoho Inventory | iOS, Android, web | Barcode generation in the Premium plan | Free plan: 50 orders, 1 user, 2 locations; Standard from $29 per organization per month (billed annually) | Sellers with an online store, sales and purchase orders and several locations |
| inFlow Inventory | Web, plus Android and iOS apps | Yes | No free plan; 14-day free trial. Lite from $99 per month (billed annually), 2 team members | Growing wholesalers and distributors with purchase and sales orders |
| BoxHero | iOS, Android, web | Yes | Free plan: 1 member, 100 items, 1 location, 30 days of history; Business $24 per team per month (3 members, 1,000 items) | Small teams that want simple shared stock counts |
| Square for Retail | Square POS apps and online dashboard | Yes | Free plan with basic item and catalog management; Plus $49 per month per location; card processing fees apply | Stores that need card payments and a POS first |
| Odoo Inventory | Browser, plus mobile app | Yes | "One App Free" plan (one app, unlimited users); more apps need a paid Standard or Custom plan | Companies that want a modular ERP and have time to set it up |
| Lightspeed Retail | Cloud POS; Mobile Scanner app for iOS and Android | Yes | No free plan; free trial. Basic from $89 per month | Established stores with larger catalogs and several registers |
| Excel or Google Sheets | Computer; limited on phones | No | Free (Google Sheets, LibreOffice Calc) | Short product lists kept at a desk |
The apps in detail
Ofisx Inventory Management
One app for traders: add products (or import them in bulk from Excel) with price, tax, photos and multiple barcodes, then record sales, purchases and returns by scanning with the camera. Stock updates immediately, and you get a notification when an item falls below its minimum level. Stock count and a full movement history are included, and stock can be kept per warehouse or per vehicle.
In the same app you keep customer and supplier accounts (balances and store credit, collections and payments, due dates with reminders, customer statement as PDF), share receipts and invoices as PDF or print them on 58/80 mm thermal printers, and see profit and loss, revenue, VAT/tax and cash reports, plus sales performance per employee.
Data is in the cloud: the same account works on phone, tablet and the web version, with permission-based accounts for employees. It also has quotes, expenses, an e-catalog you share by link to take orders on WhatsApp, 21 interface languages and 75+ currencies.
Sortly
Cloud inventory app with photos, folders and barcode/QR labels. Paid plans (Advanced, Ultra, Premium, Enterprise) raise item and user limits; on 9 October 2026 Sortly listed Advanced at 500 items and 2 users, with a first-year discount.
Strong at showing what is where; counter sales, receipts and customer credit are not its focus.
Zoho Inventory
Cloud order and inventory management with sales and purchase orders, multiple locations and store integrations. The free plan is tight, and features such as barcode generation sit in the higher plans.
More powerful for e-commerce, but it needs more setup than a shop app.
inFlow Inventory
Order-based inventory software with unlimited products, sales and purchases on every plan; plans differ by number of team members (Lite 2, Core 5, Pro 10, Max 20). There is also a cheaper inFlow Stockroom plan for scanning-focused teams.
A good fit when you manage purchasing and orders at scale; for a small counter shop it is usually more than needed. The older offline inFlow On-Premise is discontinued.
BoxHero
Simple cloud inventory with barcode scanning; low-stock alerts, reporting and purchases/sales are in the Business plan, which has a free trial with no credit card. Extra members, items and locations are add-ons.
Easy to start for a small team; customer accounts and receipt printing are not part of it.
Square for Retail
A point of sale with inventory built in. According to Square, Plus adds barcode label printing, unit cost and margin reports, stock transfers across locations, and purchase orders with vendor profiles.
Best when you also want Square for payments; check card processing fees and country availability.
Odoo Inventory
Odoo is an ERP made of modules: inventory, sales, point of sale, accounting. Only a single app is free; using several modules together needs a paid plan billed per user.
Very complete, but usually needs a partner or a lot of setup time — more than a small shop needs.
Lightspeed Retail
A cloud retail POS (X-Series) with inventory management; Core ($149) and Plus ($289) add more management tools, and extra locations and registers are priced separately.
Strong for established stores; the monthly cost is high for a very small business.
Excel or Google Sheets
A sheet with one row per stock movement and a SUMIFS balance costs nothing. It does not scan barcodes at the counter, warn you about low stock or print receipts, and with several copies of the file the numbers soon drift apart. Many shops start here and later import the same file into an app.
How to choose an inventory app
- Counter shop or online seller? — If you mainly sell at the counter, you need a fast app with barcode scanning. If you sell through a web store and marketplaces, you need order management with channel integrations.
- Barcode scanning with the phone camera — This is what makes an app faster than a notebook or a spreadsheet: check that scanning works for sales, receiving stock and stock counts.
- Low-stock alerts and stock counts — An automatic warning when stock runs low and a stock count that corrects the balance prevent stock-outs and year-end differences. Some apps keep alerts for paid plans.
- Customer accounts and store credit — Many small shops let regular customers pay later; an app that keeps stock and balances together saves a second ledger.
- Online (cloud) or offline — Choose a cloud app when several employees or devices share one stock, or when you want a web panel on the computer. Choose an offline app when there is no reliable internet and one phone is enough.
- Free plan limits — Compare how many items, orders and users are included and what the next plan costs per month, per user or per location.
What Ofisx Inventory Management does not do
- Ofisx Inventory Management is not a certified fiscal cash register and does not issue e-invoices to government or tax systems. For those obligations use your certified POS or invoicing software; ask your accountant if in doubt.
- It has no integrations with online stores or marketplaces such as Shopify, Amazon or eBay.
- It is cloud-based and needs internet; there is no offline mode. Without a connection, use Ofisx Offline Inventory — which runs on one device only, without multi-user access or a web version.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best inventory management app for a small business?
It depends on how you sell. If you sell in a shop and want stock, barcode sales, low-stock alerts and customer accounts on your phone, Ofisx Inventory Management fits: it runs on Android, iPhone and the web with the same account, supports several employees, and is free to download and sign up. For tracking items and equipment with photos, Sortly or BoxHero; for online orders across channels, Zoho Inventory or inFlow; if you need a card-payment POS first, Square for Retail.
Is there a free inventory app for small businesses?
Yes. Ofisx Inventory Management is free to download and use with free sign-up (some features are Premium). Sortly has a free plan with 100 items and 1 user, BoxHero a free plan with 100 items and 1 member, Zoho Inventory a free plan with 50 orders and 1 user, Square a free POS plan and Odoo one free app. Ofisx Offline Inventory is free up to 100 products and 300 transactions.
Which inventory app works on both Android and iPhone?
Ofisx Inventory Management, Sortly, Zoho Inventory, inFlow and BoxHero all have Android and iOS apps plus a web version. In Ofisx the same account works on phone, tablet and web.ofisx.com, so you can sell from the phone and check reports on the computer.
Can I use my phone as a barcode scanner?
Yes. In Ofisx Inventory Management the phone camera reads barcodes for sales, purchases, returns and stock counts, and one product can have several barcodes. Sortly and BoxHero also scan barcodes in their apps.
Should I choose an online or an offline inventory app?
Choose online (cloud) when several employees or devices sell from the same stock, when you want a web panel on the computer, or when you want your data safe if a phone is lost — Ofisx Inventory Management. Choose offline when the shop or warehouse has no reliable internet, you do not want an account and one phone is enough — Ofisx Offline Inventory, compared in our offline inventory apps guide.
Can my employees use the app?
Yes. Ofisx Inventory Management has multi-user access with permission-based accounts and shows sales performance per employee; data is in the cloud and stays current on every device.
How do I move from Excel to an inventory app?
Prepare a file with product code, name, price, tax and quantity and import it: Ofisx Inventory Management imports and exports products in bulk with Excel. Then do a stock count to correct the opening quantities.