Most inventory tools are built for warehouses and enterprises, then sold to small businesses that do not need half of it. A small team wants to know what it has, where it sits, what is running low and who took the last one. That is a different job from running a 40-person warehouse.
This guide looks at six tools small businesses actually use, with their real pricing and what each one does best as of June 2026. They do not all solve the same problem. Some track tools and assets, some run sales orders, some handle manufacturing, some power a retail counter. The point is to match the tool to how you work, not to crown one winner for everyone.
A quick note on price: these figures are current as of June 2026 and most vendors change them, so check the vendor site before you commit.
| Tool | Free option | Paid from | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| HomyScan | 15-day trial, no card | $19/mo | Small teams tracking stock, tools and equipment simply |
| Sortly | Free (1 user, 100 items) | $49/mo | Visual, mobile asset and inventory tracking |
| inFlow Inventory | Free trial, no free plan | about $149/mo | Wholesalers and distributors who run orders |
| Zoho Inventory | Free (50 orders/mo) | $39/mo | Ecommerce and order-driven sellers, Zoho users |
| Katana | Free (30 SKUs) | $299/mo | Small manufacturers and makers |
| Square for Retail | Free, plus processing fees | about $49/mo per location | Retail and food businesses that take payments on Square |
HomyScan keeps inventory simple for teams under about ten people. You scan items with your phone, organize them into folders and locations, and your whole crew sees the same live count. It tracks stock, tools, parts and equipment, which makes it a fit for trades, field teams, offices and small operations that are not selling thousands of SKUs a month.
Key features: phone barcode and QR scanning, Excel and CSV import that turns each row into an item, reorder points with low-stock alerts, multi-device sync between the office PC and the phone on site, team roles for who edits and who views, item photos, multi-location tracking, a dashboard with live value and a full movement audit trail, and offline scanning that syncs when you reconnect. Your data sits on encrypted European servers.
Pricing: free for 15 days with no card, then paid plans from $19 per month.
Keep in mind: HomyScan is built for tracking what you own and who has it. It is not an ERP and does not run manufacturing builds or ecommerce order fulfilment. If that is what you need, look further down this list.
Sortly is a mobile-first inventory and asset app that small teams like for its visual, folder-based layout and photo-heavy item cards. It covers the same ground as HomyScan in many ways, with phone scanning, label generation, custom fields and low-stock alerts, and it has a long track record with field and service businesses.
Key features: mobile barcode and QR scanning, barcode and QR label creation, custom folders, fields and tags, item photos, low-stock alerts, activity reports, offline access and multi-location tracking.
Pricing: a free plan covers 1 user and 100 items. Paid plans start at $49 per month for Advanced, with Ultra around $149 per month and higher tiers on custom quotes. Annual billing saves 20%, and paid plans come with a 14-day trial.
Keep in mind: reviewers say the cost climbs quickly once you add users, items or higher-tier reporting, so price it out at the plan you will actually need, not the entry tier.
inFlow is aimed at small wholesalers, distributors and B2B sellers who need to manage orders, not just count stock. It handles purchase orders, sales orders and a built-in B2B showroom where customers browse your catalog and order, which is where it earns its keep.
Key features: inventory and order management, reorder points, purchase and sales orders, a B2B showroom portal, barcode support with a phone or a dedicated scanner, document and label designers, QuickBooks and Xero sync, multi-location, and a manufacturing add-on for basic assemblies.
Pricing: no free plan, but a free trial with no card. Plans start at about $149 per month billed annually (around $186 monthly) for Entrepreneur, which covers 2 team members and 100 sales orders a month. Small Business runs $436 per month and Mid-Size $999 per month.
Keep in mind: it is a step up in price and in complexity. The mobile app is weaker than the desktop experience, and costs grow with order volume and extra users.
Zoho Inventory is built around orders and ecommerce, and it shines if you already live in the Zoho ecosystem or sell across channels. It connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, Amazon and Zoho Books, and its free tier makes it easy to start.
Key features: item and barcode tracking, label printing, purchase and sales orders, serial and batch tracking, multi-warehouse on higher tiers, and integrations with more than 40 tools including the main ecommerce platforms.
Pricing: a free plan covers 50 orders a month, 1 user and 2 locations. Paid plans run Standard at $39 per month, Professional at $99, Premium at $159 and Enterprise at $299, with annual billing cutting the entry price to about $29 per month.
Keep in mind: every tier caps your monthly orders, so growing sellers move up the ladder. It fits order-driven and online businesses better than teams that just track tools and assets.
Katana is for small manufacturers and makers who build or assemble products. It connects raw materials, production and sales in one view, with bills of materials and manufacturing orders that basic inventory apps do not offer.
Key features: real-time stock and material tracking, bills of materials, manufacturing orders, production scheduling, purchase management, and integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, QuickBooks and Xero.
Pricing: a free plan is limited to 30 SKUs, 3 locations and Shopify only. The paid Core plan starts at $299 per month with usage-based pricing and no per-seat fees, and add-ons for traceability and manufacturing raise the total.
Keep in mind: it is the most specialized and the most expensive entry here. Reviewers note the price can climb fast for small teams, and the value only makes sense if you genuinely run production. If you are not manufacturing, it is more than you need.
Square for Retail pairs inventory with a point of sale, so it suits shops, boutiques, pop-ups and food businesses that take payments at a counter. Inventory updates as you sell, and a free online store comes with every plan.
Key features: inventory tracking, low-stock alerts, bulk item import, barcode scanning with a phone or scanner, stock sync across locations, a free online store, and purchase orders and vendor profiles on higher plans.
Pricing: a free plan at $0 per month, with payment processing fees of about 2.6% plus 10 cents per in-person sale. The Plus plan runs about $49 per month per location, and Premium is custom.
Keep in mind: the value is tied to taking payments through Square, and the processing fees add up on high volume. For pure stock, tool or asset tracking without a checkout, it is the wrong shape.
Start from the job, not the brand.
If you want to know what you have, where it is and who took it, and you want it running this afternoon, a simple scan-first tool like HomyScan or Sortly fits, with HomyScan the cheaper entry at $19 a month. If you run sales and purchase orders for a wholesale or B2B operation, inFlow is built for that. If you sell online or across channels, Zoho Inventory and its ecommerce links make sense. If you manufacture or assemble products, Katana is the specialist. And if you sell at a counter, Square ties inventory to the till.
The cheapest tool is the one you set up quickly and your team actually keeps using. If your need is tracking stock, tools and equipment for a small team, you can try HomyScan free for 15 days with no card and see if it sticks.
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