You can run inventory on a spreadsheet, right up until you cannot. Once you have more than a handful of products, real inventory software pays off with accurate counts, low-stock alerts, and reporting a workbook cannot match. The good news for a small business watching every dollar: several genuinely free inventory management tools do the core job well. Here are the best free options in 2026, what each is good for, and the catch to know before you rely on one.
Key takeaways
- Free inventory software works well for small operations; the trade-off is usually caps on orders, items, users, or locations.
- Zoho Inventory is the best all-around free cloud option; Square is best if you sell retail and want free POS plus inventory.
- Odoo (Community) is the best free open-source choice; Sortly and ABC Inventory suit simple visual tracking and free desktop use.
- inFlow, a free pick in the old version of this list, is no longer free; it is now a paid product.
- Start free, but plan the upgrade before you hit the plan’s limits, because outgrowing a free tool mid-season is painful.
The best free inventory management software in 2026
| Software | Best for | Free plan notes |
|---|---|---|
| Zoho Inventory | Best all-around free cloud tool | Free plan with monthly order limits; multichannel and shipping built in. |
| Square for Retail | Retail and point of sale | Free POS with inventory tracking; you pay only card processing fees. |
| Odoo Inventory | Open-source and self-hosted | Community edition is free to self-host; the single-app online plan is also free. |
| Sortly | Simple, visual, mobile tracking | Free tier for a small number of items and one user; easy barcode and photo tracking. |
| ABC Inventory | Free Windows desktop | Fully free desktop app from Almyta; no cloud, but genuinely no cost. |
Zoho Inventory
Zoho Inventory is the strongest free cloud option for most small businesses. The free plan covers order and inventory management, multichannel selling, and shipping integrations, with limits on how many orders you can process per month. If you already use other Zoho apps it slots right in, and when you outgrow the free tier the paid plans are affordable. For a growing online or wholesale seller, this is the first free tool to try.
Square for Retail
If you sell in person, Square is hard to beat. The point-of-sale software and its inventory tracking are free to use, and you pay only the card-processing fee on sales. That makes it effectively free inventory management for a retail shop, with stock counts tied directly to what you sell at the register. It is less suited to complex warehousing, but for a store or market seller it is the obvious free choice.
Odoo Inventory
Odoo is the open-source pick. Its Community edition is free to self-host, and Odoo also offers a free single-app online plan, so you can run real inventory management at no license cost. The trade-off is that self-hosting takes some technical setup, and the deepest value comes when you add Odoo’s other business apps. For a team with a little technical capability, it is the most powerful free option here.
Sortly
Sortly takes a simpler, visual approach: organize items with photos, track them by barcode or QR code, and manage everything from a phone. The free tier supports a small number of entries and a single user, which suits a very small business, a home operation, or asset tracking rather than high-volume sales inventory. It is the easiest tool on this list to start using.
ABC Inventory
ABC Inventory, from Almyta Systems, is a fully free Windows desktop application, and it has been a free staple for years. It handles purchasing, stock control, barcoding, and more without a subscription. There is no cloud version, so it fits a single-location business that is comfortable running desktop software, but for that use it is capable and truly free.
What to know about free inventory tools
Free inventory software is real, but it comes with limits. Most free plans cap something: the number of orders per month, total items or SKUs, users, or locations. That makes them a great fit for a small inventory and a poor fit once volume grows. Treat a free tool as a strong starting point, watch the limits, and plan your move to a paid tier or a bigger platform before you hit the ceiling, because migrating in the middle of a busy season is the worst time to do it.
What happened to inFlow
If you are working from an older free-software list, inFlow used to offer a free edition and was a common recommendation. That free tier is gone; inFlow is now a paid product. It is still a solid, affordable option if you are ready to pay, but it no longer belongs on a list of free tools. For a free replacement, Zoho Inventory is the closest cloud equivalent.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free inventory management software?
Zoho Inventory is the best all-around free cloud option for small businesses, Square is best for retail and point of sale, and Odoo is the best free open-source choice. Sortly and ABC Inventory suit simple visual tracking and free desktop use respectively.
Is free inventory software actually free?
Yes, the tools above are genuinely free to use, but most cap orders, items, users, or locations, and some (like Square) make money on related fees such as card processing. Read the free plan’s limits so you know when you will need to upgrade.
Can a small business run entirely on free inventory software?
Many can, at least for a while. If your item count and order volume are modest, a free plan from Zoho Inventory, Square, or Odoo can cover your needs. Fast-growing businesses usually outgrow the free limits and move to a paid tier, which is normal and expected.
Is inFlow still free?
No. inFlow discontinued its free edition and is now a paid product. It remains a good affordable option, but for a free tool look at Zoho Inventory, Square, Odoo, Sortly, or ABC Inventory instead.
The verdict
For a small business that wants to move off spreadsheets without spending anything, the free options in 2026 are genuinely useful: Zoho Inventory for a cloud all-rounder, Square if you sell retail, Odoo if you want open-source power, and Sortly or ABC Inventory for the simplest cases. Just go in knowing the limits, and skip inFlow on a free shortlist, since it is no longer free. Start with the tool that matches how you sell, and plan your upgrade path before your inventory outgrows it.
Need more than a free tool can offer? Our free Top 10 Warehouse Management Software report compares more powerful systems by features and deployment.