Best free inventory apps for small business (2026)
Seven genuinely free ways to track inventory in a small shop or stockroom, with each free plan’s real limits on items, users, orders and features, taken from the vendors’ own pages in November 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Free plans are limited in different ways. Sortly and BoxHero cap unique items, Zoho Inventory caps orders per month, Square’s free plan reserves counts and purchase orders for paid tiers, and Odoo limits you to one app.
- Square Free is the strongest if you already sell through Square. Its pricing page lists inventory tracking and low-stock alerts on the free plan, alongside the point of sale.
- Odoo is the only one here with unlimited free users. Its One App Free plan covers one app, such as Inventory, for unlimited users. Add a second app and everyone moves to per-user pricing.
- A spreadsheet is still a legitimate choice. Google Sheets works offline, lets several people edit with revision history, and costs nothing with a Google account. It just won’t alert you or enforce rules.
- Check what happens when you outgrow the plan. The jump from free to the first paid tier ranges from $24 a month to $49 a month or more on this list.
Quick-Start Prioritization Framework
| Rank | App | Free plan limit that bites first | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Square Free | No counting tool, history or purchase orders | Shops already selling in person |
| 2 | Sortly Free | 100 unique items, 1 user | Small item lists, one person, phone scanning |
| 3 | Zoho Inventory Free | 50 orders a month, 1 user, 1 location | Low-volume online sellers |
| 4 | Odoo One App Free | One app only (unlimited users) | Teams that may grow into an ERP |
| 5 | BoxHero Personal | 100 items, 1 member, no low-stock alerts | Simple scan-in, scan-out tracking |
| 6 | Google Sheets | No alerts, no enforced rules | Under ~100 items and a careful owner |
| 7 | Floot | 100 building actions a day; one-time $3 hosting allowance | Building your own app before paying |
Most inventory tools have a free plan, and nearly all of them are designed to be outgrown. The useful question isn’t which app is free, it’s which free plan’s limits you won’t hit for a while. This list ranks seven options by how far a typical small shop can get on them without paying, and states each limit as the vendor publishes it, checked on 11 November 2026. Floot, which publishes this site, is included as the build-your-own option, with its own limits stated just as plainly.
1. Square Free (Square for Retail)
Best for: shops that take card payments in person, or plan to.
What you get free
Square’s retail pricing page lists inventory tracking (stock counts per item across locations) and low-stock alerts on the Free plan, together with the point of sale itself, automatic item and SKU creation, discounts and refunds, and sales reporting. Card processing fees apply to sales.
Where it stops
The inventory counting tool, inventory history, vendor and purchase order management, barcode label printing, and aging and sell-through reports are listed on Plus and Premium, not Free. Plus is $49 a month per location.
2. Sortly Free
Best for: one person tracking a small number of items, supplies or tools, mostly from a phone.
What you get free
Sortly’s free plan covers 100 unique items, 1 user licence and 2 active jobs. Quantities don’t count towards the item limit, so 100 items can mean thousands of units. Sortly’s pricing page lists in-app barcode and QR code scanning, offline mobile access, low-stock alerts, item photos and inventory import among its features; check the plan comparison for exactly which are on Free.
Where it stops
A second user or the 101st item means paying. Advanced is $49 a month billed monthly for 500 items and 2 users; yearly plans were 50% off for the first year for new customers when we checked.
3. Zoho Inventory Free
Best for: small online or marketplace sellers with a modest number of orders.
What you get free
Zoho’s pricing page lists the Free plan at 50 orders a month, 1 user and 1 location, with composite items (kits), dropshipment and backordering included. The page lists integrations with marketplaces, shopping carts, accounting tools and shipping carriers, without saying which plans include each.
Where it stops
Order volume is the usual limit. Barcode generation and stock counting are listed from Premium ($79 a month billed annually); Standard is $29 a month billed annually for 500 orders, 3 users and 2 locations.
4. Odoo One App Free
Best for: a team that wants several people using the inventory app for free and may later add accounting, sales or a POS.
What you get free
Odoo’s pricing page says the One App Free plan gives you one app with unlimited users on Odoo Online, that you can start with any app, and that apps your chosen app depends on are free too. Inventory is one of the apps you can choose.
Where it stops
Installing a second app moves you to the Standard plan, priced per user for everyone (from US$24.90 per user a month billed yearly in the first year when we checked). Odoo is also the most complex tool on this list, so budget time to learn it.
5. BoxHero Personal
Best for: very simple scan-in, scan-out stock tracking for one person.
What you get free
BoxHero’s pricing page lists its free Personal plan at 1 member, 100 items and 1 location, with barcode scanning, Excel import and export, 30 days of transaction history, web and mobile access, and its API and integrations.
Where it stops
Low-stock alerts, inventory counts, multiple locations and unlimited history are on the Business plan, at $24 per team a month or $288 a year, for 3 members, 1,000 items and 3 locations, with a 30-day trial.
6. Google Sheets
Best for: a shop with under about a hundred items and an owner who keeps the sheet tidy.
What you get free
Google says anyone with a Google Account can create in Sheets. Its product page lists offline editing, sharing permissions for view, comment or edit, several people working at once, and revision history to return to earlier versions. You control every column, and there are no item or user caps to hit.
Where it stops
Nothing alerts you when stock is low unless you build it. Nothing stops someone typing over a formula or entering a stock number instead of a movement. Keep counts and deliveries in separate tabs from the item list so you have history, and protect the formula columns.
7. Floot (build your own, free to start)
Best for: owners whose process doesn’t fit any of the above and who want to try building their own inventory app before paying anything.
What you get free
Floot is an AI app builder. On the free plan you get 100 building actions a day and a one-time $3 hosting allowance. You describe your shop in plain English, in Floot’s editor or from ChatGPT, Claude, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor, and Floot builds a web app with its own Postgres database, staff sign-up and login with roles, and scheduled jobs such as a morning low-stock email. You can upload your current spreadsheet as a CSV and ask the AI to import it. Publishing is free on every plan, and you can download your database on any plan.
Where it stops
Hosting is metered by usage, and the free plan’s $3 hosting allowance is one-time. For an app your staff rely on every day, plan on Pro at $25 a month, which includes $10 of hosting each month and custom domains. You also own testing: check each change in the live preview. Barcode scanning isn’t built in; you can ask for it and should test it on your staff’s real phones. To try it, connect Floot from the Claude connector directory, the ChatGPT app directory or the Cursor Marketplace.
Free plans side by side
The same facts in one table. Every limit is from the vendor’s own pricing page as of 11 November 2026.
| App | Items | Users | Other key limit | First paid step |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Square Free | Not capped on the pricing page | Not capped on the pricing page | Counts, history and purchase orders on paid plans | Plus, $49/mo per location |
| Sortly Free | 100 unique items | 1 | 2 active jobs | Advanced, $49/mo monthly |
| Zoho Inventory Free | Not the limiting factor | 1 | 50 orders/mo, 1 location | Standard, $29/mo billed annually |
| Odoo One App Free | Not capped | Unlimited | One app only | Standard, per user |
| BoxHero Personal | 100 | 1 | No low-stock alerts; 30-day history | Business, $24/mo |
| Google Sheets | Not capped | Shared editing | No alerts or rules | None needed |
| Floot | Your design | No per-user charge for your app’s users | 100 actions/day; one-time $3 hosting | Pro, $25/mo |
Which limit will you hit first?
Count three things before choosing: how many distinct items or variants you stock, how many people need to update stock, and how many orders a month you process. Then pick the free plan whose limit sits furthest above your numbers.
Worked example
A gift shop with 160 variants, two staff and about 400 in-person sales a month already selling through Square: Sortly Free (100 items, 1 user) and BoxHero Personal (100 items, 1 member) are too small; Zoho Free’s 50 orders don’t fit; Square Free covers tracking and alerts with the till it already uses. Its first likely upgrade is Square Plus, when it wants the counting tool and purchase orders.
Common mistakes with free inventory apps
Free plans are a good way to start. These are the traps.
- Choosing an app whose item limit you’ll pass in a month, then migrating mid-season.
- Sharing one login between staff to stay on a one-user plan, so nobody knows who changed what.
- Assuming every listed feature is on the free tier; check the plan comparison.
- Building the whole catalogue before testing with a week of real deliveries and sales.
- Ignoring how to export your data; check you can get it out before you put it in.
- Treating a spreadsheet as a database without protecting formulas or keeping history.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a completely free inventory app?
Several have free plans with limits: Square Free, Sortly Free (100 items, 1 user), Zoho Inventory Free (50 orders a month), Odoo One App Free (one app, unlimited users) and BoxHero Personal (100 items, 1 member). Google Sheets is free with a Google account.
What is the best free inventory app for a small shop?
If you sell through Square, Square Free, because inventory and the till share one system. If you just need to track a small number of items from a phone, Sortly Free. If several people need access for free, Odoo’s One App Free plan.
Can I track inventory for free with barcode scanning?
Yes. BoxHero’s free plan lists barcode scanning, and Sortly lists in-app barcode and QR scanning among its features. Check each plan comparison to confirm what is on the free tier.
Is Google Sheets good enough for inventory?
For under about a hundred items and one careful owner, often yes. It struggles when several people update stock, when you need low-stock alerts, or when you need a history of why numbers changed.
Which free inventory app allows multiple users?
Odoo’s One App Free plan allows unlimited users for one app. Sortly, Zoho Inventory and BoxHero’s free plans are limited to one user. With Floot, the app you build has its own staff logins with no per-user charge.
When should I upgrade from a free inventory app?
When you hit the plan’s limit, when staff are sharing a login to stay on it, or when you need counts, purchase orders or alerts the free plan doesn’t include. Compare a year of the paid plan against the time it saves.
Sources
- Square, Square for Retail pricing and features, 2026 https://squareup.com/us/en/point-of-sale/retail/pricing
- Sortly, Pricing and plan comparison, 2026 https://www.sortly.com/pricing/
- Zoho, Zoho Inventory pricing, 2026 https://www.zoho.com/us/inventory/pricing/
- Odoo, Pricing, 2026 https://www.odoo.com/pricing
- BoxHero, Pricing, 2026 https://www.boxhero.io/en/pricing
- Google Workspace, Google Sheets, 2026 https://workspace.google.com/products/sheets/
- Floot, Pricing, 2026 https://floot.com/en/pricing