Best Free Inventory Management Software 2026: 6 Options Compared
Best free Inventory Management Software compared: Zoho Inventory, Sortly, Odoo, ERPNext and 2 more, with free-plan limits, platforms and prices from official pages checked October 24, 2026.
•3 min read•Accounting & Payments
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Inventory | Free (Free plan: 50 orders, 1 user, 1 location); paid from $29 per organization/month, billed annually (Standard) | Web | Small online sellers with low order volume | Docs only |
| Sortly | Free (Free plan: 100 unique items, 1 user license, 2 active jobs) | Web | Visual tracking of a small item list | Docs only |
| Odoo | Free (One App Free plan on Odoo Online, unlimited users) | Web browser, Self-hosted | Teams that may add apps later | Docs only |
| ERPNext | Free (Free to self-host; Frappe Cloud is the managed option) | Web, Self-hosted | Businesses wanting stock tied to accounts | Docs only |
| Dolibarr | Free (Free software; commercial cloud hosting is sold separately) | Web (self-hosted), Windows, Linux | Small shops wanting an all-in-one system | Docs only |
| InvenTree | Free (Free self-hosted software; the repository page lists no paid hosting) | Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android | Parts and component tracking | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You run a small web shop and sell under 50 orders a month (Zoho Inventory is the pick)
- You track a few hundred items for jobs and sites (Sortly is the pick)
- You track electronic parts and components (InvenTree is the pick)
- You need stock to post to accounting (ERPNext is the pick)
- You want inventory now and apps later from one vendor (Odoo is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You need paid-tier features, uptime guarantees or support that these free plans leave out
Free inventory management software tends to be limited by orders, items or users, so the first question is the size of your operation. Zoho Inventory's free plan covers 50 orders, one user and one location, and Sortly's free plan caps you at 100 unique items, one user and two active jobs. Those suit a seller with a small catalogue or a team tracking a few kits. If you outgrow that, open-source systems have no item cap: InvenTree for parts, ERPNext, Odoo and Dolibarr for stock tied to sales and accounting. Odoo Online's free plan allows one app with unlimited users, which means inventory alone can be free, but adding sales or accounting means paying. Self-hosting trades subscription fees for admin time. Think about how you count stock: barcode scanning, variants, bundles and multiple locations are the features most often moved to paid tiers, so test them on the free plan before you load a thousand SKUs. Ask whether stock levels need to sync with an online shop or accounting tool, because manual double entry is where discrepancies start. Run a physical count after your first week and compare it with the system.
Zoho Inventory
Free plan: 50 orders, 1 user and 1 location. Standard is $29 per organization a month billed annually, and no item limit was stated on the page.
Price: Free (Free plan: 50 orders, 1 user, 1 location); paid from $29 per organization/month, billed annually (Standard) (Zoho Inventory pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Small online sellers with low order volume.
Sortly
Free plan: 100 unique items, 1 user and 2 active jobs. Advanced is listed at $49 a month, with a 50% first-year promotion that makes the ongoing price unclear.
Price: Free (Free plan: 100 unique items, 1 user license, 2 active jobs) (Sortly pricing, checked 2026-10-24).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary SaaS.
Best for: Visual tracking of a small item list.
Odoo
The One App Free plan on Odoo Online gives unlimited users but one app, so a warehouse management app alone can be free. The Community edition is LGPL-3.0 for self-hosting.
Price: Free (One App Free plan on Odoo Online, unlimited users) (Odoo pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web browser, Self-hosted. LGPL-3.0 (Community edition) (open source).
Project activity: 55.4k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 28, 2026
Best for: Teams that may add apps later.
Compare: Odoo alternatives
ERPNext
GPL-3.0 and free to self-host, with order management that tracks inventory levels and replenishes stock. Frappe Cloud is the managed paid option.
Price: Free (Free to self-host; Frappe Cloud is the managed option) (ERPNext pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 40.7k GitHub stars · latest release v15.124.1 (Oct 22, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Businesses wanting stock tied to accounts.
Worth knowing: Its Accounting module covers recording transactions through financial reporting. Running it yourself means handling hosting, upgrades and backups.
Dolibarr
GPL-3.0 or later, listing stock, warehouse and inventory management next to invoicing and point of sale. Needs PHP and a database.
Price: Free (Free software; commercial cloud hosting is sold separately) (Dolibarr pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web (self-hosted), Windows, Linux. GPL-3.0 or later (open source).
Project activity: 7.8k GitHub stars · latest release 24.0.1 (Sep 7, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Small shops wanting an all-in-one system.
Worth knowing: Needs PHP and MariaDB, MySQL or PostgreSQL; DoliWamp, DoliDeb, DoliRpm and Docker packages exist.
InvenTree
MIT-licensed stock control and part tracking with a REST API and plugin system, installable with Docker. There is no paid hosting listed on the repository.
Price: Free (Free self-hosted software; the repository page lists no paid hosting) (InvenTree pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted, iOS, Android. MIT (open source).
Project activity: 7.8k GitHub stars · latest release 1.6.3 (Oct 27, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Parts and component tracking.
Which one to pick
- You run a small web shop and sell under 50 orders a month: Zoho Inventory
- You track a few hundred items for jobs and sites: Sortly
- You track electronic parts and components: InvenTree
- You need stock to post to accounting: ERPNext
- You want inventory now and apps later from one vendor: Odoo
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Zoho Inventory, Sortly, Odoo, ERPNext, Dolibarr, InvenTree: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you commit.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing, license and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-24: Zoho Inventory, Sortly, Odoo, ERPNext, Dolibarr, InvenTree. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.