You receive a partial delivery in boxes, but the stock sheet counts individual parts. Before you replace that sheet, check how the new tool records the conversion and the quantity still owed. Three free inventory management software options to evaluate are Zoho Inventory for a small order-based operation, Sortly for a limited item catalog, and self-hosted ERPNext for a team prepared to run a broader business system.
This shortlist uses official documentation checked October 14, 2026. It covers ongoing free plans and free software you host yourself; paid-plan trials are separate. These are documented capabilities, not hands-on reviews. Permute publishes this comparison and sells connected business data and custom applications. Its role is discussed separately from the free options.
Keep the existing system if it already preserves the stock movements and access you need and a move would only avoid a modest subscription. Compare each free offer using the same catalog, locations, users, and monthly transactions. Include the time and hosting needed to operate a self-managed option before calling its total cost zero.
Check receipts and limits before choosing a tool
Start with the records your inventory manager maintains: item IDs, units, locations, receipts, issues, and returns. A unit of measure describes how a quantity is counted, such as each, box, or kilogram. If purchasing and stockkeeping use different units, the conversion belongs in the process you test. An item name alone cannot tell someone whether a quantity of ten means ten boxes or ten parts.
Then count the things each free plan limits. An item allowance measures the catalog, while an order allowance measures activity. User and location allowances impose separate constraints. Use a busy month and include corrections and returns in your sample so the evaluation covers more than a clean opening balance.
- Receipts: can you receive part of a purchase order without marking the outstanding quantity as delivered?
- Units: can a box-to-each conversion be checked against the original receipt, including a supplier pack-size change?
- Corrections: can you explain a returned quantity without erasing the original receipt?
- Ownership: can the person covering an absent stockkeeper use an authorized account within the plan allowance?
- Exit: does an export preserve item IDs, units, locations, and the transaction history you need to investigate a discrepancy?
Three options with different free allowances
| Option | What is free | Consider it for | Constraint to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho Inventory | Hosted Free plan: 50 orders/month, 1 user, 1 location | A small order-based stock operation | Separate purchase-order limit; paid tier for unit conversion |
| Sortly | Hosted Free plan: 100 unique items, 1 user | A small catalog managed by one person | Distinct item records count; history and team access need review |
| ERPNext | Open-source software for self-hosting | A team needing purchasing and stock records in a broader system | Hosting, configuration, backups, and support remain your responsibility |
Zoho Inventory for a small order-based operation
Zoho’s US plan comparison lists separate monthly Free allowances of 50 orders, 50 invoices, 20 purchase orders, and 20 bills. Do not add those together and treat the result as one interchangeable transaction allowance. A purchasing-heavy operation can reach its purchase-order cap before its sales-order cap.
Zoho’s pricing page places unit-of-measure conversion in Premium. That affects the opening example: if you buy boxes and issue individual parts, verify the exact workflow your chosen edition permits. Free may fit a small catalog using a consistent unit, but a required conversion should be resolved before importing the item master. The same page offers a separate 14-day trial; features visible during that trial do not establish what remains on Free.
Sortly for a small catalog with one owner
Sortly’s pricing page lists 100 unique items and one user license on Free. It says quantities of a unique item do not count toward that item limit. A single item record with a quantity of 200 therefore differs from 200 distinct item records, which matters when estimating how much of your catalog fits.
The same comparison lists a one-month transaction-report limit on Free. Check whether that history is enough for the discrepancies you investigate and what records you can retain outside the app. This is a candidate for a small catalog whose owner can manage the permitted records, but test receiving and returns before choosing it for purchasing work. Do not infer an order workflow from the ability to change an item quantity.
ERPNext when you can operate the software
Frappe describes ERPNext as free, open-source software and offers self-hosting alongside paid managed hosting. The free part is the software. Budget for someone to install it, configure access, apply updates, monitor backups, and demonstrate a restore before it becomes the working stock record.
ERPNext’s purchase-order documentation describes purchase and stock unit conversion, and its return documentation covers returning rejected items. Those documented workflows make it a candidate for the receipt test below. Configuration still needs checking against your units and transaction sequence. If production planning is also part of the decision, the ERP versus MRP comparison separates those requirements from stock tracking.
If the required users or stock controls exceed a free edition, compare the broader ERP inventory management options. That evaluation includes reservations, held stock, and dated availability rather than choosing solely from a free-plan allowance.
Test a partial receipt and a return
Use this hypothetical case in each shortlisted tool. You order ten boxes of a component, with twelve pieces per box. Six boxes arrive, so the receipt represents 72 pieces and four boxes remain outstanding. Two pieces from the received shipment are later returned to the supplier. Assuming no other movements, the stock balance should be 70 pieces.
Keep the return separate from the undelivered balance. Whether the supplier owes a replacement for those two pieces depends on the agreed return arrangement; it should not be guessed from the stock count. Inspect the original order, the partial receipt, and the return reference. Ask another person to reconstruct the 70-piece balance from those records without your explanation.
Repeat the test with an alternate supplier code for the same component and a missing pack size. Decide who confirms the match and who supplies the conversion before accepting the records. The inventory reconciliation article covers investigating differences between stock records and supporting evidence. Keep the original spreadsheet until the sample reconciles and the people doing the work can repeat it.
Where Permute fits with inventory data
Permute sells connected business data and custom applications. We help scope work that combines supported sources and supplied records when supplier codes, internal item IDs, or location names disagree. Matching those references requires declared rules and review of ambiguous records. A similar description does not establish that two parts are interchangeable.
Your team defines the approved item mapping, the base unit, and which source owns each field. Those definitions can support recurring reports or custom applications with source evidence and access controls. An operations manager can inspect unmatched references and trace a reported balance to its inputs. A manufacturing dashboard is one possible output after those definitions are settled.
Inspect the data behind a stock report
Start with an available source and review the item references and units a combined report would need.
What needs a separate scope decision
Permute is a separate commercial product, not a free inventory replacement in this shortlist. We are not offering warehouse execution, accounting treatment decisions, or a forecasting engine. This example does not promise a native connection to every listed tool or automatic updates to its stock ledger. Confirm extraction, access, and any proposed action with the team responsible for the source system.
Choose against the stock records you need
Zoho Inventory, Sortly, and self-hosted ERPNext offer different ways to begin without a software subscription. Compare the edition you will keep against your catalog, transaction volume, users, and operating capacity. Use the partial receipt and return to check that a stock figure can be explained after the event. Keep the existing records available until the replacement preserves that explanation.
Discuss inventory reporting across sources
Bring a stock report and the source records that disagree so the mapping and reporting scope can be reviewed.
Questions about choosing free inventory software
Should I keep a spreadsheet if the catalog is small?
Keep it in the comparison if you can maintain ownership, units, and transaction history without losing corrections. Test the same receipt and return in the spreadsheet and the proposed app. A small catalog alone does not establish which option will preserve the records you need.
How can I avoid evaluating paid features during a free trial?
List the features used in your test and compare each with the ongoing free edition before committing. Confirm what happens to records or workflows after the trial ends. Keep an export so a trial expiry does not leave your only usable copy inside an unsuitable plan.
Can two stockkeepers share the free account?
Review the vendor’s account terms and use authorized access. Sharing a login also makes it harder to determine who entered a receipt or correction. If coverage requires a second person, include that access requirement in the plan comparison.
When should I import the opening stock balance?
Choose a defined cutoff after checking the sample workflow and reconciling the source records. Record which receipts, issues, and returns fall on each side of the cutoff. Keep their references so a late entry can be investigated without counting the movement twice.