Inventory Planner alternatives
Last reviewed
Inventory Planner is the most established planning tool, with the widest set of integrations. Since Sage bought it in January 2022, its share of one- and two-star reviews on Shopify has risen from 3% to 19%, and every complaint about contracts and price rises dates from after the sale.
Is Inventory Planner right for you?
Inventory Planner is mature, accurate for most of the brands who review it, and connects to almost everything: Shopify, Amazon, Walmart, NetSuite, Dynamics 365, ShipBob and more. If you run an ERP and several marketplaces and want a planning layer on top, it is a strong choice.
But it is not the deal many of its long-time customers signed up for. Since Sage bought it, reviewers describe prices raised two to six times at renewal, yearly contracts paid up front, and refunds refused. Here is what changed.
What changed after Sage bought it
All 154 reviews on the Shopify App Store, split by date:
| Before September 2021 | Since January 2022 | |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | 70 | 80 |
| One or two stars | 2 (3%) | 15 (19%) |
| Average | about 4.9 | about 4.2 |
| Complaints about contracts, renewals or refunds | 0 | 7 |
| Complaints about price | 2 | 10 |
In reviewers’ own words:
- September 2022: “Inventory Planner was great before it was acquired by Bright Pearl.”
- December 2022: “Held hostage on a 12 month contract with Brightpearl on this Inventory Planner app”
- May 2023: “they change price model for more than 3 times in last year”
- October 2023: “They tried to increase our price literally 6x overnight”
- February 2024: “we were shocked to be hit with a proposal over twice the price of our current subscription”
- February 2025: “Sage have increased the annual/semi annual fees dramatically”
- July 2025: “After the acquisition, our subscription cost was increased threefold.”
The customers changed too: early reviewers were mostly small shops on a cheaper plan, so this isn’t a like-for-like test of the software. But the contract and price complaints are new, and several come from customers of three to nine years.
Inventory Planner and Kerno, side by side
| What Inventory Planner users report | Kerno | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Quote only, on sales volume. “raising prices drastically once you are on” | Free during early access, then a founding price you keep for as long as you stay |
| Contract | “They will corner you in an automatically renewing contract” | No card, no contract. When paid plans start, you get 30 days’ notice. Nothing switches to paid on its own |
| Refunds | “We’re now stuck having paid for eight months of a product we can’t use.” | Nothing paid up front |
| Small brands | One was told it was too small, and to come back at $1M+ revenue | Built for small teams, from your first supplier |
| Onboarding | One reviewer paid $5,000 for training that left basic questions unanswered | Sets itself up from your history. See your own numbers straight away |
| Forecasting | A choice of model per product, adjustable | One model per product, picked by which forecast its last 12 months best, with a plain reason on every line |
| Sync | “We would love to keep working with Inventory Planner if they can provide a stable API with Shopify.” | Reads your Shopify orders as they come in, and re-plans every night |
| Integrations | Almost every store, ERP and 3PL | Shopify, Amazon, QuickBooks Online and Xero. If you need NetSuite or Walmart today, Inventory Planner covers more |
Quotes are from Inventory Planner reviews on the Shopify App Store, 2022 to 2026.
What Inventory Planner users like, and where Kerno stands
- Forecasting that saves time. It’s what most reviewers praise, before and after the sale. Kerno forecasts every product too, leaves out sold-out days and promo spikes, and shows the reason behind each quantity.
- Named support staff. Many recent reviews thank a support agent by name. With Kerno you talk to the people who build it.
- Integrations. The widest list of any planning tool we’ve looked at. Kerno connects fewer systems and goes further from the forecast: the purchase order, production, shipping, receipt and the invoice in your books.
- Unlimited users. Included. Kerno doesn’t charge by user during early access.
What Inventory Planner users report
From the 80 Shopify reviews since January 2022, by how often each comes up. Counts are the reviews we read, so they are minimums.
- Price and rises at renewal. 10. “it’s extremely expensive to use.”
- Slow support and onboarding. 9. “I had a very bad experience with their customer service.”
- Locked-in contracts and refused refunds. 7. “Signing up for Inventory Planner is one of the worst decisions I’ve made in 13+ years as a business owner.”
- Sync and data problems. 5. “Very buggy, overly complicated. Data was not reliable.”
- Forecasts and missing features. 3.
Ratings: Inventory Planner is rated 4.3 from 154 reviews on the Shopify App Store, and 4.6 from 186 on Trustpilot, where most reviews are recent.
Other options
| Tool | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Prediko | Shopify-first brands | From $49 a month under $100k revenue; higher bands not published |
| Finale Inventory | Warehouse teams that want stock control and reordering in one tool | From $499 a month; most customers sign 12 to 36 months |
| Netstock | Distributors and makers planning on top of an ERP such as NetSuite or Sage | From $900 a month, billed yearly |
| Cin7 | Brands that want inventory, sales and assembly in one system and can run an implementation | Core $349–$1,199 a month; Omni by quote |
| Kerno Forecast | Shopify and Amazon brands that want the reason behind every quantity, and no contract | Free during early access |
See how Kerno plans a reorder, or ask for early access.
Sources, checked 2 November 2026: Inventory Planner pricing, integrations, its terms-of-service update on the Sage acquisition, how Inventory Planner, Brightpearl and Sage relate, the Shopify App Store listing and all its reviews, Inventory Planner on Trustpilot, and the pricing pages of Finale Inventory, Netstock and Cin7.
See it in Kerno Forecast.
What you see once your store is connected, with example data. It opens on the view for this topic; click through the other tabs. More about Kerno Forecast
Overview
Every product across Shopify, Amazon and your warehouses, as of 5 Dec. Recalculated each morning.
- Buy list$9,421What the suggested orders cost, at each supplier’s price.
- Products to order this week4Products whose order-by date is in the next 7 days.
- In-stock rate91%Share of selling days each product was in stock, weighted by its sales. Last 90 days.
- Sales lost to stockouts$24,800Sold-out days × in-stock daily sales × price. An estimate. Last 90 days.
- Stock on order$10,310Open purchase orders not yet received, at cost.
- Overstock$5,240Cost of stock with more than 180 days of cover, or unsold for 90 days.
- Forecast accuracy87.0%1 − (units forecast wrong ÷ units sold), per product, last 3 months.
- Days of cover51 days(On hand + on order) ÷ in-stock daily sales. Median across products.
- Stock turns5.2×Cost of goods sold in the last 12 months ÷ average stock at cost.
- Supplier delay10 daysAverage days the last 3 orders arrived after the supplier’s quoted date.
Needs you today
Order 840 insulated bottles today.Ningbo has taken 38 days, not 25. Ordering later than today means a sell-out around 9 Jan, in the January sale.
Order cold brew jars and black mugs by 8 Dec.One Jingdezhen order for both, so the mugs ride in the same shipment.
3 purchase orders are late.The 200 bottles and 400 mugs are already counted, at their new dates. Chase the 200 straw packs Ningbo didn’t ship.
Black mugs at Amazon drop under 28 days this week.Send 90 from New Jersey before Amazon starts its low-inventory fee.
Gift boxes are covered for the peak.650 arrive from Leeds on 9 Dec, before the last week of Christmas orders.
Buy list
What to order, how many and by when. The order-by date allows for each supplier’s real lead time plus 7 days of safety stock.
| Product | Sold a day | On hand | On order | Days of cover | Lead time | Order | Order by | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insulated bottle, 750 mlNingbo Steelware, $6.40 each | 30 | 1,100 | 200 | 43 | 38 days | 840$5,376 | Today | Out of stock 27 of the last 90 days; the December peak is inside the cover window. |
| Spare bottle lidNingbo Steelware, $0.90 each | 9 | 420 | – | 47 | 38 days | 350$315 | 6 Dec | 5 of its 9 a day sell inside two bundles. Rounded up past the 300 minimum. |
| Steel straw packNingbo Steelware, $1.20 each | 6 | 380 | 200 | 97 | 38 days | 500$600 | 25 Jan | Not due until 25 Jan. Added to this Ningbo order so it ships in the same run. |
| Cold brew jarJingdezhen Ceramics, $5.50 each | 8 | 410 | – | 51 | 41 days | 420$2,310 | 8 Dec | Sales up 4% a month since June. The last 3 orders took 41 days, not 25. |
| Travel mug, blackJingdezhen Ceramics, $4.10 each | 19 | 580 | 400 | 52 | 41 days | 200$820 | 8 Dec | 400 already on order, so only 200 more. Goes on the same order as the jars. |
| Gift box setLeeds Print & Pack, $11.00 each | 25 | 300 | 650 | 38 | 21 days | – | Covered | 650 arrive 9 Dec and cover the rest of the peak. Sales fall to 6 a day in January. |
| Buy list | $9,421 | |||||||
Sold a day leaves out the days a product was sold out, and counts every bundle sale on each product inside it. Quantities round up to the supplier’s minimum and the bottle’s case of 24. Change any quantity and the purchase order follows.
Forecast
One model per product, picked by which would have forecast its last 12 months best. Every forecast shows its range, and you can change any month.
Insulated bottle, 750 ml, units a month
Solid: sold last year. Red: units it would have sold in September and October if it hadn’t sold out, which the forecast counts as demand. Dashed: the forecast, with the shaded range it expects to land in 9 months out of 10.
Every product’s forecast
| Product | Model | Next 30 days | Next 90 days | Accuracy | Your changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insulated bottle, 750 ml | Seasonal, peaks in December | 1,380 | 3,140 | 88.0% | +180 in January for your planned sale, added by you |
| Gift box set | Seasonal, peaks in November and December | 620 | 900 | 81.0% | – |
| Travel mug, black | Steady | 570 | 1,710 | 91.0% | – |
| Cold brew jar | Growing, up 4% a month | 250 | 790 | 84.0% | – |
| Spare bottle lid | Follows the bottle and its two bundles | 270 | 830 | 89.0% | – |
| Steel straw pack | Steady | 180 | 540 | 90.0% | – |
| Insulated bottle, 1 l | New, borrows the 750 ml bottle’s pattern | 0 | 640 | New | Launches 20 Jan, set by you |
Accuracy compares the last 3 months’ forecast with what sold. Your changes stay on the forecast, labelled, until you remove them.
Purchase orders
Every purchase order from draft to received. Expected dates use each supplier’s real lead time, not the date they quoted.
| Order | Status | Lines | Value | Supplier said | Expected | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PO-124Ningbo Steelware | Draft | 840 bottles, 350 lids, 500 straw packs | $6,291 | – | 12 Jan | Approve and send today. |
| PO-125Jingdezhen Ceramics | Draft | 420 cold brew jars, 200 black mugs | $3,130 | – | 18 Jan | Approve by 8 Dec. |
| PO-123Leeds Print & Pack, sent 18 Nov | Confirmed | 650 gift box sets | $7,150 | 9 Dec | 9 Dec | On time. |
| PO-122Jingdezhen Ceramics, sent 30 Oct | Confirmed, late | 400 black mugs | $1,640 | 24 Nov | 10 Dec | 16 days late. Ask for a ship date. |
| PO-121Ningbo Steelware, sent 2 Nov | In transit, late | 200 bottles | $1,280 | 27 Nov | 10 Dec | At the port. The bottle’s buy list already counts it. |
| PO-119Ningbo Steelware, sent 20 Oct | Partly received, late | 200 of 500 straw packs still to come | $240 | 14 Nov | Not shipped | Short by 200. Chase them, or close the rest of the order. |
Drafts are ready to check and send as a PDF or email, in the supplier’s currency. Receive in part or in full; a short delivery stays open until you close it.
Suppliers
| Supplier | Quoted lead time | Real, last 3 orders | On time | Minimum order | Currency and terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ningbo Steelware | 25 days | 38 days | 1 of 3 | 300 per product | USD. 30% with the order, the rest before it ships |
| Jingdezhen Ceramics | 25 days | 41 days | 0 of 3 | 200 per product | CNY. 50% with the order, the rest before it ships |
| Leeds Print & Pack | 21 days | 21 days | 3 of 3 | 250 per product | GBP. 30 days after delivery |
The buy list plans with the real lead time. When a supplier speeds up, the next three orders bring the figure back down.
Locations
Stock and days of cover at each place you sell from. Each location is forecast from the orders it ships.
| Product | Own warehouse, New Jersey | ShipMonk, Las Vegas | Amazon FBA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insulated bottle, 750 ml | 52040 days at 13 a day | 18026 days at 7 a day | 40040 days at 10 a day |
| Travel mug, black | 38048 days at 8 a day | 408 days at 5 a day | 16027 days at 6 a day |
| Cold brew jar | 30060 days at 5 a day | 11037 days at 3 a day | 0Not stocked |
Suggested transfers
| Product | Move | From | To | Freight | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel mug, black | 120 | Own warehouse, New Jersey | ShipMonk, Las Vegas | $46 | Las Vegas runs out in 8 days; New Jersey has 47. After the move both have about 32 days. |
| Insulated bottle, 750 ml | 70 | Own warehouse, New Jersey | ShipMonk, Las Vegas | $38 | Evens both sites to about 35 days, so west coast orders don’t ship from New Jersey at twice the postage. |
Approve a transfer and Kerno writes the transfer order, or the inbound shipment for ShipMonk. A transfer is suggested only when it costs less than ordering more.
Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA, from Amazon’s inventory, restock, inventory-planning and storage-capacity reports. Amazon’s own restock suggestion sits beside Kerno’s.
- Ready to ship674Units Amazon can sell now.
- Reserved96In customer orders, moving between warehouses, or being checked.
- To send this week90Units Kerno suggests sending from your own stock.
- Storage used182 of 300Cubic feet against your limit for standard-size items.
- Aged surcharge$168Amazon’s estimate for next month, on stock over 180 days old.
Send 90 black travel mugs to Amazon this week.Send 90 from New Jersey this week. Under 28 days, Amazon adds a low-inventory fee to every unit.
210 sage travel mugs are 271–365 days old.Amazon estimates a $168 surcharge next month. A removal order at about $0.97 a unit costs less, or run a coupon first.
Stock at Amazon
| Product | Ready to ship | Reserved | Unsellable | Amazon suggests | Kerno: send now | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insulated bottle, 750 mlB0C7K2M4QX | 340 | 6035 in orders, 20 moving | 4 | 280 | – | Covered to 14 Jan. Kerno plans the next send for 20 Dec, from the 12 Jan order. |
| Travel mug, blackB0C9TRVM6K | 130 | 3022 in orders, 8 moving | 2 | 180 | 90 | Send 90 from New Jersey this week. Under 28 days, Amazon adds a low-inventory fee to every unit. |
| Travel mug, sageB0C9TRVS2P | 204 | 62 in orders, 0 moving | – | – | – | Remove 150 or run a coupon before the aged surcharge rises in January. |
Amazon’s suggestion assumes you can send any amount at any time. Kerno’s counts what is in your own warehouse, what is on order from the supplier, and the next send date.
Units by age at Amazon
| Product | 0–90 days | 91–180 | 181–270 | 271–365 | Over 365 | Surcharge, next month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insulated bottle, 750 ml | 400 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Travel mug, black | 150 | 10 | – | – | – | – |
| Travel mug, sage | – | – | – | 210 | – | $168 |
After this week’s send, storage use is 191 of 300 cubic feet. Inbound shipments are planned to avoid Amazon’s placement fee where splitting the shipment costs less than the fee.
Bundles
Bundles are built from stock of their parts, so Kerno forecasts each part from every listing it sells in.
| Bundle | Made from | Sold a day | Can build now | Limited by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottle and two spare lids | 1 × insulated bottle, 750 ml, 2 × spare bottle lid | 2 | 210 | Spare bottle lid |
| Starter set | 1 × insulated bottle, 750 ml, 1 × steel straw pack, 1 × spare bottle lid | 1 | 380 | Steel straw pack |
Where each part’s demand comes from
| Part | Sold on its own | In bottle and two spare lids | In starter set | Total a day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insulated bottle, 750 ml | 27 | 2 | 1 | 30 |
| Spare bottle lid | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 |
| Steel straw pack | 5 | – | 1 | 6 |
A spreadsheet that only counts lids sold on their own sees 4 a day and orders less than half of what you need.
Overstock
Stock with more than 180 days of cover, or nothing sold in 90 days. $5,240 at cost, kept off the buy list until it sells down.
| Product | Units | At cost | Sold a day | Days of cover | Last sold | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel mug, sage$4.10 each | 640 | $2,624 | 0.4 | 1,600 | 21 Nov | Bundle it with the black mug, or mark it down 30%. It is off the buy list. |
| Bottle carry strap$1.10 each | 1,200 | $1,320 | 2 | 600 | 4 Dec | Add one free to bottle orders over $60 until it is under 180 days. |
| Cold brew jar, 2 l$7.20 each | 180 | $1,296 | – | No sales | 3 Aug | Ask the supplier about a return, or clear it at cost. |
The sage mug includes 210 units at Amazon, where it also costs an aged surcharge. See the Amazon FBA tab.
Budget
Your buying plan by month: stock arriving, what you pay and when (deposits included), against the budget you set.
| Month | Forecast sales | Stock arriving, at cost | Paid to suppliers | Budget | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December | $142,000 | $10,070 | $9,540 | $15,000 | $5,460 |
| January | $96,000 | $9,421 | $6,600 | $12,000 | $5,400 |
| February | $88,000 | $14,800 | $11,200 | $12,000 | $800 |
| March | $99,000 | $18,900 | $16,400 | $12,000 | −$4,400 |
| April | $103,000 | $12,300 | $10,900 | $12,000 | $1,100 |
| May | $108,000 | $11,700 | $11,000 | $12,000 | $1,000 |
March is $4,400 over budget.Spring stock for the 1 l bottle launch lands then. Move its second order to April, or raise March’s budget; the forecast shows what each choice does to stock.
Plan to a sales target
Set a target and Kerno shows the stock it takes. To reach $650,000 from December to May, 8% over the forecast, you’d buy about $8,400 more, mostly bottles and gift boxes, and pay $2,600 of it in March.
Kerno Forecast compared with the main alternatives.
| Feature | Kerno Forecast | Inventory Planner | Netstock | Prediko |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forecast model | One per product, picked by which forecast its last 12 months best | Choose a model per product, adjustable | Picks from about 10 statistical methods for each product | AI-assisted; model not named |
| Sold-out days | Left out of demand, and the lost sales estimated | Not documented | Optional uplift for months with a stockout, set from 0 to 100% | Not documented |
| Lead times | From each supplier’s last 3 deliveries, not the quote | Not documented | Measured from 3 or more past receipts, otherwise set by hand | Not documented |
| Why each quantity | A plain reason on every line | Forecast calculation visible | Shows the policy and constraints behind each order quantity | Reviews call it a “black box” |
| Bundles and kits | Each part forecast from every bundle it sells in | Not documented | Component demand from bills of materials | Bundles across locations; BOM add-on $20 |
| Purchase orders | Drafts by supplier, rounded to minimums and cases | Yes, with minimum-order scaling | Recommended orders, rounded to minimums and multiples, sent to your ERP | Unlimited |
| Transfers between locations | Suggested only when cheaper than ordering more | Yes | Distribution plans and excess redistribution, as transfers in your ERP | Yes |
| Amazon FBA | Restock beside Amazon’s own, aged stock and storage limits, during early access | Amazon connection | No Amazon or Shopify connection; works through your ERP | Amazon connection |
| Buying budget | By month, with deposits paid when they’re due, during early access | By month or retail week | Not documented | Revenue-target planning |
| Overstock | Cost, days of cover and a next step | Last sold, units and cost | Excess and obsolete stock flagged against your stock policy | Not documented |
| Price | Free during early access, then a founding price you keep | Quote only | From $900 a month, billed yearly | From $49 a month |
From each vendor’s website, pricing page and Shopify App Store listing, checked October and November 2026. “Not documented” means their pages don’t describe it.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Inventory Planner cost?
Inventory Planner doesn't publish prices. Its pricing page asks you to request a quote, and an owner reply on the Shopify App Store says pricing moved to a sales-volume basis. Reviewers describe yearly contracts paid up front, and one says "we spend $20K a year".
Who owns Inventory Planner?
Sage. Inventory Planner's help centre says it was acquired by the Sage Group, as part of Brightpearl, on 18 January 2022, and that customer contracts moved to Brightpearl companies from 1 May 2023.
Did Inventory Planner get worse after Sage bought it?
On price and contracts, its reviews say so. Of the 70 Shopify reviews before September 2021, 2 were one or two stars. Of the 80 since January 2022, 15 are, and all 7 complaints about locked-in contracts and refused refunds date from June 2022 on. Most recent reviews still praise its forecasting and support, and none says the forecasts themselves got worse.
Why do brands look for Inventory Planner alternatives?
In reviews since 2022, mostly price rises at renewal, then slow support for smaller brands, and yearly contracts that renew automatically and are hard to leave.
What do Inventory Planner users like?
Its forecasting and the time it saves, named support staff, and integrations with almost every store, ERP and 3PL.