Zoho Inventory alternatives
Last reviewed
Zoho Inventory is free for 50 orders a month, then $29 to $249 a month billed yearly, with an order cap on every plan. Users like how easy and cheap it is. Its own Shopify app is rated 1.6, and it has no demand forecasting.
Is Zoho Inventory right for you?
Zoho Inventory is cheap, quick to start and well liked: it averages about 4.5 on the review sites we read. If you’re a small seller already on Zoho Books or Zoho CRM, with a modest order count and simple buying, it is a sensible choice.
If you’re a Shopify and Amazon brand that buys from factories, the gaps are in the two places that matter most to you: the Shopify connection, and deciding what to order. Here is what users report.
Zoho Inventory and Kerno, side by side
| What Zoho Inventory users report | Kerno | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for 50 orders, then $29 to $249 a month. “The downside is that it comes with monthly order limits” | Free during early access, then a founding price you keep for as long as you stay |
| Shopify | “Can’t link Shopify with Zoho Inventory after a few days of trying.” | Shopify and Amazon connected from the start. One live stock count across every warehouse and channel |
| Forecasting | “there’s no forecasting feature either.” | Built in. Every purchase order is drafted from the forecast, with the reason behind each quantity. Confirm it, or autosend |
| Purchase orders | You raise them; how much to order is up to you | Drafted by supplier, rounded to minimums and cases, and followed through production, shipping and receipt |
| Amazon FBA | “Then about 4 weeks ago the FBA inventory stopped syncing altogether and started getting an error.” | Stock at Amazon’s warehouses in the same count, with restock planned beside Amazon’s own |
| Accounting | “connecting it with accounting software outside of Zoho Books is not a very easy process.” | Invoices, cost of goods and supplier bills sync to QuickBooks Online or Xero |
| Getting started | “The initial setup also took a while because there are so many settings to work through” | Runs alongside what you use now, and sets itself up from your history |
| Stock history | “The system does not keep a clear record of the date and time when quantities were increased or decreased” | Every stock change is recorded with what moved it and when |
| Support | “Help is unavailable and does not reply.” | We read every request ourselves |
Quotes are from Zoho Inventory reviews on SoftwareFinder and the Shopify App Store, and Zoho’s community forum, 2024 to 2026.
What Zoho Inventory users like, and where Kerno stands
- Easy to start. “For me getting started with it didn’t take much time which was a big plus!” Kerno is built for small teams too, and sets itself up from your history.
- Zoho Books. “it works perfectly if you’re already using Zoho Books”. If you’re on QuickBooks Online or Xero instead, Kerno syncs to those.
- Cheap, with a free plan. True, up to the order cap. Kerno is free during early access, with no order cap.
- Accurate stock once it’s running. “Now our inventory management is spot on and we no longer have to worry about losing stock or overselling products.” Kerno holds stock for each order the moment it arrives, so the same unit isn’t sold twice.
What Zoho Inventory users report
From the 40 newest reviews on SoftwareFinder and all 9 reviews of Zoho’s Shopify app, by how often each comes up. Counts are the reviews we saw, so they are minimums.
- The Shopify app won’t connect, and support is silent. 7 of 9. “2025 and it still won’t integrate with Shopify”
- Limited features, customising and reports. About 11 of 40. “Reporting side feels a bit limited.”
- Hard to connect outside Zoho. 7 of 40. Accounting other than Zoho Books, some marketplaces and shipping providers.
- Setup and learning curve. 7 of 40. “getting everything set up at the beginning can feel a bit overwhelming.”
- Bugs and lag. 4 of 40. “There are times when it lags when I try to check the current stock.”
Ratings: SoftwareFinder rates Zoho Inventory 4.5 from 404 reviews and GetApp about 4.5 from 416. Zoho’s Shopify app is rated 1.6 from 9 reviews, with no replies from Zoho.
Other options
These are the names that come up most when people search for a Zoho Inventory alternative.
| Tool | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Katana | Makers who run production in-house | Free to 30 SKUs; Advantage by quote |
| 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 |
| Odoo | Firms with a partner or technical owner that want one system for everything | $22.80–$36 a user a month, plus setup |
| Fishbowl | Makers and distributors on QuickBooks who can staff an implementation | $229–$729 a month, billed yearly |
| Kerno | Shopify and Amazon brands that want one record from factory order to invoice, without a switch-over project | Free during early access |
See the whole flow, or ask for early access.
Sources, checked 2 November 2026: Zoho Inventory US pricing, UK pricing, Zoho Inventory on the Shopify App Store, Zoho Inventory reviews on SoftwareFinder, and the pricing pages of Katana, Cin7, Odoo and Fishbowl.
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 compared, from factory order to invoice.
| Stage | Kerno | Brightpearl | Cin7 | Finale Inventory | Zoho Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Runs alongside what you use now, and sets itself up from your history | Scoped before you sign; customers “go live in 90-120 days, on average” | Group, one-to-one or partner-led onboarding; fee and time not published | “Go live in 2–6 weeks”; standard onboarding included | Self-serve with free onboarding; paid setup from $999 |
| Purchase orders | Drafted from the forecast, in the factory’s currency. Confirm it, or autosend | Suggested purchase orders through Inventory Planner | From reorder suggestions with the ForesightAI add-on; foreign currencies converted | Recommended reorder quantities turned into purchase orders | Items below reorder point listed; POs raised by hand |
| Production and shipments | Production status on every PO; packing list and commercial invoice in one click | Not documented | Stock in transit for invoiced POs not yet received; production tracking not documented | Several shipments per PO; production tracking not documented | Expected delivery date; receipts can be saved as in transit |
| Landed cost | Freight and duties on the shipment, added to each product’s cost from the bills | Freight and import duty in each product’s landed cost | Extra PO costs spread into landed cost | PO fees spread by quantity, weight, value or volume | Freight on bills, split by value or quantity |
| Receiving | Counted in against the PO at any warehouse; shorts and damage flagged on the spot | Not documented | Partial receipts; the shortfall stays on backorder | Partial receipts, the rest backordered; scanner receiving is an add-on | Partial receipts; discrepancies not documented |
| Builds and kits | See what you can build today; each build booked at its full cost | Bundles, kits and assemblies; bills of materials through a partner app | Bills of materials and assembly on every plan; MRP on Core Pro and up | Kits, bundles and bills of materials; builds use up components | Bundles; no bills of materials or manufacturing |
| Orders and stock | Shopify, Amazon and wholesale in one list; stock held for each order as it arrives | Shopify and Amazon; orders allocated across channels and warehouses | Shopify and Amazon; Core allocates stock when the order comes in | Shopify and Amazon, including FBA; several warehouses | Shopify and Amazon, including FBA; up to 10 locations |
| Shipping | Labels, packing lists and customs invoices; tracking to the customer and channel | Courier labels from the order; ShipStation also connects | Through ShipStation and other shipping apps | Labels through a free ShipRush account; ShipStation also connects | UPS built in; other carriers through EasyPost |
| Accounting | Invoices, cost of goods and supplier bills sync to QuickBooks Online or Xero | Its own built-in accounts, or Xero, QuickBooks Online or Sage Intacct | Xero or QuickBooks Online, including cost of goods | QuickBooks Online: invoices, bills and cost of goods | Zoho Books built in; QuickBooks Online and Xero, including cost of goods |
| Contract | No card, no contract. Export everything as CSV whenever you like | Not documented | Core monthly or yearly, renews automatically, 30 days’ notice to leave | Most sign 12, 24 or 36 months; renews automatically, 30 days’ notice | Monthly or yearly; “not bound by any contracts” |
| Price | Free during early access, then a founding price you keep | By quote; unlimited users included | Core $349–$1,199 a month; Omni by quote | From $499 a month; Enterprise by quote | Free for 50 orders a month, then $29–$249 a month, billed yearly |
Kerno Forecast compared with the main alternatives.
| Feature | Kerno Forecast | Inventory Planner | Netstock | Prediko | Zoho Inventory |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Not on its pricing or features pages |
| 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 | 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 | 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” | Not documented |
| 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 | Bundles |
| 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 | Purchase orders and bills, without a forecast |
| Transfers between locations | Suggested only when cheaper than ordering more | Yes | Distribution plans and excess redistribution, as transfers in your ERP | Yes | Several locations per plan |
| 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 | 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 | Not documented |
| 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 | 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 | Free for 50 orders a month, then $29–$249 a month, billed yearly; order caps per plan |
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 Zoho Inventory cost?
Zoho's US pricing page shows a free plan for 50 orders a month, then Standard at $29, Premium at $79, Plus at $129 and Enterprise at $249 a month, billed yearly, capped at 500 to 15,000 orders a month. Extra orders, users and locations are add-ons: $7.50 for 500 orders, $7.50 a user and $10 a location. In the UK, plans run £25 to £199.
Does Zoho Inventory work with Shopify?
Zoho's own Shopify app is rated 1.6 from 9 reviews on the Shopify App Store. Seven of the nine say it won't connect or that support doesn't reply. Some reviewers elsewhere say their Shopify connection works well.
Does Zoho Inventory forecast demand?
Forecasting isn't on Zoho Inventory's pricing or features pages, and a reviewer wrote: "there's no forecasting feature either." You get reorder points and purchase orders, but working out how much to order is up to you.
What do Zoho Inventory users like?
It's easy to start and use, it fits closely with Zoho Books, and it's cheap, with a free plan and purchase orders included.
How is Kerno different from Zoho Inventory?
Kerno is built around buying: every purchase order is drafted from the forecast, with the reason behind each quantity, and followed through production, shipping and your warehouses. Shopify and Amazon are connected from the start, and invoices, cost of goods and bills sync to QuickBooks Online or Xero. There is no card and no contract during early access.