Spreadsheets are great for getting started. But as your inventory grows, they break. Here's what you gain by switching to purpose-built inventory software.
Any business ready to stop losing track of inventory — from 20 items to 5,000+. Free tier lets you start without paying anything
Pricing: Free / $49/mo
Businesses with fewer than 10 items that rarely change, managed by one person, where inventory accuracy isn't business-critical
Pricing: Free (with Microsoft 365 or Google account)
| Feature | Recommended InventoryQuick | Excel & Google Sheets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free / $49/mo | Free |
| Real-time Multi-user | Conflicts common | |
| Barcode Scanning | ||
| Low Stock Alerts | Automatic | Manual formulas |
| AI Assistant | ||
| ML Forecasting | ||
| Purchase Orders | Manual | |
| Mobile App | Basic (Google Sheets app) | |
| Audit Trail | Automatic | Manual |
| Data Entry | Scan or import | Manual typing |
| Analytics | Dashboard + ML | Build your own charts |
| Multi-location | Separate tabs/sheets | |
| Team Permissions | Role-based | Share or don't |
| Integrations | Shopify, QuickBooks, Slack | Copy-paste |
| Price Monitoring | ||
| Setup Time | 5 minutes | Hours of template building |
Real-time tracking — no more stale data or version conflicts
Barcode scanning from your phone camera — no manual data entry
Automatic low-stock alerts before you run out
AI assistant answers questions about your inventory in plain English
Purchase orders, sales tracking, and supplier management built in
We believe in honest comparisons. Here's where Excel & Google Sheets has an edge.
Completely free and already familiar to everyone
Maximum flexibility — create any layout or formula you want
No software to learn — you already know how to use it
If you've ever lost track of stock, had version conflicts with a shared spreadsheet, or spent time manually building reports — yes. InventoryQuick's free plan gives you 20 items with barcode scanning, alerts, and analytics. You can start in 5 minutes without losing your spreadsheet data (import via CSV).
Yes. Save your spreadsheet as CSV and upload it to InventoryQuick. Our import tool auto-detects column names from any format — whether your columns say 'Product Name' or 'Item', 'Qty' or 'Quantity on Hand', 'Cost' or 'Unit Price'. It also recognizes exports from Shopify, WooCommerce, Square, QuickBooks, Amazon, and 10+ other platforms. Your items, quantities, prices, categories, locations, and suppliers all map automatically.
Yes — 20 items, 1 location, barcode scanning, analytics dashboard, and 10 AI assistant messages per month. No credit card required. No trial that expires. The free plan works indefinitely.
Start free with 20 items. 14-day Pro trial included — no credit card required.