Cloud Based Inventory Management: What It Is and What to Look For
Published · 8 min read
Cloud based inventory management means your stock list lives online instead of on one computer or in one spreadsheet. Everyone on the team opens the same numbers from a phone, a laptop or the shop's desktop, wherever they are, and a change one person makes is there for the next. This guide covers how cloud inventory software differs from desktop software and spreadsheets, what to look for before you pick one, and how Hoardo does it for free.
What cloud based inventory management is
A cloud based inventory management system keeps your items, locations and counts on servers you reach over the internet, usually in a web browser. Nothing has to be installed on a particular machine, and nothing is lost when a laptop dies.
Most of what you do with it is the same as with any inventory system: list what you have, say where it is and how many there are, count it now and then, and see what's running low. The difference is where the list lives, and that changes who can use it and when.
Cloud inventory software vs desktop software and spreadsheets
| Spreadsheet on one computer | Desktop inventory software | Cloud inventory software | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | One file, often emailed around | Installed on a PC or a local server | In the browser, on any device |
| Who's working on the latest version | Whoever has the file open | People at that machine or on that network | Everyone who signs in |
| Updates and backups | Up to you | Up to you or your IT person | Done by the provider |
| Working from the stockroom floor | Hard on a phone | Usually not | Built for it |
| Getting your data out | It's already a file | Depends on the software | Look for CSV or Excel export |
A spreadsheet is fine for one person and a few dozen lines. It starts to hurt when two people edit copies, when the count has to happen on a phone in an aisle, or when nobody knows which file is the real one. Desktop software fixes the structure but ties you to one machine. Cloud inventory management keeps the structure and lets the whole team use it from where the stock is.
What to look for in cloud inventory software
- It works on phones as well as computers. Counting, receiving and finding things happen on your feet, not at a desk.
- Everyone sees the same numbers. One list, not copies, so a sale on the floor and a count in the back end up in the same place.
- Access per person. Some people should change counts, others only look. A part-timer at the till doesn't need to edit the stockroom.
- A history of changes. Who changed a quantity, from what to what, and a way to put it back when it was a mistake.
- Sign-in you can trust. Shared passwords on a sticky note are how shared accounts go wrong.
- Export whenever you want. Your inventory is your data. If you can't download it as a CSV or Excel file, you're locked in.
- A price that doesn't grow with every user. Many cloud inventory tools charge per seat or cap items on a free plan.
How Hoardo works as cloud inventory management
Hoardo is a free inventory app that runs in the browser. Locations are rooms (a stockroom, a shop floor, a van, a site), the shelves, bins and cases in them are numbered boxes, and each item has its quantity, photos, notes, barcodes and any properties you add.
In the browser, on every device
Open hoardo.com on a phone, tablet or computer and sign in. There's no App Store or Play Store app to install: on a phone you can add Hoardo to the home screen, and it opens full screen like an app. The phone keeps a copy of everything you can see, so rooms, boxes and search open straight away, and it fetches the latest when you open it, when you come back to it, every minute while it's open and after every save.
Sign-in without passwords
Your team signs in with a code sent to their email, or with Google or Microsoft. There are no passwords to share or forget. "Sign out everywhere" in Settings ends every session on every device at once.
Who can see and change what
Share a room with the people who work in it, and pick what each person can do: Can edit or Can view. Someone with view access sees what's on the shelves and how many, and can't change a thing. People only see the rooms they're invited to.
History, with restore
Every change to an item is in its History: who did it, when, and what it was before. A quantity that dropped from 21 to 18 says so, with the name of the person who changed it. When something was a mistake, restore it from History.
Counts, scanning and low stock
The same list works for the day-to-day jobs: a stock take list for counting with expected and counted side by side, a phone scanner for QR labels and product barcodes, and an email when an item gets down to the level you set. Hoardo prints its own QR labels for shelves and bins, and reads barcodes already on your products.
Your data, whenever you want it
Export any room or list to Excel or as a CSV file at any time, with no plan to upgrade first. Bringing data in works the other way round: drop a spreadsheet or another app's export into Hoardo's chat, and it plans the rooms, boxes and properties for you to check. See move to Hoardo for the details.
Where the data lives
Hoardo's database and photos are stored in the EU, in Stockholm. If the person who set up your account hands it over, Settings › Account › Transfer account moves the whole account to someone else's email, so it doesn't leave with them.
Connect your AI apps
If you use Claude or ChatGPT, you can connect them to your Hoardo in Settings › Connected apps. They can look up what you have and where, and change it when you ask them to, signed in as you.
Set up cloud inventory in an afternoon
- Make a room for every location. The stockroom, the shop floor, the van, the second site.
- Add a numbered box for every shelf, bay or bin, and write the number on the real one, or print QR labels.
- Add items with their quantities. Type them, scan their barcodes, or import the spreadsheet you already have.
- Invite your team to the rooms they work in, with Can edit or Can view.
- Set low-stock alerts on the items you can't run out of, and count with a stocktake list now and then.
What Hoardo isn't
Hoardo keeps track of what you have, where it is and who changed it. It isn't an ERP suite or a warehouse management system: there are no purchase orders, automatic reorders, sales orders, invoicing or accounting, no point of sale, and no automatic transfers between locations. When stock moves from the back to the shop floor, you change both counts or move the item.
Free, every feature included
Hoardo is 100% free, with no paid plan: every room, item and team member, scanning, labels, stocktakes, History and export. For a closer look at the features, see inventory management software, or how Hoardo fits a small business.
Questions about cloud inventory management
What is cloud based inventory management?
Keeping your inventory (items, where they are and how many) in software you reach over the internet, usually in a browser, instead of in a file or a program on one computer. Everyone on the team works on the same list from any device.
Is cloud inventory software better than a spreadsheet?
For one person and a short list, a spreadsheet is fine. Once several people count, sell or move stock, cloud inventory software keeps one list instead of copies, works on phones, records who changed what and lets you give people view-only access.
Is there free cloud based inventory management software?
Yes. Hoardo is free with every feature included and no paid plan: locations, items, scanning, QR labels, stocktakes, low-stock emails, team access, History and export to Excel or CSV.
Do I need to install an app?
No. Hoardo runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers. On a phone you can add it to the home screen, and it opens full screen like an app. There's no App Store or Play Store app.
Can my team use it at the same time?
Yes. Invite people to the rooms they work in, with Can edit or Can view. Everyone works on the same list, and each phone fetches the latest when Hoardo opens, comes back to the front, after every save and every minute while it's open.
Can I get my data out?
Yes. Export any room or list to Excel or as a CSV file whenever you want, and import a spreadsheet or another app's export when you start. See move to Hoardo.
Where is the data stored?
Hoardo's database and photos are stored in the EU, in Stockholm. The privacy policy lists every provider Hoardo uses.