# Inventory management software: Every item, every shelf, every count, in one place.

Hoardo is free inventory management software: your locations, the shelves and bins in them, and every item with its quantity, SKU and barcode, kept up to date by the whole team. It runs in the browser on phones and computers, so there's nothing to install and nothing to pay.

100% free, no paid plan · Every feature included · Phone and computer

## Set up inventory software in an afternoon

1. **Add your locations.** Each place you keep stock is a room: the stockroom, the shop floor, a storage unit, a van. In each, every shelf, bay, bin and crate is a box with a number or a code like A1.
2. **Add your items.** Type an item with its quantity, scan its barcode, take a photo of a shelf and check what Hoardo lists, or bring in the spreadsheet or export you already have.
3. **Label, count and keep it right.** Print QR labels for your shelves, count stock on a stocktake list, and get an email when an item runs low. Everyone on the team works on the same inventory, live.

## What inventory management software does, and how Hoardo does it

Inventory programs differ a lot, but the core jobs are the same: know what you have, where it is and how many, keep the numbers right, and know when to restock. This is how each one works in Hoardo.

| The job | In Hoardo |
| --- | --- |
| Locations | A room for each place you keep stock, with a box for each shelf, bin and crate |
| Stock levels | A quantity on every item, changed in a tap with − and + |
| SKUs and barcodes | Several codes per item, found by search and by the scanner |
| Finding things | One search across every location, showing where each item is and how many |
| Counting | Stocktake lists with expected and counted quantities |
| Restocking | Low-stock emails at the level you set |
| Team | Each location shared with people who can edit or only view, and History of who changed what |
| Your data | Import from Excel, CSV or another app; export to Excel or CSV any time |

## Inventory software built around your locations

Most stock lives in more than one place. In Hoardo each one is a room, and the shelving, bays, bins and crates in it are numbered boxes. Switch on letters in box numbers (Settings › Boxes) and use the codes already on your racking: A1, A2, B1.

Open a shelf and you see everything on it with its count. The same product on the stockroom shelf and on the shop floor is two entries, each with its own quantity, and search adds them up for you.

## Items with quantities, SKUs and barcodes

Every item keeps its quantity, photos, category and notes. Switch on Barcode / SKU and give it your own SKU, the maker's barcode or both: an item can have several codes, and the same code can sit on several items.

Add the properties your business needs, like supplier, cost or expiry date, as text, numbers, dates, yes or no, or a dropdown. Only the ones you switch on show in the item sheets.

## Barcode scanning with the phone you have

Hoardo's scanner reads barcodes and QR codes with the phone's camera. Scan a product's barcode to open it wherever it is, or a shelf's QR label to see what should be on it. Bluetooth and USB scanners that type like a keyboard work in search and on lists.

Print QR labels for your shelves and bins, and barcode labels with your own SKUs, on A4 or US Letter sticker sheets or a label printer.

[How a barcode inventory system works](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/barcode-inventory-system) · [Free barcode scanner](https://www.hoardo.com/tools/barcode-scanner)

## Stocktakes that the whole team can count

Start a stocktake list, add the shelves or the items, and count with − and +, a typed number or a scan for each one. Each line shows what Hoardo expects next to what you count: green when they match, orange when short, red when over.

Two people can count the same shelf at once and both counts add up. When you're done, “Use counted quantities” writes the numbers back to the items, and History keeps each change.

[How to do a stock take](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/stock-take)

## Low-stock emails before you run out

Tap “Notify me?” beside an item's quantity and set the level that's too few. When it gets there, Hoardo emails whoever set it, and again only once it's been restocked and runs low again.

Reordering stays with you: put what's low on a to-do list and tick it off as it comes back in. Hoardo doesn't place orders.

## Your team, location by location

Invite people to each location and pick what they can do: Can edit, or Can view. A part-timer can look up what's in the stockroom without changing a count. Everyone signs in with an email code, Google or Microsoft.

Every item, box and room keeps a History of what changed, who did it and when, and anything changed or deleted by mistake can be restored.

## Bring the inventory you already have

Drop a spreadsheet or an export from your old inventory program into Hoardo's chat: Excel, CSV, a Sortly export, even screenshots. Hoardo plans the rooms and boxes from your location columns, turns a reorder column into low-stock alerts and the rest into properties, and you check the plan before anything is added.

And when you want your numbers somewhere else, export any location, all of them or a list to Excel or CSV.

[Move to Hoardo](https://www.hoardo.com/migrate)

## Set it up for a client, then hand it over

Bookkeepers, consultants and organisers often set up inventory for someone else. Build the locations, add the stock and print the labels in your own account, then go to Settings › Account › Transfer account and enter your client's email.

They get a link by email, and once they take it over, everything is theirs and they sign in with their own email. Switch on “Stay in their rooms to help” to keep edit access for the next count.

## How to choose inventory management software

The best inventory management software is the one your team keeps up to date. Before you pick one, ask these questions of every program you try, Hoardo included.

### Does it match how your stock is stored?

Look for locations and shelves, not only a flat list of products. If you can't say which shelf something is on, people will still go looking.

### Can everyone update it from their phone?

Counts go stale when changing them means walking to a computer. Software that runs on the phone, with scanning, gets used on the shop floor.

### What does a bigger team or more items cost?

Many programs charge per user, per item or per location. Check the price at the size you'll be in a year, not today. Hoardo is free at any size.

### Can you get your data out?

You should be able to export everything to a spreadsheet whenever you like, without asking anyone.

### Does it do more than you need?

If you need orders, invoicing and accounting in one place, you need a bigger system. If you need to know what you have and where, a simpler one is faster to set up and easier to keep right.

[5 best free inventory management apps](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/5-best-free-inventory-management-apps) · [Small business inventory management](https://www.hoardo.com/small-business-inventory-management)

## Inventory software that runs in the browser

Hoardo isn't something you install. Open hoardo.com on a phone, tablet or computer and sign in; add it to the home screen and it opens like an app. Your inventory is kept online, so the stockroom, the office and the van all see the same numbers.

[Cloud based inventory management](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/cloud-based-inventory-management)

## What this inventory management software is not

Hoardo keeps track of what you have, where it is and how many. It doesn't run the rest of the business:

- No purchase orders and no automatic reorders: a low-stock email is where it stops.
- No point of sale: sales don't take stock off by themselves.
- No invoicing, payments or accounting.
- No automatic transfers between locations: you change both counts, or move the item.
- No supplier portal: your suppliers don't sign in to Hoardo.
- No App Store or Play Store app: it runs in the browser.

## Free inventory management software, for real

Hoardo is 100% free, with no paid plan: every feature, every location, every item and everyone on your team. There's no trial that runs out and no feature kept for a higher tier.

Export everything to Excel or CSV whenever you like.

## Questions about inventory management software

### What is inventory management software?

Inventory management software keeps a record of the stock you have: what each item is, how many there are and where they're kept, with tools to count it, find it and know when to restock. Hoardo does that with locations as rooms, shelves and bins as numbered boxes, and items with quantities, SKUs and barcodes.

### Is there free inventory management software?

Yes. Hoardo is free with every feature included: locations, items, scanning, stocktakes, low-stock emails, your whole team, and import and export. There's no paid plan.

### What's the best inventory management software for a small team?

One that matches how your stock is stored, runs on everyone's phone, and doesn't charge more as you grow. If you also need orders and invoicing, look at a bigger system. See [5 best free inventory management apps](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/5-best-free-inventory-management-apps) for a comparison.

### Can I use barcodes and a barcode scanner?

Yes. Hoardo reads barcodes and QR codes with the phone's camera, and Bluetooth or USB scanners that type like a keyboard work in search and on lists. Items can keep several codes each, and you can print your own barcode and QR labels.

### Does it work on a computer and on phones?

Yes. Hoardo runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers, and everyone sees the same inventory. You can add it to the home screen; there's nothing to download from an app store.

### Can I import my inventory from Excel or another app?

Yes. Drop an Excel or CSV file, a Sortly export or screenshots into Hoardo's chat. It plans the locations, shelves and properties from your columns, and you check the plan before anything is added. See [Move to Hoardo](https://www.hoardo.com/migrate).

### Can someone set it up for me?

Yes. A bookkeeper, consultant or organiser can build your inventory in their own account and hand it over with Settings › Account › Transfer account. Once you take it over, it's yours.

### Does Hoardo handle orders, sales or accounting?

No. Hoardo has no purchase orders, point of sale, invoicing or accounting. It tells you what you have, where it is and when it runs low, and you can export it to the systems that do the rest.

## Keep reading

- [Small business inventory management](https://www.hoardo.com/small-business-inventory-management)
- [5 best free inventory management apps](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/5-best-free-inventory-management-apps)
- [How to do a stock take](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/stock-take)
- [Cloud based inventory management](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/cloud-based-inventory-management)
- [How a barcode inventory system works](https://www.hoardo.com/articles/barcode-inventory-system)

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