Inventory Planner Pricing 2026: Quote-Based Plans Compared

Last updated: November 2026

Quick answer: Inventory Planner currently asks merchants to request pricing based on the inventory they manage. This page cannot confirm a current Essentials price or a price for your store. Request a written quote and compare its scope with other tools.

TL;DR: Request current pricing from Inventory Planner for the plan and inventory volume your store needs. Compare the written quote with the work included and with alternatives such as Forthcast's listed $19.99 monthly Shopify forecasting plan.

Inventory planning tools cover different jobs. Some focus on forecasts and reorder decisions. Others include a wider purchasing operation. This guide separates listed prices, third-party estimates and plans that need a quote. Forthcast publishes the comparison and is one of the products compared.

What Is Inventory Planner Pricing and What's Actually Included

Inventory planner pricing refers to the subscription cost and fee structure for software that helps you forecast demand, set reorder points, and manage purchase orders. The pricing models vary significantly across vendors, but they generally fall into four categories:

“For larger stores to reorder they use Logility which is like a larger program almost like an ERP. for smaller stores he does it mostly manually”

• Flat monthly subscription: Fixed price regardless of sales volume or SKU count
• Revenue-based pricing: A share of your monthly revenue, so the bill grows with your sales
• Tiered by SKU count: Price increases as your catalog grows (common jumps at 500, 1,000, 5,000 SKUs)
• Transaction or order-based: Charges per order processed through the system

What vendors include at each price point matters more than the headline number. Most inventory planners cover demand forecasting and reorder alerts in base plans. Advanced features like supplier management, production planning, assembly/bundle handling, or multi-location allocation often sit behind higher tiers or add-on fees. Payment terms vary too. Annual commitments may come with a discount but lock you in. Monthly plans provide flexibility but cost more over time.

Ask whether onboarding, data migration and setup are billed separately, especially on quoted plans. Read the contract carefully for SKU limits because exceeding them can trigger automatic tier upgrades mid-contract.

Shopify merchants using AI-powered inventory forecasting can reduce their stockout incidents while simultaneously decreasing excess inventory holding costs.

Why the Pricing Structure Matters More Than the Monthly Fee

A $199/month tool can end up costing more than a $499/month competitor once you factor in how pricing scales with your business growth. This matters because inventory planning software should grow with you, not penalize growth with exponential fee increases.

“at the end the planner is the decision maker and needs data sources to do that. For platforms like Logility this is pretty trustworthy but for smaller stores that is a bit more difficult”

Consider a Shopify store with 800 SKUs doing $200,000 in monthly revenue. Under a SKU-tiered model charging $299/month for up to 1,000 SKUs, you're safe now. Add 300 products next quarter and you jump to the $599/month tier. That's a 100% price increase for a 37% catalog expansion. Revenue-based pricing creates different problems. At 0.5% of revenue, you pay $1,000 monthly when you hit $200K in sales. Double your sales to $400K and your software bill doubles to $2,000, even though your forecasting needs haven't fundamentally changed.

Transaction-based fees sound small until you do the math. At $0.25 per order, a store processing 2,000 monthly orders pays $500 in transaction fees alone, on top of the base subscription. Scale to 5,000 orders and you're at $1,250 monthly just in per-order charges.

The pricing structure also affects your total tech stack cost. If your inventory planner charges per integration (common for ERPs, 3PLs, or additional sales channels), connecting your warehouse management system can add a monthly charge. A store selling on Shopify, Amazon and Walmart could pay a separate fee for each channel on top of the base price.

Contract lock-in creates real risk when pricing structures don't align with your business model. A twelve-month contract with revenue-based pricing means you're committed even if seasonal fluctuations cause your software costs to spike 300% in Q4, then drop back down in Q1. Flat-rate pricing provides budget predictability that matters when you're forecasting your own operating expenses.

What Each Vendor Publishes About Pricing

The guide distinguishes published prices from quotes. Katana and Stocky details below were refreshed on 4 November 2026; recheck every vendor before signing. For current Katana, Cin7, Finale, Zoho, Inventory Planner and Forthcast entry-price and workflow differences, see the inventory software pricing comparison.

Inventory Planner (by Sage): Quote-based. The pricing page says the price depends on the volume of inventory you manage and asks you to request a quote. It also says every plan includes unlimited users. Ask for a current quote for your order volume and SKU count, and ask what setup and support it includes. The product covers demand forecasting, purchase order management and supplier tracking.

Stocky (by Shopify): Inventory management and APIs ended on August 31, 2026. Shopify says read-only export access remains for at least 90 days, without a fixed end date. Do not adopt the retired app as a new planning system; preserve the available records and validate a replacement workflow.

Cin7: Cin7 Core lists Standard at $349/month, Pro at $599/month and Advanced at $1,199/month, with more users, integrations and order volume as you go up. Cin7 Omni is custom-quoted. These plans cover inventory and order management, not just forecasting. Strong option if you need a full inventory management system, less cost-effective if you only want forecasting.

Katana: The official pricing page, checked 4 November 2026, lists Free for up to 30 SKUs and Core starting at US$299/month. Manufacturing Management is listed as a US$199/month add-on. Compare the materials, production and location scope you need; the Core base price is not an all-in manufacturing quote.

Netstock: The pricing page says pricing starts at $900/month on an annual subscription, and you answer a few questions to get a price for your bundle. The target market skews toward established businesses with complex supply chains, often running an ERP.

Brightpearl: Quote-based. Brightpearl builds a tailored price for each customer, with unlimited users included. It bundles inventory planning with order management, accounting and CRM, so it makes sense if you need a full back-office system. Ask what implementation costs before you sign.

Forecasting spreadsheets: Free if you build your own in Google Sheets or Excel, but the hidden cost is time spent keeping formulas, data exports and links working every month. Spreadsheets also lack automated alerts, real-time syncing, and the error checks that prevent stockouts.

Vendor	Published price	Other plans	Note
Inventory Planner (by Sage)	None, quote only	Price depends on the volume of inventory you manage	Unlimited users on every plan; covers forecasting, purchase orders and supplier tracking
Stocky (by Shopify)	Was bundled with Shopify POS Pro	Retired; not a new subscription option	Inventory management and APIs ended August 31, 2026; check remaining read-only exports
Cin7	Cin7 Core Standard $349/month, Pro $599/month, Advanced $1,199/month	Cin7 Omni is custom-quoted	Covers inventory and order management, not just forecasting
Katana	Free up to 30 SKUs; Core starts US$299/month	Manufacturing Management add-on US$199/month; confirm the full scope	Materials and production workflow; official pricing checked 4 November 2026
Netstock	Starts at $900/month	Price depends on product and bundle, annual subscription	Skews toward established businesses with complex supply chains
Brightpearl	None, quote only	Tailored price per customer	Bundles inventory, orders, accounting and CRM; unlimited users
Forecasting spreadsheets	Free to build yourself	None	Costs your time every month to maintain
Forthcast	$19.99/month flat-rate	No SKU limits, order volume caps or revenue-based fees	A store with 500 SKUs pays the same as one with 5,000 SKUs

How to Evaluate the Options Against Your Actual Needs

Write down the decision you need the software to support: forecasting demand, deciding when to reorder, preparing purchase orders or managing more complex operations. Include your stores, channels, locations, active products and the person who approves purchases. Ask each vendor to price that same set of requirements, including any setup work, integrations and plan limits.

For a quoted plan, ask what changes the bill as your business grows and which purchasing steps are included. A lower starting subscription is useful only if it supports the workflow you need. Forthcast lists $19.99 per month with a 14-day Shopify-billed trial; use its feature scope to check fit rather than assuming it replaces every Inventory Planner workflow.

During a trial, compare the same products and dates with your current process. Check stock, incoming orders, lead times and forecast coverage, then trace a recommendation through to a purchase-order draft. Review quantities before sending anything to a supplier. Start a Forthcast trial when you are ready to validate those inputs; a trial is an evaluation, not a promise of matching forecasts or savings.

A store with 300 SKUs, 800 monthly orders, 12 suppliers, and two channels (Shopify and Amazon) has fundamentally different needs than one with 3,000 SKUs, 6,000 orders, 80 suppliers, and six channels.

Map which features you'll use in the first 90 days. Most merchants need demand forecasting, reorder point calculations, and purchase order generation immediately. Supplier performance tracking, assembly/bundle management, and multi-warehouse allocation matter for some businesses but not all. Paying for unused features is waste. If you don't manufacture products or assemble kits, production planning features add no value.

Project your pricing 12 months forward under different growth scenarios. If you're at 600 SKUs today, model what happens at 800, 1,200, and 2,000 SKUs. Run the same exercise for revenue if considering revenue-based pricing. A tool that costs $299 today but jumps to $899 at realistic growth levels might be more expensive than one with flat $599 pricing.

Calculate the breakeven point against your current process. If you spend 15 hours monthly managing inventory in spreadsheets, and your time is worth $50/hour, that's $750 monthly in opportunity cost. A $399/month tool that cuts this to 3 hours saves you 12 hours ($600 value), creating a net cost of $399 - $600 = negative $201. You're actually $201 better off monthly. Factor in stockout prevention too. If better forecasting prevents one $3,000 stockout annually, that's $250/month in avoided loss.

Test during peak season if possible. Many vendors offer 14-30 day trials. Starting a trial in July when you do $100K monthly won't reveal how the system performs in November when you do $400K. If you can't trial during peak, ask vendors for references from merchants with seasonal patterns similar to yours.

Read the contract for price increase clauses. Some vendors reserve the right to raise prices on annual renewals, others lock rates for multi-year terms. Understand whether your monthly price is guaranteed or subject to change with 30-60 days notice.

Why Forthcast Costs Less for Shopify Merchants

Forthcast lists a flat $19.99 monthly price for Shopify demand forecasting and reorder planning. The comparison is about scope as much as price. Forthcast's forecasts and reorder points are store-wide. A merchant who needs per-warehouse planning, landed-cost accounting or freight-aware purchasing should compare a tool built for those jobs.

The lower price does not establish what another merchant will save. Put your own purchasing steps beside each product's features, then ask for the total charge for the work you actually need.

What You Should Actually Pay for Inventory Planning Software

Start with the tasks you want the software to handle. List your sales channels, the stock decisions you make, the people who approve orders and any warehouse or finance work that must stay in another system. Then compare each vendor's listed plan or written quote against that same list.

Include the monthly charge, any setup work, the limits that move you to another plan and the cost of tools you would still need. A flat forecasting plan may be enough for a Shopify replenishment problem. A broader operation may need a larger system. The right price follows the work, not a fixed share of your inventory spend.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does inventory planner pricing typically cost for Shopify stores?

Prices vary by vendor, plan and store size. Inventory Planner by Sage asks merchants to request a quote. Forthcast lists $19.99 per month for its Shopify plan.

What's included in most inventory planner pricing plans?

Check the forecast, purchasing workflow, SKU limits, integrations, onboarding and support in each quoted plan. A headline price does not show the full scope.

Is there a free inventory planner for Shopify or do I have to pay?

Shopify has basic inventory tracking. Dedicated planning tools may offer a trial or a paid plan. Forthcast lists a 14-day free trial and a $19.99 monthly plan.

Why is inventory planner pricing so different between vendors?

Vendors price different workflows and limits. Compare the same store, channels, catalog size and support needs before treating two prices as equivalent.

What should I look for when comparing inventory planner pricing in 2026?

Compare the published price or current quote with the features you will use, plan limits, setup work and the cost as your catalog grows.

How much does Inventory Planner cost in 2026?

Inventory Planner's current pricing page asks merchants to request a quote. This guide cannot verify a current Essentials price or higher-plan amount. Ask which plan covers your channels and purchasing workflow, then compare the quoted total with other tools.

Related Reading

• Best Inventory Management Software for Shopify & Small Business (2026)
• Blue Yonder Pricing 2026: Costs & Alternatives