inFlow Inventory
by Archon Systems
A well-established inventory and order system with a separate Manufacturing product line. The distinction matters more than anything else here: the Inventory plans do not include bills of materials or work orders at all.
Why it is classified this way
We call this a Light manufacturing product. Has bills of materials or recipes, consumes stock when you build, and tracks production, but time-phased planning is not verified.
It is not labeled Full MRP because we have not verified that it nets that demand against stock on hand and orders already incoming; explodes requirements through at least one level of the bill of materials; uses lead times or required dates; and produces dated buy, make, transfer, release, or reschedule recommendations. That is a statement about the evidence we found, not a claim that the product is weak, see the capability table and the sources below.
The six Full MRP tests, and how inFlow Inventory does on each (2 of 6)
- YesIt represents a bill of materials, recipe, or formula.Evidence: inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)
- YesIt accepts dated demand, sales orders, a forecast, or a master production schedule.Evidence: cloudapi.inflowinventory.com › Swagger.json(opens in a new tab)
- PartialIt nets that demand against stock on hand and orders already incoming.Not established. Only partly shown: the evidence covers some of this but not all of it, so the test is not established.
- UnknownIt explodes requirements through at least one level of the bill of materials.Not established. No evidence found yet.
- PartialIt uses lead times or required dates.Not established. Only partly shown: the evidence covers some of this but not all of it, so the test is not established.
- UnknownIt produces dated buy, make, transfer, release, or reschedule recommendations.Not established. No evidence found yet.
These rules are applied identically to every product and enforced at build time, a record cannot be published as Full MRP unless all six pass with a source attached. Read the methodology.
Best for
- Distributors and light assemblers who mainly need order and stock control
- Teams that want barcode scanning across unlimited warehouse users on the Stockroom plan
- Shops with predictable order volumes that fit inside the plan caps
Not a fit when
- Anyone who assumed the Inventory plans include manufacturing, they do not
- Food or cosmetics makers on a small budget: lot tracking is an unpriced add-on below the $859 Expansion plan
- Shops that need dated MRP planning. Reordering works from reorder points, with no requirements calculation from dated demand
Pricing facts
What it costs to do manufacturing in this product.
Advertised from
$69/month
Useful entry price
$169/month
Billing basis
Mixed
Why the useful price is higher
The cheapest published plan is Stockroom at $69 a month billed annually ($89 monthly), a scan-in, scan-out app with no manufacturing. The Inventory plans from $99 exclude bills of materials and work orders. Manufacturing begins with the separate Start Up plan at $169 a month billed annually, or $199 monthly.
Free trial: 14 days.
What moves the real bill
- Annual billing assumed. The advertised rate requires paying for a year up front. Monthly billing costs more.
- Onboarding fee. Onboarding package $499 one-off: optional on Start Up, "Required one-time cost, 499 USD" on Growth, Scale and Expansion. Onboarding + Training $999 and an Implementation Package $2,999 are optional; extra training is $199 an hour.
Plans
| Plan | Price | Add-ons and setup |
|---|---|---|
| Start UpinFlow ManufacturingBilled yearly, shown per month | $169/mo · 2 users included, then $29 each | Lot numbers (unpriced); Serial numbers $39/mo; API access $49/mo |
| 1 inventory location, no sublocations. Onboarding package, optional on Start Up. | ||
| Start UpinFlow ManufacturingBilled monthly | $199/mo · 2 users included, then $29 each | Lot numbers (unpriced); Serial numbers $39/mo; API access $49/mo |
| 1 inventory location, no sublocations. Onboarding package, optional on Start Up. | ||
| GrowthinFlow ManufacturingBilled yearly, shown per month | $399/mo · 5 users included, then $29 each | Lot numbers (unpriced); Serial numbers $39/mo; API access $49/moRequired setup: $499 |
| 5 inventory locations. | ||
| GrowthinFlow ManufacturingBilled monthly | $479/mo · 5 users included, then $29 each | Lot numbers (unpriced); Serial numbers $39/mo; API access $49/moRequired setup: $499 |
| 5 inventory locations. | ||
| ScaleinFlow ManufacturingBilled yearly, shown per month | $629/mo · 10 users included, then $29 each | Lot numbers (unpriced); Serial numbers $39/moRequired setup: $499 |
| Unlimited inventory locations. | ||
| ScaleinFlow ManufacturingBilled monthly | $759/mo · 10 users included, then $29 each | Lot numbers (unpriced); Serial numbers $39/moRequired setup: $499 |
| Unlimited inventory locations. | ||
| ExpansioninFlow ManufacturingBilled yearly, shown per month | $859/mo · 20 users included, then $29 each | —Required setup: $499 |
| Unlimited inventory locations. | ||
| ExpansioninFlow ManufacturingBilled monthly | $1,029/mo · 20 users included, then $29 each | —Required setup: $499 |
| Unlimited inventory locations. | ||
Cheapest paid plan that manufactures, by paid users
- 1 user: Start Up, $169 a month (billed yearly, shown per month); first year $2,028.
- 5 users: Start Up, $256 a month (billed yearly, shown per month); first year $3,072.
- 10 users: Start Up, $401 a month (billed yearly, shown per month); first year $4,812.
Pricing detail
Three product lines, re-read 2026-10-09 after the page was restructured. inFlow Inventory: Lite $99 a month billed annually ($129 monthly, 2 team members, 1 location), Core $299 ($379, 5 members, 5 locations), Pro $499 ($629, 10 members), Max $699 ($879, 20 members); none include manufacturing. inFlow Manufacturing, which the page says includes "All the features from inFlow Inventory" plus "Manufacture orders", "Bill of materials" and "Production management": Start Up $169 billed annually ($199 monthly, 2 members, 1 location), Growth $399 ($479, 5 members, 5 locations), Scale $629 ($759, 10 members, unlimited locations), Expansion $859 ($1,029, 20 members, unlimited locations). inFlow Stockroom is $69 billed annually ($89 monthly). Every plan now says "Unlimited products, sales, purchases, and integrations": the order-volume caps and per-order overage charged until 2026-09 are gone. Extra team members are $29 a month each. Serial numbers are a $39 add-on on Start Up, Growth and Scale and included on Expansion. API and MCP access is a $49 add-on on Start Up and Growth and included on Scale and Expansion. Lot numbers are an add-on on Start Up, Growth and Scale and included on Expansion, and the page no longer prints that add-on’s price. Advanced access rights are a $69 add-on on Growth and included from Scale. The per-plan tables at the foot of the page also give CAD, GBP and EUR prices.
Checked on October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com(opens in a new tab). Prices change. Check before you buy.
Manufacturing capability
21 of 25 fields resolved. "Unknown" means we have not found first-party evidence. It is not a No.
Planning
Working out what to buy or make, and when.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Accepts dated demandYou can tell it what is due and when, sales orders with dates, a forecast, or a production schedule. | Yes | Sales orders carry a requested ship date, which inFlow's API reference describes as "The date that you should ship this order". This is documented as a field in the API reference; we have not seen the reorder suggestions use it. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: cloudapi.inflowinventory.com › Swagger.json(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Nets against stock on handIt subtracts what you already have before telling you to buy more. | Partial | The vendor states: "When your current anticipated quantity is lower than your reorder point, inFlow will suggest that you reorder more stock." Anticipated quantity is stock after all open sales and purchases, so open orders are netted, but the trigger is a reorder point. What is missing is a requirements calculation from dated demand through the bill of materials. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Is there a way to reorder items that are low in stock(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Counts incoming ordersIt knows about purchase orders and production orders already placed, so it does not tell you to order twice. | Yes | The vendor's reorder article says: "This means you likely have an open purchase order/manufacture order incoming (quantity on order) for this product, so you don’t have to reorder more." Open purchase orders and manufacture orders count as incoming stock, so the same item is not suggested twice. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Is there a way to reorder items that are low in stock(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Uses lead timesIt works backwards from when you need something to when you must order or start it, using supplier and production lead times. | Partial | The vendor states: "Lead time demand is the amount sold or used before your next purchase order comes in." Vendor lead times feed the Recommended Reorder Point report, which uses them to size the reorder point. What is missing is any use of lead time to set a suggested order or start date. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Can inflow recommend a reorder point for my products(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Produces dated buy/make suggestionsThe output is an actionable list with dates, order this much by this date, start this batch on this date. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation or a screenshot of replenishment or planning suggestions carrying dates.Know the answer? |
| Capacity planningChecks whether your people and machines can do the work in the time available. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of work-center or resource capacity being compared against load.Know the answer? |
Production
Recipes, bills of materials, and running the work.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Bill of materialsA list of the parts and quantities needed to make one of something. | Yes | "Create bill of materials" is listed on the Manufacturing plans, and explicitly absent from every Inventory plan.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Multi-level BOMSub-assemblies inside assemblies, a part that is itself made from other parts, nested as deep as you need. | Yes | The vendor states: "In the Overview table, raw materials and subassemblies are organized in a hierarchy to visualize which products need to be assembled first." A subassembly that is out of stock can get its own manufacture order. Manufacturing plans only. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Manufacture orders(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Recipes & formulasBatch-style production by weight, volume, or percentage, including scaling a batch up or down. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of recipe or formula records, ideally with batch scaling.Know the answer? |
| Work / manufacturing ordersA record authorising and tracking the making of a specific quantity. | Yes | "Assemble new products or bundles" with work orders, on the Manufacturing plans only.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Routings & operationsThe ordered steps a product goes through, and which machine or station does each one. | Yes | The vendor states: "MO operations are a series of tasks that need to be completed to assemble the finished product. Each operation represents a different stage in the manufacturing process." Operations are set on the bill of materials with a cost and estimated duration, then copied to each manufacture order. Needs Production management, which the pricing page includes on all four Manufacturing plans. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Manufacture orders(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Shop-floor trackingOperators report progress, time, and completions as the work happens. | Yes | The vendor states: "Multiple operators can start their own timesheets for the same operation, and they will be tracked separately." Operators start and stop timesheets and mark operations complete on the manufacture order itself; we did not find a separate kiosk or terminal mode. Needs Production management, which the pricing page includes on all four Manufacturing plans. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Manufacture orders(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Quality controlsChecks, tests, holds, and non-conformance records tied to production or receiving. | Unknown | Not yet researched. We would need: documentation of quality inspections, checks, or non-conformance handling.Know the answer? |
Inventory & traceability
Knowing what you hold and being able to trace it.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Batch & lot traceabilityWhich incoming material lots went into which finished batch, and where those finished goods went. | Yes | The vendor states: "inFlow tracks lots on both sides of the build: the components you pick and the finished product you put away." Lots are picked on manufacture order components and assigned to the finished product, and a sales traceability report links lots to customers. In a 2026 vendor video, lot numbers and expiry dates leave beta as a paid add-on: "I just wanted to let you know it's graduated and available for everyone as a new add on to your subscription." The pricing page lists it at $69 a month on Start Up and $99 on Growth, and includes it on Scale and Expansion. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed September 18, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Lot numbers and expiry dates(opens in a new tab); Vendor video, 2026, at 3:02(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Expiry & shelf lifeBest-before dates on materials and finished goods, with warnings before they lapse. | Yes | The vendor states: "Set the Shelf life in days based on either the created date or the manufacture date. inFlow uses this shelf life to calculate the expiration date for new lots when received." Each lot carries an expiry date, and a lot expiry report lists what is running out. Sold in the same paid add-on as lot tracking. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Lot numbers and expiry dates(opens in a new tab); Vendor video, 2026, at 3:02(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Serial numbersUnique identifiers on individual units, for warranty or field service. | Yes | Serial tracking is a paid add-on at $39 a month on Start Up, Growth and Scale, and included on Expansion (pricing page, 2026-10-09).Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
Commerce & accounting
Costs, purchasing, storefronts, and the books.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| Product costing & COGSWhat it costs you to make one, and the cost of the goods you sold. | Yes | The vendor states: "inFlow calculates the cost of a product as it enters your inventory (via purchase or manufacture orders) based on several factors:" For manufactured items the listed factors include component and operation costs, and the profit report takes cost at the time of sale. We have not seen a report named as cost of goods sold. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Inflow cloud calculate cost item cost goods sold(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › My profit report shows no cost of goods sold wrong cost o…(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| PurchasingRaising and tracking purchase orders to suppliers from inside the system. | Yes | Purchase orders are core to every plan, with order-volume caps and per-order overage charges.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Accounting connectionSends financial data to bookkeeping software, or includes its own general ledger. | Yes | Accounting runs through an integration rather than a built-in ledger. The vendor states: "With inFlow, you can easily create new sales and purchase orders that can be seamlessly sent to QuickBooks Online." A Xero connection is documented too. Each integration counts toward your plan's integration limit, and QuickBooks may need a paid plan with journal entries. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › How do i set up quickbooks online with inflow(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › Connecting inflow to xero(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Ecommerce connectionPulls orders and pushes stock levels to a storefront or marketplace. | Yes | The vendor states: "Shopify orders create an inFlow sales order, which you can use to manage the order’s fulfillment." Each Shopify store counts as one integration against your plan's limit. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Connecting inflow to shopify(opens in a new tab)Question this |
Openness & your data
Getting data in, out, and away if you leave.
| Capability | Finding | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| APIA documented programming interface so other software can read and write your data. | Yes | The vendor states: "The inFlow Inventory API allows you to read and write data to inFlow Inventory. Like most modern APIs, it’s organized around REST and JSON." Public reference docs are at cloudapi.inflowinventory.com. Needs an active subscription and API access, a $49 monthly add-on on Start Up and Growth and included on Scale and Expansion. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › Inflows api(opens in a new tab); cloudapi.inflowinventory.com › Index(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| WebhooksThe system can notify other software the moment something changes. | Yes | The API reference lets you subscribe to webhooks for sales order, purchase order, manufacture order and inventory changes, with the event field described as "A list of events that will trigger this webhook." Set up through the API, so it needs API access, a $49 monthly add-on on Start Up and Growth and included on Scale and Expansion. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: cloudapi.inflowinventory.com › Swagger.json(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| MCP supportA Model Context Protocol server, letting an AI assistant read or act on this data. Useful, but it has nothing to do with whether the product plans materials. | Yes | inFlow runs its own MCP server that exposes the public API operations as tools for AI agents. The API docs state: "The MCP server uses the same API key authentication as the REST API." The pricing page counts it as part of API access, a $49 monthly add-on on Start Up and Growth and included on Scale and Expansion. Checked 2026-09-18.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: cloudapi.inflowinventory.com › Index(opens in a new tab); inflowinventory.com › Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| CSV exportYou can get your lists out as spreadsheet files. | Yes | The vendor states: "When you open any of our reports in the inFlow web app, you have the option to save the report as either a PDF file or a CSV file." From the vendor's support article on exporting data. Checked 2026-09-14.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › How do i export data or other transactions from inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
| Full data exportYou can take everything, including history and relationships, not just a few screens' worth of rows. | Partial | The vendor states: "Manufacture orders cannot be exported; however, you can manually record the details if you want to recreate them." Many record types export, but manufacture orders, attachments and settings do not, so this is not a complete export. Checked 2026-09-14.Reviewed October 9, 2026. Source: inflowinventory.com › How do i export data or other transactions from inflow(opens in a new tab)Question this |
Deployment, licensing and your data
- Deployment
- Cloud (hosted for you), Mobile app
- Licensing
- Proprietary SaaS
- Team sizes
- 2–5 people, 6–20 people, 21–50 people
- Manufacturing styles
- Countable assembled products, Kits & bundles
Integrations
- QuickBooks Online
- Xero
- Shopify
Jobs this product qualifies for
Derived from the capability table above, not hand-assigned.
Editorial notes and cautions
Things we would want a friend to know before buying.
- Two product lines with similar names is the trap here. inFlow Inventory Lite at $99 does not create bills of materials. inFlow Manufacturing Start Up at $169 does. Confirm which line a quote refers to.
- The $499 onboarding package is optional on Start Up and required on Growth, Scale and Expansion. Budget for it unless you are on the smallest plan.
- Lot numbers are an add-on on Start Up, Growth and Scale, and since the 2026 restructure the page no longer prints that add-on’s price; only Expansion includes them.
Alternatives to inFlow Inventory
An alternative is always an alternative for a reason. There is no universal replacement.
Compared on SOS Inventory's page, where we wrote: "Both gate manufacturing behind an upgrade. SOS keeps additional users at a flat $25 where inFlow charges $29 to $59 and caps order volume, so neither is cheaper for every team; price your own headcount on both."
See all alternatives to inFlow Inventory, grouped by reason →
Evidence and verification
The pricing page is unusually detailed and is the source for both the price structure and the manufacturing feature gating. Capability evidence comes from the vendor's support articles and the public API reference at cloudapi.inflowinventory.com. Re-read 2026-10-09: the pricing page was restructured (Lite, Core, Pro and Max on the Inventory line; Start Up, Growth, Scale and Expansion on Manufacturing), the order caps and per-order overage disappeared, and the lot-number add-on lost its printed price. The figures were read from the plan chooser on the Manufacturing tab and from the per-plan tables at the foot of the page.
Sources we checked (16)
inflowinventory.com
- Software pricing inflow(opens in a new tab)
- How do i export data or other transactions from inflow(opens in a new tab)
- Is there a way to reorder items that are low in stock(opens in a new tab)
- Can inflow recommend a reorder point for my products(opens in a new tab)
- Manufacture orders(opens in a new tab)
- Lot numbers and expiry dates(opens in a new tab)
- Inflow cloud calculate cost item cost goods sold(opens in a new tab)
- My profit report shows no cost of goods sold wrong cost of goods sold help(opens in a new tab)
- How do i set up quickbooks online with inflow(opens in a new tab)
- Connecting inflow to xero(opens in a new tab)
- Connecting inflow to shopify(opens in a new tab)
- Inflows api(opens in a new tab)
cloudapi.inflowinventory.com
What we still want to confirm
We publish our gaps rather than hiding them. If you can point us at a first-party page for any of these, we will update the record and credit the correction.
- Find first-party evidence for the fields still marked unknown: produces dated buy/make suggestions, capacity planning, recipes & formulas and quality controls.
Still unknown: produces dated buy/make suggestions, capacity planning, recipes & formulas, quality controls.