Best Inventory Management Software for Charities and Nonprofits in 2026

Choosing the right inventory management software can transform how your charity handles stock — from donated goods intake through distribution and reporting. This guide compares the best options available in 2026, with a focus on solutions designed for or well-suited to charities, food banks, and community organisations. The right tool depends on your organisation's size, the type of inventory you manage, and your budget.

What you'll learn: The key features to look for, how leading platforms compare, and which solution is best suited to different types of charity work.

Key insight: Most commercial inventory systems are built for retail or warehousing. Charities need tools that handle donated goods without barcodes, work with volunteer teams, and cost a fraction of enterprise pricing.

TL;DR

The best inventory management software for charities in 2026 depends on your specific needs. Plinth leads for organisations wanting camera-first AI identification without barcode dependency. Sortly suits small teams needing simple visual cataloguing. For food-specific operations, FoodCloud offers redistribution-focused features. Google Sheets remains free but lacks automation and scales poorly. The key differentiator is whether the system can handle items without barcodes — which rules out most commercial inventory platforms for charity use.

What Charities Need from Inventory Software

Before comparing specific platforms, it is important to understand what makes charity inventory management fundamentally different from commercial stock control. Many charities still rate their digital skills as below average (Charity Digital Skills Report), underscoring the need for intuitive, accessible tools.

No-Barcode Capability: The majority of donated items lack scannable barcodes. Any system that depends on barcode scanning as its primary input method will create bottlenecks at intake.

Low Training Requirements: With volunteer turnover rates often exceeding 30% annually in the charity sector, systems must be learnable in minutes rather than days.

Affordable Pricing: Small charities in the UK have a median annual income of around 46,000 pounds (Charity Commission data, 2024). Software costs must be proportionate.

Mobile-First Design: Volunteers and staff are often on their feet in warehouses, shops, or distribution centres. Desktop-only systems are impractical.

Reporting for Funders: Charities need to demonstrate impact. Stock reports showing distribution volumes, waste reduction, and demand trends support funding applications.

Any inventory system that does not address these five requirements will struggle in a charity environment, regardless of how well it performs in commercial settings.

The Best Inventory Management Software for Charities in 2026

1. Plinth — Best for Camera-First AI Stock Tracking

Plinth takes a fundamentally different approach to inventory management. Instead of barcode scanners or manual data entry, you simply photograph items with your smartphone camera and AI handles identification, categorisation, and catalogue matching.

Best for: Food banks, charity shops, toy libraries, libraries of things, community pantries, and any organisation handling donated goods without barcodes.

Key features:

• Camera-first AI identification — no barcodes required
• Automatic categorisation, tagging, and condition assessment
• Smart duplicate detection with confidence scoring
• Batch scanning for processing multiple items at once
• Loan tracking with AI-assisted returns and condition comparison
• QR code hybrid option for high-value items
• Built-in reporting and analytics

Strengths: Purpose-built for charities. Handles the "no barcode" problem that defeats most commercial systems. Minimal training needed — if you can take a photo, you can use it. No specialist hardware required.

Considerations: Newer to market compared to established commercial platforms, though this means it was built with modern AI capabilities from the ground up.

Pricing: Charity-friendly pricing tiers. No hardware costs since it runs on existing smartphones. Visit plinth.org.uk/pricing for details.

2. Sortly — Best for Simple Visual Cataloguing

Sortly is a visual inventory management app that lets users photograph items and organise them into folders with custom fields. It provides a straightforward approach to cataloguing without the complexity of enterprise systems.

Best for: Small charity shops or community groups with relatively simple inventory needs and fewer than 500 items.

Key features:

• Photo-based item entries
• QR code and barcode label creation
• Custom fields and folders
• Basic reporting
• Multi-user access on paid plans

Strengths: Clean, intuitive interface. Good for small inventories. Available on iOS and Android.

Considerations: No AI identification — users must still type item descriptions manually. Limited automation. Pricing can escalate quickly for larger catalogues. Not charity-specific; designed for general small business use.

Pricing: Free tier available (up to 100 items). Paid plans from approximately 29 US dollars per month.

3. FoodCloud — Best for Food Redistribution

FoodCloud is a platform specifically designed for food redistribution, connecting food businesses with surplus stock to charities that can distribute it. It includes inventory-adjacent features focused on food donation matching.

Best for: Food banks and charities focused specifically on food redistribution rather than general inventory management.

Key features:

• Surplus food matching between donors and charities
• Collection scheduling and logistics
• Impact reporting (meals provided, CO2 saved)
• Integration with major food retailers

Strengths: Strong food redistribution network. Good impact metrics. Established relationships with major retailers across the UK and Ireland. Research from WRAP indicates that redistributing surplus food could prevent up to 300,000 tonnes of food waste annually in the UK.

Considerations: Limited to food redistribution. Not a general inventory management system. Does not handle non-food items. Less useful for organisations that also manage clothing, toys, or household goods.

Pricing: Free for registered charities in most cases.

4. Google Sheets / Excel — Best for Zero Budget

Many charities still use spreadsheets for inventory management. While this approach has clear limitations, it remains the most common solution due to its zero cost and familiarity.

Best for: Very small organisations with minimal inventory and no budget for software.

Key features:

• Completely free (Google Sheets) or included with existing Microsoft licences
• Fully customisable structure
• Familiar interface for most users
• Basic formulas for stock counts and summaries

Strengths: Free. Universally understood. Flexible.

Considerations: No automation. No image capture. Prone to human error. Version control issues with multiple users. Scales very poorly. No mobile-optimised experience. A 2024 study by Wasp Barcode Technologies found that 46% of small businesses either do not track inventory at all or use a manual method like spreadsheets.

Pricing: Free.

5. Stockpile — Best for Barcode-Based Tracking

Stockpile is a free inventory management system that relies on barcode scanning. It provides basic stock tracking features suitable for organisations where most items do have barcodes.

Best for: Charity shops or social enterprises selling new, packaged goods with existing barcodes.

Key features:

• Barcode scanning via smartphone camera
• Location tracking across multiple sites
• Basic stock level alerts
• Multi-user access
• Simple reporting

Strengths: Free to use. Barcode scanning is fast when items have usable barcodes. Supports multiple locations.

Considerations: Completely dependent on barcodes. No AI identification. No image-based cataloguing. Limited customisation. Less actively developed than some alternatives.

Pricing: Free.

6. inFlow — Best for Charity Retail Operations

inFlow is a commercial inventory management system that includes purchasing, sales, and order management features. It offers a nonprofit discount and is suitable for charity retail operations that function similarly to small businesses.

Best for: Charity shops and social enterprises with structured retail operations, purchasing workflows, and point-of-sale needs.

Key features:

• Barcode scanning and label printing
• Purchase order management
• Sales and invoicing
• Multi-location tracking
• Detailed reporting and analytics

Strengths: Comprehensive feature set. Good for organisations that operate like retail businesses. Nonprofit pricing available.

Considerations: Designed for commercial retail rather than charity donation management. Assumes items have barcodes or SKUs. Steeper learning curve. Overkill for food banks or community pantries.

Pricing: From approximately 110 US dollars per month. Nonprofit discounts available on application.

Comparison Table

How to Choose the Right Tool

If you handle donated goods without barcodes: Plinth is the clear choice. Its camera-first AI approach was built specifically for this challenge.

If you only redistribute surplus food: FoodCloud provides a strong, free platform with built-in retailer connections and impact reporting.

If you have zero budget and minimal inventory: Google Sheets will suffice in the short term, though you should plan to migrate as your operation grows.

If you operate a structured retail shop: inFlow provides comprehensive commercial features, though you will need to budget for the subscription and accept barcode dependency.

If you want simple visual cataloguing: Sortly offers an accessible entry point, though without AI assistance you will still spend significant time on manual data entry.

The most important question to ask is: "Do most of our items have barcodes?" If the answer is no — which it is for most charities — you need a system built for that reality.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I migrate from spreadsheets to dedicated software easily?

Yes. Most modern inventory platforms, including Plinth, support CSV imports, allowing you to bring existing spreadsheet data across. However, many organisations find it more practical to start fresh with new items and let the catalogue build naturally through AI identification, rather than attempting a full historical migration.

Do I need dedicated hardware for inventory software?

Not with camera-first systems like Plinth. Traditional inventory systems often require barcode scanners, label printers, and dedicated terminals, which can cost hundreds or thousands of pounds. AI-powered platforms run on existing smartphones, eliminating hardware costs entirely.

How long does it take to train volunteers on inventory software?

This varies significantly by platform. Systems requiring manual data entry or complex barcode workflows may need several hours of training. Camera-first systems like Plinth can typically be learned in under 10 minutes — the core workflow is simply "photograph, review, confirm."

Can inventory software help with funding applications?

Absolutely. Accurate stock data showing distribution volumes, demand patterns, and waste reduction provides powerful evidence for funders. According to the Institute of Fundraising, organisations that can demonstrate measurable impact are significantly more likely to secure repeat funding.

Is it worth paying for inventory software when free options exist?

For most organisations managing more than a few hundred items, yes. The time savings alone — potentially 10-15 hours per week for a busy food bank — far exceed the cost of a subscription. Free tools like spreadsheets also lack the automation, accuracy, and reporting capabilities that purpose-built platforms provide.

Conclusion and Next Steps

The inventory management software market in 2026 offers more choice than ever for charities, but the most important factor remains whether a system can handle the realities of donated, irregular stock. Plinth's camera-first AI approach addresses this core challenge in a way that traditional barcode-dependent systems simply cannot.

Evaluate Your Needs: Consider the types of items you manage, whether they have barcodes, how many volunteers need access, and your budget.

Start Simple: You do not need to implement every feature on day one. Begin with basic intake tracking and expand to loans, condition monitoring, and reporting as your team becomes comfortable.

Measure the Impact: Track how much time you save, how error rates change, and what reporting becomes possible. These metrics will support both operational improvements and future funding applications.

For organisations ready to move beyond spreadsheets and barcode dependency, AI-powered inventory management represents the most significant step forward available in 2026.

Ready to see AI stock tracking in action? Book a demo of Plinth to explore how camera-first inventory management can work for your organisation.

Recommended Next Pages

• What Is AI Stock Tracking? – A comprehensive introduction to how AI-powered inventory management works.

• AI Stock Tracking vs Manual Stocktakes – A detailed comparison of AI-powered and traditional approaches.

• Camera-First Inventory Management – How AI vision is replacing barcode scanners in community organisations.

• The Complete Guide to Food Bank Inventory Management – Specific guidance for food banks managing donated stock.

• How Charities Are Using Stock Tracking to Reduce Food Waste – Practical strategies for minimising waste through better tracking.

• What is AI for Charities? – A broader look at AI adoption across the charity sector.

Last updated: February 2026

For more information about implementing inventory management in your organisation, contact our team or schedule a demo.