Stockroom vs Zoho Inventory for purchasing
Zoho Inventory is a small business order system, with purchasing as one module of it. The free plan allows 20 purchase orders a month for one user, and the paid plans run from $39 to $299 a month, with the useful purchasing features from $99. Stockroom does the purchasing job free with no PO, user or location limit, inside your Shopify admin, and keeps Shopify as the record.
What it costs
Zoho’s plans cap POs, users and locations, and gate the purchasing features by tier. Stockroom has one plan.
| Feature | Zoho Inventory | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly price | Free, then $39 to $299 | Free |
| Purchase orders a month | 20 free, 300 to 7,500 paid | No limit |
| Users | 1 free, 3 to 10 paid, $7.50 each extra | Unlimited |
| Locations | 1 free, 2 to 10 paid | Every Shopify location |
| Price lists, approvals and the vendor portal | Premium, $99 a month and up | Included |
| Returns to the supplier | Enterprise, $299 a month | Included |
Creating purchase orders
Zoho builds a PO from a vendor, a reorder list or a backorder. Stockroom adds the other places an order starts.
| Feature | Zoho Inventory | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Runs inside your Shopify admin | A separate system with a connector | Yes |
| Start a PO from a customer order | Backorder or drop ship | From the order page, or add to an open draft |
| Start a PO from reorder suggestions | Reorder points you set | A buy plan from your sales |
| Import a whole PO from CSV | Yes | Yes |
| Create at POS by scanning | No | Yes |
| Create from an AI assistant | Not documented | Claude, ChatGPT and others over MCP |
| Discounts on the PO | Yes | Per line or per order |
| Freight and fees on the PO | On the bill | Yes |
| Ship one PO to several locations | One warehouse per PO | Yes |
| Approval before ordering | Premium and up | Optional |
| Your own PO number format | Yes | Yes |
| Notes per line | Notes on the PO | Supplier-visible or internal |
| Your product metafields as PO columns | Custom fields, paid plans | Up to 20, two on the PDF |
| Team comments and @mentions on a PO | No | Yes |
Suppliers
Zoho keeps terms and, on Premium, price lists. Stockroom keeps everything that shapes a real order, on every plan.
| Feature | Zoho Inventory | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Payment terms and currency on the supplier | Yes | Yes |
| Lead time per supplier | Not documented | Yes |
| Several suppliers for one product | One preferred vendor | With cost comparison |
| Supplier part numbers, pack sizes and minimums | Not documented | Yes |
| Price lists with quantity breaks | Premium and up | Yes |
| Free-shipping threshold and minimum order value | No | Yes |
| Import and export suppliers as CSV | Yes | Yes |
Sending the PO to the supplier
Zoho has a proper vendor portal on Premium. Stockroom gives the supplier a link that needs no login, on every plan.
| Feature | Zoho Inventory | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Email the PO from the app | Yes | Yes |
| Email templates | Yes | Yes |
| PDF with your logo and a format per supplier | Yes | Yes |
| Send from your own domain | No | Early access |
| Know when it was opened | Documented for customer emails | Yes |
| Supplier confirms the PO | Vendor portal, Premium and up | A link, no login, every plan |
| Supplier adds tracking | No | Yes |
| PO lands in the supplier’s own Shopify store | No | Stockroom Network |
Receiving the delivery
Zoho receives into its own ledger and pushes available stock to Shopify. Stockroom receives straight into Shopify.
| Feature | Zoho Inventory | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Incoming quantity shows in Shopify | Not documented | On mark ordered |
| Received stock lands in Shopify | Synced as available | At the receiving location |
| Partial deliveries | Yes | Yes |
| Receive by barcode scan | Yes | Admin, POS and a phone camera |
| Receive in Shopify POS | No | Yes |
| Accept or reject units | A return or credit afterwards | On the receive |
| Receive more than was ordered | Not documented | Yes |
| Read the invoice photo to fill in the counts | No | Stockroom AI |
| Receive from an AI assistant | No | Over MCP, with a preview first |
| Undo a receive | Yes | Yes |
| Return goods to the supplier | Enterprise plan | With a credit note |
What the goods cost you
Zoho lands cost on the bill and values stock FIFO or average in its own ledger. Stockroom lands it on the receipt and writes it to the Shopify product when you say so.
| Feature | Zoho Inventory | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Freight and fees allocated into unit cost | On the bill, by value or quantity | On the receipt, by value, quantity or weight |
| Update Shopify’s cost per item from the PO | Not documented | You confirm each push |
| Selling prices reviewed after a cost change | Markup on batch items only | Price review report |
| Landed cost on every delivery | Per bill | Per receipt |
| Payment status on the PO | Through the bill | Unpaid, partial, paid |
| Owed to suppliers report | Yes | Yes |
Reordering and reports
Zoho reorders from a point you type in and has no forecasting. Stockroom works the point out from your sales, every night.
| Feature | Zoho Inventory | Stockroom |
|---|---|---|
| Reorder points from your sales | A reorder point you set by hand | Yes |
| Low stock alerts | Email and in-app | Email and Slack |
| Buy plan grouped by supplier | Reorder list per vendor | Lowest-cost supplier flagged |
| Supplier on-time and lead-time report | No | Yes |
| Landed cost report | No | Yes |
| Spend by supplier | Yes | Yes |
| Bills into QuickBooks | Bills, daily | With MyWorks Sync, paid |
What Stockroom adds
What a PO in Stockroom does that Zoho Inventory leaves to you, or puts on a higher plan.
- It lives in your Shopify admin. Purchase orders, receiving and reports open inside Shopify, next to the products and orders they are about. There is no second system to log into or keep in sync.
- Shopify shows what is coming. Mark a PO ordered and the incoming quantity appears on the product in Shopify and POS. Zoho pushes available stock only.
- No PO, user or location limits. Zoho’s free plan stops at 20 POs a month for one user and one location. Stockroom has no caps on any plan.
- The purchasing features are on every plan. Price lists, approvals, supplier confirmation and supplier returns are free in Stockroom. In Zoho they start at $99 a month, and returns at $299.
- Receiving happens where the boxes are. Scan at the desk, at the till in Shopify POS, or with a phone camera. Reject damaged units on the receive, read the invoice photo to fill in the counts, undo a wrong count.
- Shopify’s cost keeps up. After a receive, Stockroom shows the landed cost per unit and writes it to Shopify’s cost per item when you confirm.
- Prices keep up with costs. The price review report shows where a cost rise ate your margin and suggests a new price you can push to Shopify.
- It tells you what to order. Reorder points from your sales, a buy plan grouped by supplier and the cheaper supplier flagged. Zoho has reorder points you set by hand and no forecasting.
- It works from your AI assistant. Connect Claude, ChatGPT or another assistant over MCP and ask it to draft a PO or receive a delivery. Stockroom shows a preview before anything moves.
Where Zoho Inventory is the better fit
Zoho Inventory is an order system, and these are the jobs of one. Stockroom does not do them.
- Order to cash outside Shopify. Sales orders, invoices, packages, carrier labels and a customer portal for wholesale and marketplace orders. Stockroom leaves selling to Shopify.
- Amazon, eBay and Etsy in one stock record. Several channels and up to five Shopify stores drawing on one inventory. Stockroom works on one Shopify store and keeps Shopify as the record.
- The Zoho suite. Books in the same organisation, CRM sync and Zoho Analytics on Enterprise, if your business already runs on Zoho.
- Accounting-grade costing and controls. Serial numbers, approvals up to ten levels deep, and valuation held in its own ledger. Stockroom has lots, bins and one approval step, and leaves valuation to your accounting system.
- A vendor portal. Suppliers accept or decline POs, comment, and upload invoices that become bills, on Premium and up. Stockroom’s supplier link confirms and adds tracking without an account.
Questions we get
Zoho Inventory has a free plan. Why not use that?
It allows 20 purchase orders a month for one user at one location, without price lists, approvals, custom fields or the vendor portal, and stock is managed in Zoho rather than Shopify. Stockroom is free with none of those limits and keeps Shopify as the record. If you also need Zoho’s sales orders and invoicing, that changes the answer.
Where does my inventory live with Stockroom?
In Shopify. Stockroom writes incoming quantities when you mark a PO ordered and received stock at the destination location when you receive, and both show in Shopify’s inventory history. Zoho Inventory holds its own stock record and pushes available quantities to Shopify one way.
Does Zoho show incoming stock in Shopify?
Nothing in its Shopify integration documentation says it writes Shopify’s incoming figure. It syncs items, orders, available stock, shipments and customers. Stockroom writes incoming to Shopify when you mark a PO ordered, so the product page and POS show what is coming.
Does Stockroom do FIFO?
For cost of goods sold, yes. Every receipt is a cost layer, and the COGS and stock on hand reports can walk them FIFO or as a weighted average. What Stockroom offers Shopify’s cost per item is a weighted average or the latest cost, which you confirm. Accounting valuation stays with your accounting system, and MyWorks Sync can post each PO and bill into QuickBooks.
Can I move my Zoho purchase orders into Stockroom?
Zoho exports POs and vendors as CSV and Stockroom imports both, so open orders and supplier records can come across. Most stores finish what is open in Zoho and start the next order in Stockroom.
What does Stockroom cost?
Purchase orders and receiving are free, and they stay free. That is the core of the app. As Stockroom grows into deeper inventory management, the advanced end of that will be paid, along with hands-on onboarding and priority support. Pushing your POs and bills into QuickBooks is a paid MyWorks Sync subscription.
Try it on your next order
Install free, create one PO, email it, and receive it when it lands. Nothing in Zoho is touched.