Cin7 vs inFlow vs Katana vs a Custom Inventory System: What a 10-User Wholesale Business Pays in 2026

Short answer: for a wholesale or product business with 10 people in the inventory system and about 15,000 sales orders a year, Cin7 Core Pro costs $7,188 a year ($599 a month, 10 users, up to 24,000 sales orders a year), inFlow Inventory Pro costs $5,988 a year ($499 a month billed annually, 10 team members) plus a $499 onboarding package, and Katana publishes no paid price: its free plan stops at 30 SKUs and its Advantage plan is custom priced. A custom inventory system costs $15,000 to $50,000 for a first production version of one workflow, and replacing your whole system of record usually lands in the $50,000 to $100,000 band. So buy one of these tools for stock, purchasing and fulfilment, and build only the part that is your business: wholesale pricing rules, a B2B ordering portal, or the connection between systems that staff retype by hand. Every vendor price below was read from the vendor's own page on 15 October 2026.

If you want a range for your own scope first, the AI development cost calculator gives one in about a minute.

The routes, with published prices

How to read these numbers. Subscription prices are the vendors' published list prices on the date shown, before taxes, overages, add-ons and seat growth. The custom-build figures are KUMO's published bands for the build only: hosting, model usage, third-party fees and ongoing engineering ($5,000 to $10,000 per month if you have no engineers) sit on top, and we say so wherever a total is compared. A standard tool is the right answer when your workflow fits it; configuration is enough when the gap is small; a custom build is justified only by a specific complexity named on this page, not by preference.

Cin7 states its prices in USD, excluding taxes, for new customers, and does not say whether the monthly figure assumes annual billing. More users, more integrations and more order volume are available for purchase on Cin7, at prices the page does not list. inFlow shows annual billing with a stated 20% saving over monthly. inFlow's plan table lists its API, its B2B portal (Showroom), lot numbers and serial numbers as add-ons on some plans, so check the tier you need.

The arithmetic for one business

Take one business: a 30-person wholesaler and online brand with two warehouses, 10 people who log in (buyers, warehouse leads, customer service and finance), and about 15,000 sales orders a year across Shopify and wholesale accounts.

Software cost, per year. Cin7 Core Standard is out on two counts: 5 users and a 6,000-order cap. Cin7 Core Pro is $599 x 12 = $7,188. inFlow Inventory Pro is $499 x 12 = $5,988, plus $499 once for onboarding. Katana needs a quote, because 30 SKUs will not hold a wholesale catalogue.

Over three years. Cin7 Core Pro is $21,564. inFlow Inventory Pro is $17,964 plus $499, so $18,463.

When volume grows. Cin7 prices by order volume as well as users. At 30,000 sales orders a year this business passes the Pro cap of 24,000 and moves to Advanced at $1,199 a month: $14,388 a year, $7,200 more than Pro. On inFlow, growing from 10 to 20 people who log in moves Pro to Max, $699 x 12 = $8,388 a year.

Where a custom build fits. Three years of Cin7 Core Pro ($21,564) is more than the bottom of the Starter band, but a $15,000 build does not replace an inventory system. It replaces one workflow. Rebuilding stock, purchasing, multi-warehouse picking and accounting sync as your own system of record is $50,000 to $100,000 work, which only pays back on subscription savings at volumes well past this example. These are KUMO's calculations on the published prices above, before your own hosting and upkeep.

So the decision is rarely build or buy. It is which tool holds the stock, and whether the work around it is worth software of your own.

When each route is the right one

1. Your products, stock and orders follow the standard pattern: buy. Receive, store, pick, pack, ship and reorder is what Cin7 and inFlow are designed for, at about $6,000 to $7,200 a year for 10 users in this example.
2. You make what you sell: compare Katana and Cin7 Pro. Cin7 Core Pro includes material requirements planning. Katana's paid plan is quote only, so ask for its price and setup scope against Cin7's MRP before you decide.
3. Wholesale customers need their own ordering: compare the add-on with a build. Both Cin7 and inFlow list a B2B portal as an add-on. If your trade customers each have their own price lists, credit limits, minimum order quantities and approval steps, price the add-on against a portal built to your rules.
4. Staff retype orders between systems: build the connection. If orders arrive from a marketplace, an EDI partner or email and someone re-enters them, a custom integration that writes into your inventory tool is a Starter Build. AI integration with legacy systems shows how those connections are scoped.
5. What you track is not stock: build the system. Rental fleets, serialised assets on hire, deposits and credit notes, or delivery-gated invoicing are where inventory tools stop. That is a system of record of your own, in the $50,000 to $100,000 band.
6. You are on Shopify and the storefront is the question: read the ecommerce comparison first. Shopify Plus vs a custom build prices the storefront side of the same decision.

Comparing other tools at the same stage? Retool vs Airtable vs a custom internal tool prices the back-office screens, and HubSpot vs Salesforce vs a custom CRM prices the sales side.

What a Starter Build buys

A KUMO Starter Build ($15,000 to $50,000) is a launched first production version of one workflow around your inventory tool: a wholesale ordering portal with your price lists and approval rules, or a two-way connection between your inventory, accounting and sales channels, with tests on real orders and a handover another engineer can continue from. Code and data stay in your accounts. See custom software development for how builds are scoped, and AI workflow automation for automating order intake and back-office steps.

The proof for the larger route is direct: Equipp, the rental operations platform KUMO builds for Ralco Group's B2B equipment rental business: item-level orders, asset-identity locking, delivery-gated invoicing and auditable deposit and credit-note ledgers, the parts a boxed inventory tool does not model. KUMO's founders also built Volopay's first production version as its founding engineers; that proof is adjacent here, relevant for the approval and ledger parts only.

Costs after launch

Subscriptions recur and rise with users, integrations and order volume, and add-ons such as B2B portals, forecasting and premium support are priced separately. A custom workflow has hosting, monitoring and engineering time whenever your inventory tool changes its API or your pricing rules change. Decide before you sign who owns those changes; if you keep adding features, the $5,000 to $10,000 monthly band applies.

How to get a real number this week

Count three things: how many people log in, how many sales orders you ship a year, and the places where someone retypes an order, a price or a stock level from one system into another. With the first two you can run the arithmetic above against Cin7 and inFlow. With the third, a free 30-minute call with an engineer gives a band for your brief.

FAQ

How much does Cin7 cost? On 15 October 2026 Cin7 listed Cin7 Core Standard at $349 a month (5 users, 6,000 sales orders a year), Pro at $599 (10 users, 24,000 orders) and Advanced at $1,199 (15 users, 120,000 orders), in USD excluding taxes. The page does not price Cin7 Omni.

How much does inFlow Inventory cost? Billed annually, inFlow Inventory lists Lite at $99 a month (2 team members), Core at $299 (5), Pro at $499 (10) and Max at $699 (20). An onboarding package of $499 is required on most plans.

How much does Katana cost? Katana has a free plan for up to 30 SKUs. Its Advantage plan, with unlimited SKUs and a setup built around your business, is custom priced, so you need a quote.

Is inFlow cheaper than Cin7? For 10 users in this example, inFlow Inventory Pro ($5,988 a year billed annually) lists below Cin7 Core Pro ($7,188 a year). Cin7 also caps sales orders per plan, so compare at your real order volume.

Should I build my own inventory management system? Usually not for standard stock and fulfilment, which these tools handle for $6,000 to $7,200 a year at 10 users. Build the workflow around them, such as a wholesale portal or an order integration, for $15,000 to $50,000. Build your own system of record only when what you track is not stock, such as rental assets, deposits or delivery-gated invoicing.

Last verified 15 October 2026. Cin7 prices from cin7.com/pricing, inFlow prices and setup packages from inflowinventory.com/software-pricing-inflow, Katana plans from katanamrp.com/pricing, all read on that date. Annual and three-year totals are KUMO's calculations on those published prices at the volumes stated. KUMO bands are KUMO's published prices.