The 5 Best Warehouse Management Software of 2023

Warehouse management software goes beyond what you’d normally get with a regular inventory management solution. If warehousing is a top priority for your business, these are the platforms we’d recommend.
Best for business operations
Zoho
Zoho Inventory
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
Starting from
$0.00/mo.
  • pro
    Multi-warehouse tracking
  • pro
    Inventory management functions
Best for warehouse and manufacturing
Fishbowl
Fishbowl Warehouse
4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2
Starting from
$4,395.00
  • pro
    Track inventory between multiple locations
  • pro
    Excellent features for the price
Best for fast shipping
Manhattan WMS
Manhattan WMS
4 out of 5 stars
4.0
Price available
upon request
  • pro
    Cross-docking and order tracking
  • pro
    Comprehensive 3PL warehouse manager
Best labor management
Oracle
Oracle Warehouse Cloud Management
3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3
Starting from
$50.00/mo./1000 warehouse transactions
  • pro
    Asset and time tracking
  • pro
    Inventory management features
Best for perishables
Netsuite
NetSuite WMS
3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3
Starting from
$999.00/mo.
  • pro
    Expiration and shelf-life tracking
  • pro
    Planning tools for easy inventory counts

Data as of 12/12/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

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Best warehouse management options at a glance

Our top five warehouse management systems all allow you to track your inventory across multiple locations. They’re also all compatible with barcode scanners—which makes a lot of sense considering how much easier warehousing becomes when barcode scanners are in the picture.

Here’s how our five contenders stack up in terms of the most popular warehouse management features:

Top inventory tracker apps compared

Zoho

Zoho Inventory

Fishbowl

Fishbowl Warehouse

Manhattan WMS

Manhattan WMS

Oracle

Oracle WMS

Netsuite

NetSuite WMS

Starting price

$0.00/mo

$4,395.00

Price available upon request

$50.00/mo./1000 warehouse transactions

$999.00/mo.

Multiple warehouses
Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Multichannel fulfillment
Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon No  Dark

No

Barcode scanning
Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Warehouse automation
Icon No  Dark

No

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon No  Dark

No

Cross-docking support
Icon No  Dark

No

Icon No  Dark

No

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon No  Dark

No

Order streaming
Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon No  Dark

No

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon No  Dark

No

Icon No  Dark

No

Mobile app
Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Labor management features
Icon No  Dark

No

Icon No  Dark

No

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon Yes  Dark

Yes

Icon No  Dark

No

View Plans

Data as of 12/12/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Zoho Inventory: Best for business operations

Zoho Inventory
Zoho
Zoho Inventory
4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3
  • Starting from $0.00/mo.
  • pro
    Integrations to work with your business
  • pro
    Barcode scanning available

Data as of 12/12/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

The multi-warehouse management system comes part of the Zoho Inventory package, along with inventory control, multichannel selling, order management, order fulfillment, and reports.

What does this mean for you? It means that adding on Zoho’s software gives you the chance to transfer stock between warehouse, manage locations, and dispatch orders from the all-in-one Zoho software. This is a big deal because many brands require business owners to add integrations and other costly add-ons to their software in order to access these features. Zoho does not.

With Zoho, you can organize your warehouses and complete purchase orders from the same application. It doesn’t get much better than that!

Fishbowl Warehouse: Best for warehouse and manufacturing businesses

Fishbowl Warehouse
Fishbowl
Fihsbowl Warehouse
4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2
  • Lifetime access starting at $4,395.00
  • pro
    QuickBooks integration
  • pro
    Multi-location support

Data as of 12/12/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Fishbowl makes for a pretty decent warehouse management solution, thanks to its focus on usability and affordability. It's number one in value because it provides inventory management with the warehousing and supply chain features you need at a fraction of the price.

Fishbowl offers a ton of features to help you keep tabs on your inventory levels. You can track inventory movement between multiple locations and even study sales trends on a warehouse-by-warehouse basis. Fishbowl also makes order fulfillment a breeze, thanks to its embedded UPS features.

Fishbowl Warehouse also integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks. This helps you maintain inventory accuracy since you don’t have to manually enter your inventory levels into your accounting system.

All that being said, Fishbowl isn’t a perfect warehouse management software. In fact, it lacks a few warehousing features that other platforms on our list provide—like cross-docking support, which helps you efficiently move product where it needs to go as quickly as possible.

So how did it get our number one spot? It provides exceptional value. Fishbowl software starts at $4,395, which seems pretty steep until you remember that’s the price for a lifetime of use. While you can renew your software for $1,395 per year to continue getting access to new updates, you don’t have to renew—your existing software will continue to work. And since you don’t have to pay monthly fees, the service is actually extremely affordable.

Manhattan WMS: Best for fast shipping

Manhattan WMS
Manhattan WMS
Manhattan WMS
4 out of 5 stars
4.0
  • Price available upon request
  • pro
    Third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse manager
  • pro
    Fast order turnaround with superior supply chain management

Data as of 12/12/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Manhattan WMS is, at its core, a flexible inventory management and warehousing platform. As a third-party logistics (3PL) warehouse manager, Manhattan WMS provides flexibility and power to your fulfillment methods.

For starters, Manhattan gives you more freedom in your supply chain management by letting you arrange multi-carrier deliveries. That means you can choose to have your goods shipped by multiple logistics providers along the way, so you can choose the fastest or most cost-effective supply chain solution for your needs.

Once your goods arrive at your warehouse, Manhattan WMS offers cross-docking support. So if your items arrive and need to be shipped out immediately, you can use your warehouse inventory management software to order a cargo transfer from one truck to another. You can also take advantage of Manhattan’s order streaming feature to prioritize shipments with fast turnaround times—even pulling items from other orders to fulfill priority orders.

Beyond order management, Manhattan also makes it easy to optimize your warehouse layout for easy picking and packing. You can also set material handling policies, ensuring everyone in your organization knows the processes for moving, protecting, storing, tracking, and controlling your inventory.

Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud: Best labor management

Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud
Oracle
Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud
3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3
  • Icon Blank
    $50.00/mo./1000 warehouse transactions
  • pro
    Enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to help run your business
  • pro
    Comprehensive efficiency reports

Data as of 12/12/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

Oracle Warehouse Management Cloud (or Oracle WMS) really shines when it comes to labor management options. With Oracle, you can easily measure completion times for warehouse tasks. You can also track efficiency by work group, work area, and even by process type for even greater insight. This gives you an accurate picture of your warehousing tasks and helps you set doable material handling goals for your employees.

At its heart, though, Oracle WMS is an enterprise resource planning (or ERP) system. As such, it offers a robust warehouse management system that doesn’t skimp on asset tracking or traditional inventory management. You want to track shipments across your supply chain? Automate fulfillment on sales orders? Oracle can handle it all.

Just keep in mind that Oracle’s comprehensive ERP solutions come at a hefty price. The cheapest WMS option available is the Oracle Warehouse Workforce Management Cloud, which clocks in at $75 per month per employee. But that’s with a minimum of 20 employees, so the true cost is a whopping $1,500 per month at least.

So if you’re looking for a more affordable warehouse management software, Oracle isn’t the right choice for you.

NetSuite WMS: Best for perishables

Netsuite WMS
Netsuite
Netsuite WMS
3.3 out of 5 stars
3.3
  • Starting from $999.00/mo.
  • pro
    Logistics, production, and financial management tools
  • pro
    Part of the Oracle family

Data as of 12/12/22. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change.

As part of the Oracle family of brands, NetSuite takes after its business brother by offering comprehensive ERP software. That means, with NetSuite, you don’t just get warehouse inventory management—you also get logistics management, production management, and financial management.

Like Manhattan WMS and Oracle WMS, NetSuite lets you set material handling policies. This helps you define your strategy for put-away and product picking, so you can make your business as efficient as possible.

With Netsuite WMS, you can keep tabs on all your perishable goods. If you’ve got items that can’t stay on the shelf indefinitely, you’ll love NetSuite’s warehouse management solution. Between the software’s expiration tracking and shelf-life tracking, you can easily ensure your products get into your customers’ hands while they’re still fresh.

NetSuite’s warehouse management system also helps you with advanced inventory tracking, keeping tabs on product expiration dates, shelf lives on specific items, and bin locations. That way, you can easily find and prioritize items that need to be sold sooner rather than later.

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The takeaway

Every warehouse management system offers different features and drawbacks. Zoho Inventory gets our top pick due to its versatility and value, but if you’re looking for more supply chain options, order fulfillment flexibility, or inventory tracking capabilities, Fishbowl Warehouse, Manhattan WMS, Oracle WMS, or NetSuite WMS may be a better fit.

Ultimately, the best platform for your business is the one that meets your inventory control needs the best. Hopefully, we’ve illuminated some of the pros and cons of each option to help you choose a solution that works for your company.

Looking for more supply chain management features? You may find a better fit among more traditional inventory management software. Check out our guide to the best inventory management systems to learn more.

Related Content

Warehouse management software FAQ

If you’re looking for a warehouse management system, our top pick is Fishbowl Warehouse. It may not offer cross-docking, order streaming, and other top-tier warehousing features. But Fishbowl can help you generate purchase orders, track items across your supply chain, and efficiently fulfill customer orders—with more than a few traditional inventory management features thrown in the mix. It’s not the perfect solution for every business, but its great value puts it at the top of our list.

WMS is short for warehouse management system (or warehouse management software, depending on who you talk to). WMS software provides inventory management for warehouse-based businesses. Depending on the solution you choose, that may mean more focus on supply chain management, order management, or item tracking.

How do I use WMS software?

No two warehouse management solutions are the same, so the specifics on how to use your WMS software will vary depending on the platform you’re using. In general, though, you use warehouse management software to maximize efficiency within your supply chain, keep your warehouses organized, and speed up order fulfillment—all of which should lead to cost savings for your business and greater customer satisfaction.

What are the different types of warehouse management systems?

WMS systems can come in lots of different shapes. Some WMS solutions are standalone platforms that focus exclusively on warehousing. But WMS features may also come with your regular inventory management software or as part of the supply chain module on your ERP system. If you’re using a 3PL warehouse manager, it may also include warehousing features. These all qualify as types of warehouse management systems.

Like Fishbowl, TradeGecko incorporated a lot more traditional inventory control features than other warehouse management systems on our list. For instance, TradeGecko included demand forecasting and purchase order generation.

But that doesn’t negate the fact that TradeGecko also offered a ton of features that are handy when it comes to warehouse operation.

TradeGecko offered bin-level tracking, so your employees can easily find the items they need when working on order fulfillment. You can also track your inventory across your supply chain in real time. And best of all, TradeGecko offered a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) integration on Business plans and higher—so you can focus on your wholesale business rather than individual customer orders.

And it certainly didn't hurt that TradeGecko was one of the most inexpensive warehouse management software systems at just $199 per month. Just saying.

Methodolgy

We looked through dozens of inventory management and warehouse management brands to find the ones that worked best for warehouse businesses. We primarily looked at how warehouse functionality worked with inventory management and how easy it was to integrate the whole system into business operations. Pricing, features beyond warehouse management,  integrations, and ERP functionality were all considered when determining our star rankings.

Disclaimer

At Business.org, our research is meant to offer general product and service recommendations. We don't guarantee that our suggestions will work best for each individual or business, so consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Alex Kerai
Written by
Alex Kerai
Alex reports on emerging consumer trends. Previously he was a staff writer for Business.org, with a focus on inventory management and ecommerce. He also started and wrote the Simple Solutions newsletter that was delivered to Business.org email subscribers each week, featuring news and interviews with business leaders and academics across the world. His writing on consumer trends can also be seen on Reviews.org, WhistleOut.com, SatelliteInternet.com, CableTV.com, and Reviews.com. Utilizing his experience in multimedia content creation for businesses, non-profits, and educational institutions, Alex writes for businesses today.
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