Orca Scan alternative · honest comparison
Inventory Now vs Orca Scan
Orca Scan turns a phone into a barcode scanner that fills a spreadsheet you design. Inventory Now is the inventory system itself: counts that move when you buy, sell or count. Which one you want depends on whether you need a sheet or a stock count.
The short version
If you need a flexible barcode database for assets, samples or field data, with webhooks and spreadsheet integrations, Orca Scan is a great tool. If the barcode is on something you sell, Inventory Now already knows what a sale, a stocktake and a low-stock alert are, so there is nothing to build.
Orca Scan priceOrca Scan Starter is $49 a month, or $39 a month billed yearly, for two users, five sheets and 2,000 rows per sheet. Excel, Google Sheets, Zapier and the API start on Business at $99 a month.
Inventory Now priceProfessional is $20 a month billed yearly or $29 month to month, with unlimited users and devices and no setup fee. Personal is $10 a month billed yearly for one person on up to three devices.
Side by side
Inventory Now and Orca Scan, row by row.
Rows where Orca Scan is stronger are marked as theirs. Nothing here is hidden in a footnote.
| Feature | Orca Scan | Inventory Now | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-person shop, month to month | Starter, $49/mo (2 users, 2,000 rows a sheet) | Professional, $29/mo (unlimited users and items) | Inventory Now |
| What it is | A barcode-scanning spreadsheet you design | An inventory and point-of-sale app with fixed fields plus custom fields | Even |
| Scanning | Camera, Bluetooth, USB and enterprise scanners; works offline | Camera, Bluetooth and Linea Pro scanners; works offline | Even |
| Barcode labels | Label generator and designer on every plan | Generate UPCs and SKUs, print barcode sheets | Orca Scan |
| Counts that move on a sale | Not listed; you build it with formulas or triggers | Built in: selling, buying and refunds adjust stock | Inventory Now |
| Stock counts | Not listed as a counting workflow | Scan-to-count stocktakes with a discrepancy preview, report and undo | Inventory Now |
| Low-stock alerts | Not listed | Threshold in units or days of cover, push notification | Inventory Now |
| Selling and checkout | Not listed | Cart, receipts and invoices; Square, Tap to Pay or cash | Inventory Now |
| Shopify, eBay and Etsy | Not listed | Two-way Shopify sync; eBay and Etsy orders and quantities | Inventory Now |
| Spreadsheets and automation | Excel, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make, webhooks and API (Business) | CSV import and export, Dropbox backups, REST API | Orca Scan |
| Profit reports | Not listed | Sales, margin and True Profit after expenses | Inventory Now |
| Free plan | 1 user, 1 sheet, 100 rows | 10 items on one device, no account | Even |
Orca Scan details from Orca Scan pricing and Orca Scan home page, checked November 4, 2026. "Not listed" means their pages did not mention it. Prices change; tell us if one is out of date.
Choose Orca Scan if
- You track assets, samples or field data rather than stock you sell.
- You want to design your own columns and push scans into Excel, Google Sheets or Zapier.
- You need label design and webhooks more than sales and counts.
Choose Inventory Now if
- The barcode is on something you sell.
- You want stock to drop on a sale and rise on a delivery without building formulas.
- You sell on Shopify, eBay or Etsy, or at a counter.
- You want stocktakes, reorder alerts and profit out of the box.
Questions
Straight answers
It is a barcode scanner that fills a spreadsheet, and many people use it for inventory by adding their own columns and formulas. Inventory Now is built around stock: sales, purchases, stocktakes and refunds all move the count, and reports know what profit is.
Try it beside Orca Scan.
Import a CSV export, scan a shelf and ring up a sale. The free plan needs no account, and paid plans start with a free trial.