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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT · MIGRATION GUIDE

Switching from inFlow Inventory to Zoho Inventory

Zoho Inventory has no inFlow importer, but CSV exports from inFlow map cleanly into Zoho’s module imports. Monthly costs usually fall sharply.

Quick verdict: Export products, stock, customers, vendors and open orders from inFlow as CSV, import them into Zoho module by module, reconnect your stores and accounting, then check order caps: Zoho limits orders per month by plan.

Estimate · your inputs

Switching Cost & Friction Estimator

Most buyers only budget for the new subscription. This estimates the hidden labor, data-cleanup, and retraining cost of actually making the switch.

25,000
10

Estimate assumes: 1 hour of data-mapping/cleaning labor per 2,000 records, a blended $75/hr ops rate, tiered migration & cleaning tooling fees, and 4 hours of retraining per seat at a $45/hr fully-loaded rate.

Estimated Migration Time
Data Friction Rating
Total Hidden Switching Cost $0

    Why teams move from inFlow Inventory to Zoho Inventory

    Much lower price

    Standard is $29 a month per organization on annual billing for 3 users.

    Free plan

    One user, one location, 50 orders a month.

    API included

    REST API on every plan.

    How the migration actually works

    Check your monthly order volume against Zoho’s caps (500 on Standard, up to 15,000 on Enterprise) and locations (2 on Standard).

    StepWhat you do
    1Clean up the item listArchive discontinued items and agree on SKUs and units before exporting, so you import only what you still stock.
    2Export from inFlowIn Settings, then Export, save a CSV for each data type (product details, sales orders, purchase orders, customers, vendors). Manufacture orders, attachments and settings cannot be exported.
    3Import into Zoho InventoryImport module by module with Zoho’s sample files and field mapping: contacts and vendors first, then items with opening stock, then warehouses and transactions.
    4Count and reconcileRun a stock count in the new tool, compare totals with the old one, and fix differences before you switch off the old tool.
    5Reconnect sales channelsConnect your online stores and accounting in the new tool, and disconnect them from the old one so stock is not updated twice.
    6Train the team and cut overPick a quiet day, freeze changes in the old tool, import final stock levels, and have everyone scan in the new app from then on.

    What this path doesn’t do for you:

    inFlow manufacture orders, attachments and settings cannot be exported. Unlimited locations and purchase orders become plan-limited in Zoho.

    Pricing side by side

    PlaninFlow InventoryZoho Inventory
    Free planNone (14-day trial)1 user, 50 orders/month
    Entry planEntrepreneur $129/mo (annual), 2 membersStandard $29/mo (annual), 3 users
    Selling channelsShopify, Amazon, WooCommerce, SquarespaceShopify, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart, WooCommerce
    Purchase ordersUnlimitedAll plans (capped)
    API$49/mo add-on below Mid-SizeAll plans

    Prices checked on each vendor’s pricing page on September 19, 2026.

    Feature parity check

    CapabilityinFlow InventoryZoho Inventory
    Import from the other toolCSV import with mappingCSV/TSV/XLS with field mapping
    Locations1, then unlimited2–10 by plan
    Purchase ordersUnlimitedMonthly caps
    Free planNoneYes
    2FAMandatoryAvailable
    Verified data

    Security & access: what changes when you switch

    Security, offline and access rules that differ between inFlow Inventory and Zoho Inventory. Rows where both tools are the same (2) are left out; the full side-by-side is on each tool’s page: inFlow Inventory, Zoho Inventory.

    What changesinFlow Inventory (today)Zoho Inventory (after)
    ISO/IEC 27001Not publishedCertifiedsource
    Other certificationsNot publishedISO/IEC 27701, ISO/IEC 27017, ISO/IEC 27018, ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 20000-1, ISO 22301, SOC 1 Type 2, SOC 2 + HIPAA Type 2, Cyber Essentials Plus, TX-RAMP, ENS (Spain)source
    GDPR data processing agreementNot publishedDPA offeredsource
    Single sign-on (SAML/OIDC)NosourceYessource
    Two-factor authenticationYesEnforcement: All plans (mandatory)sourceYessource
    Admin audit logNot publishedYessource
    Data residency choicesNot publishedUS, EU, India, Australia, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Singapore, Chinasource
    Encryption256-bit SSL encryption; hosted on Microsoft AzuresourceAES-256 at rest; TLS 1.2/1.3 in transitsource
    Self-hosting optionCloud onlysourceNot published
    Offline modeNeeds a connectioninFlow Inventory's web, Windows and mobile apps all need a working internet connection; the offline-capable On-Premise edition was discontinued.sourceNot documented
    Desktop appsWindowssourceWindows, macOSsource
    Device & session controlsYesMid-SizeWith SSO (Mid-Size+), admins can require SSO for all team members and sessions end when the browser or Windows app closes; 2FA credentials are remembered for 30 days.sourceNot published
    Office & room hardwareinFlow sells a Smartphone Scanner (Android phone with built-in laser scanner) and a Portable thermal label Printer; new customers get a one-time hardware credit.sourceThe Windows app supports barcode scanners and RFID, weighing-scale integration and terminal payments; mobile apps scan barcodes with the phone.source
    Editorial assessment

    Before you cut over

    • Set up single sign-on in Zoho Inventory before you invite the team, so accounts are created through your identity provider rather than by hand.

    Checked September 19, 2026 against each vendor’s own trust center, help docs and app pages. Hover or tap “source” to see the exact wording we relied on. “Not published” means we could not find the vendor saying it on its own site — it doesn’t mean the feature is missing. Plan names are the lowest plan the vendor says includes the feature. Security · Offline · Remote vs office · Download the data

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can Zoho import from inFlow?

    Yes, via CSV: export each data type from inFlow and import it with Zoho’s sample files.

    Will I save money?

    Usually: Zoho Standard is $29 a month on annual billing against $129 for inFlow Entrepreneur.

    What doesn’t export from inFlow?

    Manufacture orders, attachments, extra addresses and settings.

    What about my order history?

    Open orders can be imported; most teams keep closed orders as an exported archive rather than importing years of history.

    Sources

    Prices on this page were recorded from each vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown at the top of the page. Vendors change pricing often — check the live source before you buy.

    Every figure is also in our open dataset (JSON and CSV, CC BY 4.0), with its source page and verification date. See how we research pricing.

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    About the author

    Bill Belcamino

    Founder and author, HelpCompare

    Bill has worked in software and digital marketing for more than 20 years. He spent nine years as an engineer at HP, served as COO scaling a platform past 200,000 users, and ran Google’s $70M/year search syndication partnership at Alot.com. He has bought, trialled, integrated and cancelled more SaaS tools than he can count, and started HelpCompare because the real cost of switching tools is the part nobody covers.

    “I’ve sat on both sides of the table: the agency recommending the tool and the client paying for it.”

    Researched and fact-checked by the HelpCompare team. Pricing on this page was last verified on September 19, 2026. No paid sponsorships, no affiliate commissions.