Flat-price vs revenue-scaled Shopify inventory apps (2026)
Short answer: Shopify inventory and reorder apps price one of two ways. Flat apps charge the same monthly figure no matter how big you get. Scaled apps tie the bill to your revenue (GMV), order volume, SKU count, or number of locations, so the entry tier looks cheap and the cost climbs exactly as your store grows. For a small or mid-size store replacing the free Stocky, flat almost always costs less across the range you'll actually operate in (and just as important: it's predictable, so you can budget it). Scaled pricing makes sense in one case, covered below. Here's the honest comparison, including the worked math and when a revenue-scaled tool is genuinely the better buy.
The two models, plainly
- Flat pricing. One price per tier, decoupled from your size. You pick a tier for the features you need, not for how much you sell. Parwise is flat: reorder points are free, and the paid tiers are $39 and $79, the same figure whether you do $50K a year or $5M.
- Scaled pricing. The price rises with a usage metric, most often annual revenue / GMV bands, sometimes order count, SKU count, or store locations. The headline entry price is low, but it's a floor, not a ceiling: cross a band and the bill steps up.
Neither is inherently good or bad. Scaled pricing lets a vendor charge a tiny store very little and a large one a lot, which is fair in principle. The catch is what it feels like from the merchant's side as they grow: a tool that cost $19 when you adopted it can quietly become a $79 or $199 line item, for the same job it always did.
Why this matters most if you're leaving Stocky
Stocky was bundled free with Shopify POS Pro. So the reference price in every Stocky refugee's head is $0, and any replacement is already a step up. The difference between flat and scaled is whether that step is a known, fixed number or an open-ended one that grows with you.
This is the single loudest complaint in the migration threads. As one merchant put it: "apps look reasonable until you realize they scale by orders or locations, then suddenly you're in ERP pricing territory for pretty basic inventory stuff." Replacing a free tool with one whose price you can't predict is exactly the anxiety a Stocky refugee is trying to avoid.
How the popular Stocky replacements price (the model, not just the sticker)
The number on the pricing page matters less than what makes it go up. (Figures as of June 2026. Check each app's current App Store listing before relying on them.)
| App | Pricing model | Entry | What makes the bill climb |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parwise | Flat | Free (reorder points) | Nothing. Reorder is free; a flat $39 only if you add purchase orders, $79 for supplier automation. Never metered. |
| Forstock | Revenue-banded | $39/mo | Annual revenue (Starter covers up to ~$250K, then steps up) |
| Prediko | Revenue (GMV) bands | $49/mo | Annual revenue: $49 up to $100K, $119 to $500K, $199 to $2M, then custom |
| Inventory Planner | Volume-based (custom quote) | Contact sales | Inventory volume / revenue; pricing not public (quote on request) |
| Cogsy | Flat | $199/mo | Nothing (single $199 plan; "contact us" only for large custom needs) |
| Monocle | Order-volume bands | $47/mo | Average monthly orders: $47 under 600, $67 under 1,200, $89 above |
| Assisty | Tiered, priced by your Shopify plan | Free / $19 | Your Shopify plan level: Free $0, Basic Shopify $19 (reporting only), Advanced Shopify $59 (replenishment engine + multi-location), Shopify Plus $239 (purchase orders + AI/ML forecasting) |
Two things stand out. First, the cheapest-looking entries are usually the scaled ones, and they're scaled, so the entry price is the best case, not the typical one. Second, the genuinely flat options (Parwise and Cogsy) give you a number you can put in a budget and forget.
The math: when does flat actually win?
Take a store doing $200K/year that just wants reorder points and low-stock alerts back.
- On a revenue-banded plan, that store sits in a roughly $39-49/mo entry band today, and it's one good quarter from the next band up.
- On Parwise, the same store pays $0 for reorder points and low-stock alerts: they're on the free tier. It pays a flat $39 only if it chooses purchase orders and receiving (Pro), and that figure holds as the store grows to $300K, $500K, $1M. A feature decision, never a revenue penalty.
So the store that just wants the reorder decision back pays nothing on Parwise and $39-49 on a banded plan. From there the banded bill climbs with each new revenue band; the flat one doesn't move unless you ask for more features. Scaled pricing only wins at the very bottom, for a store too small to have crossed a band yet, and a useful free tier usually covers that store until it's ready to pay anyway.
When a revenue-scaled (or enterprise) tool is the right call
The honest part: flat isn't always the answer.
- You're a larger, multi-channel brand whose P&L lives on forecast accuracy. Deep, ML-style demand planning across Amazon/eBay/wholesale (Inventory Planner, Cogsy, Prediko at the top tiers) is worth real money, and scaled pricing that tracks your size is a fair trade for it. Parwise doesn't do ML forecasting or multi-channel truth, and won't pretend to.
- You want a full WMS / ERP. Bin locations, manufacturing, multi-warehouse fulfilment. That's a different category, priced accordingly.
- You're so small that the entry band is genuinely cheaper than a flat tier, though a free tier usually closes that gap.
If none of those is you (you had a simple, free tool and want a simple, affordable one back), a flat plan is the lower-stress, lower-total-cost choice.
Where Parwise fits
Parwise is built for the Stocky refugee who wants the everyday jobs back at a price that stays put:
- Reorder points and low-stock alerts are free. Your sales-velocity reorder point (
average daily sales × lead time + safety stock) is shown and editable, not a black box you have to trust. Most refugees never need to pay. - Purchase orders with a real receiving lifecycle are a flat $39 (Pro): draft, send, partially receive, receive or short-close, with supplier lead times.
- Supplier-feed automation and multi-location are $79 (Scale), once a store has outgrown the basics.
- Never metered by revenue, orders, SKUs, or locations. Annual plans save about two months.
- No customer personal data. Parwise reads orders for SKU, quantity, and cost; it never touches customer names, emails, or addresses.
Start free, and pay a flat $39 only when you want purchase orders. Same number this year and next.
FAQ
Do Shopify inventory apps charge based on revenue? Many do. Forstock, Prediko, and Inventory Planner tie their price to revenue or GMV, and Monocle scales by order volume, so the bill rises as you grow. Others, such as Parwise and Cogsy, are flat: the same monthly price regardless of size.
What is a flat-price Shopify inventory app? One that charges a fixed monthly fee per tier, independent of your revenue, order volume, SKU count, or number of locations. Parwise's paid tiers are flat at $39 and $79, and reorder points are free; you move tiers for features such as purchase orders, never as a penalty for selling more.
Is Forstock or Prediko flat or revenue-based? As of June 2026, both scale with size: Forstock by revenue band (the Starter plan covers up to roughly $250K in revenue), Prediko by GMV. Check their current listings before relying on specific numbers.
Why did Stocky cost nothing and its replacements cost money? Stocky was bundled free with Shopify POS Pro. Shopify is retiring it (full shutdown August 31, 2026), and the replacements are independent apps with their own costs. The thing to watch isn't only the sticker price but the model (flat vs scaled), because a metered plan's real cost depends on how big you get.
Does Parwise charge by orders, revenue, or locations? No. Parwise is flat: reorder points are free, and the paid tiers are $39 and $79, never metered by orders, revenue, SKUs, or locations. The free tier (low-stock alerts, the on-hand dashboard, and reorder points) has no order cap either.