When a product business outgrows managing stock in QuickBooks Online alone, the shortlist usually includes Fishbowl and inFlow. Both are established, capable products. There's also a third option people don't always consider: keep QuickBooks Online exactly as it is and add only the warehouse layer you're missing.
We build that third option, so we have a stake in this comparison. We've tried to be fair anyway — the right answer genuinely differs from business to business, and a recommendation that doesn't fit you isn't worth anything to us either.
Fishbowl has been one of the best-known inventory systems for QuickBooks users for many years, historically with a particularly deep QuickBooks Desktop integration, and it also connects to QuickBooks Online. It covers manufacturing, work orders, multi-location warehousing and more.
Where it shines: depth. If you assemble products, manage bills of materials, or run several warehouses with transfers between them, Fishbowl has the features.
What it asks of you: time and process change. Implementations are typically structured projects, and the business adopts Fishbowl's way of working. Pricing is subscription-based and varies by plan and modules; check current pricing directly with Fishbowl.
inFlow is a cloud inventory system aimed at small and mid-sized businesses. It integrates with QuickBooks Online, includes barcoding and a mobile scanning app, and offers assemblies and light manufacturing.
Where it shines: speed to adopt. It's designed to be usable fairly quickly, and its feature set covers what many small product businesses need.
What it asks of you: running a second system. Sales orders, purchase orders and stock live in inFlow, and transactions sync to QuickBooks. Your team works in inFlow's workflow, which may or may not match yours. Some features, such as multiple locations, depend on plan; check current pricing and plan limits with inFlow.
The third approach doesn't replace anything. Invoices, items, customers and purchases stay in QuickBooks Online, where your bookkeeper already works. A separate, custom-configured web app reads that data and handles what QuickBooks doesn't: reserving sold stock, sending orders to the warehouse, barcode picking, ready at dock → out for delivery → delivered, and checking payment before goods leave — writing each status back to the invoice as an internal note.
Where it shines: no migration and no change for the office. It's shaped around your existing item list, locations and workflow.
What it asks of you: it's a custom deployment rather than a self-signup product, it works with QuickBooks Online only, and it isn't a manufacturing system. If you need bills of materials or full multi-warehouse transfers today, Fishbowl or inFlow may be the better fit.
If you're weighing these options, we're happy to look at how orders move through your business and tell you honestly which approach fits — including when it isn't ours. Learn more about our warehouse layer for QuickBooks Online.
A 20-minute call. We'll look at how orders move through your business today and show you exactly where the gaps are.
Book a 20-minute demo →Yes. inFlow, SOS Inventory, Cin7 and others integrate with QuickBooks Online. Another option is to keep QuickBooks Online as is and add a custom warehouse layer for reservations, picking and delivery status.
No. Many businesses keep QuickBooks Online for accounting and add either an integrated inventory system or a warehouse layer that reads QuickBooks data.
QuickBooks and QuickBooks Online are trademarks of Intuit Inc. Rinko Books' warehouse software works with QuickBooks Online; it is an independent product and is not made, endorsed, certified or sponsored by Intuit.