Yes, we’re back, with our list of top 5 bar inventory apps. Although there are a boatload of liquor inventory apps now available, we are going to whittle that list of bar inventory apps down, because who wants the 10th best inventory app? Or even the 6th best inventory app? Crazy people, that’s who.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you. In this article we’ll go over each one, describing the features, the good and bad, as well as pricing and how each cater to the different needs and preferences of your bar and restaurant.

Let us be clear about something from the get-go though: it is not lost on us that you have come to research bar inventory apps on a website that offers an inventory app. That would be condescending – insulting even –  to think we could “fake you out” by pretending we were completely neutral and had no dog in this fight. That’s not us. Transparency is of upmost importance to us.

Just had to put that out there first…

What is a Bar Inventory App Exactly?

Chances are you already know that answer this, which is why you’re here. But for any beginners or numbskulls out there, a bar inventory app allows you to count your bar inventory faster and more accurately than the traditional methods. Namely spreadsheets. If you’re completely old school and you’d like a free bar inventory spreadsheet, you can click here to get ours. But really, you should be looking to speed up your inventory process, not slow it down so you can improve your bar and food costs.

A good inventory management software allows you to:

• Reduce counting errors
• Save time
• Cut labor costs
• Analyze business costs
• Increase sales
• Optimize drink prices
• Track bartender pours in order to reduce theft, and therefore reduce costs
• Save valuable time on ordering and invoicing

What Features Should My Bar Inventory Software Have?

When looking to sign-up for an online inventory management system, you’ll need to decide what it crucial for you and what might be optional, depending on your needs. These are the most important features to have for your bar management software:

Bluetooth Scale

When it comes to inventory tracking, there is nothing more accurate than using an integrated bluetooth scale to count open liquor bottles. Point-counting (counting by tenths of a bottle) results in a 10 – 15% margin of error, while the bluetooth scale has a narrow 2 – 3% margin of error. That’s a big difference.

Ability to Count on Multiple Devices

Using a bar inventory app to count inventory is already a lot faster than the traditional inventory process, but when you can add multiple users counting on their own device (and in different locations at the same time), you now have an automated inventory process that has completely streamlined your business. Manual inventory cannot do this for you.

Ability to Upload Sales From the POS System

Some inventory management software allows you to have direct pos integration, while others have an extra step in which you simply export the sales data to Excel and then upload the data. You will need one or the other if you want to track bartender pours and your bar costs.

Recipe Builder

With the ability to enter recipes for each sales item, there is no way to define the ingredients and portion sizes for each item. In turn, that means you cannot track and manage your bar inventory properly. The best bar inventory apps allow you to build your recipes out for tracking purposes.

A Database of Beer, Liquor and Wine Brands

This is a difficult database to keep up with, especially considering the barrage of products that continue to come out day after day, but your inventory management software should have the most common brands on the list so the bar managers can quickly add them to your account.

With that said, let’s not waste any more of your precious time. Let’s get into the top 5 bar inventory apps. Then below this list we have the most frequently asked questions about bar inventory software and other related questions to bar inventory management.

Best Bar Inventory Apps as of 2023

In no particular order…

Bar Patrol Inventory App

Ok, I know we said “no particular order” but how much confidence are we showing in our liquor inventory app if we don’t list ourselves first? Zilch, that’s right.

Bar Patrol App is listed as “Most Bang for Your Buck” because it has most of the same features of the other inventory software systems on this list, but for a lot less. Bar Patrol was built with the mid sized bars and bar owners in mind. We wanted them to have the ability to manage inventory without incurring huge monthly fees. We will say that some of the other inventory systems on this list have some more advanced capabilities, but they come at a costly price, so it simply comes down to what you need.

Bar Patrol uses a blueprint mapping feature that matches app to bar shelves so all of your products pop up in the exact same order and you are able to fly through your liquor inventory.

Bar Patrol Features

Unlike most inventory systems on this list, all of Bar Patrol’s premium features are included in one price. No tiers, no levels, no upgrades. You get it all with one simple price. In addition, no contracts, no hidden fees, cancel anytime.

• Available on both iOS and Android
• Count on multiple devices
• Supports unlimited users with their own login
• Bluetooth scale
• Weigh kegs
• One-click ordering and invoicing
• Real time sync
• Sales data upload to POS system
• Detailed analytics
• Multiple account management
• Recipe builder

Bar Patrol Pricing

$49/mo. (billed annually) – $588/yr.

$69/mo. (billed monthly) – No contracts

Bevspot

We really like Bevspot as an inventory app and a website. They have a full suite of inventory software and resources to help bar owners with optimizing sales while trying to juggle multiple responsibilities. They offer comprehensive inventory management with a lot of options, including one-click ordering, matching app to shelf, and comprehensive analytics. It’s available on both iOS and Android and can count on multiple devices.

It also has an easy to use interface for ordering and invoicing and purchase orders.

Bevspot Features

Like many of the inventory systems on this list, Bevspots available features depend on how much money you spend. They have three different pricing tiers. In addition, one of the major downsides of Bevspot is they do not have a bluetooth scale. Instead they have the little bottle slider which is not nearly as accurate. Here are some of the main features of Bevspot:

• Inventory, ordering and transfers
• Spoilage & loss recording
• Multiple reporting options
• Recipe management
• POS Integration
• Category sales reports
• COGS & price tracker report
• Expected Inventory

Bevspot Pricing

There are two major downers when it comes to pricing for Bevspot.

1) Bevspot’s pricing is fairly expensive

2) There are no month-to-month plans.

This means you have to sign at least a one-year contract so you’re locked in. If you look on their site, you’ll see the three pricing tiers, and the displayed prices are for annual billing (thus the one-year contract). These are the three plans you have to choose from, depending on how many features you would like to add:

• Starter Plan – $119/mo. ($1,428/yr.)
• Standard Plan – $179/mo. ($2,148/yr.)
• Pro Plan – $249/mo. ($2,988/yr.)

WISK Inventory

WISK is a quality bar inventory app that boasts versatility and multiple functionalities. With Wisk, you can utilize a Bluetooth scale to weigh bottles, access extensive databases to order bottles, reduce waste, optimize drink prices and analyze data. Wisk also claims to have machine learning capabilities to forecast future sales.

WISK is available on both iOS and Android, can count on multiple devices. It also offers integrations with many popular POS systems and has an easy to use dashboard.

WISK Features

As with every system on here except Bar Patrol, WISK has different tier levels for accessing different features. They do have a large set of features if you’re willing to pay for them.

• Mobile App & Web Inventory
• Ordering & Invoicing
• 50+ POS Integrations
• Advanced Reporting
• 200,000 Bottle Database
• 1.5 Million Food Ingredient Database
• Barcode Scanning from your Phone
• Inventory, Receiving, & Consumption Reports
• Bluetooth Scale Integrations
• Offline mode & Real-Time Sync
• Recipe Costing
• Cost & Stock Alert

WISK Pricing

Careful not to choke on your tongue here. If you thought Bevspot had steep pricing, WISK takes it up a notch. It’s true that they are an advanced inventory system with an extensive online database, but if you are a small to mid-sized bar or restaurant, it’ll be tough for you to pay these prices. Just to get recipe costing included you have to select the professional tier which means you’re paying over $4,000 per year.

Also like Bevspot, WISK inventory does not have month-to-month pricing. You are locked into a year contract, so hopefully you like what you see.

Essentials Plan – $249/mo. ($2,988/yr.)

Professional Plan – $399/mo. ($4,788/yr.)

Elite Plan – $799/mo. ($9,588/yr.)

Craftable

Craftable (formerly Bevager) is included on this list because it is one of the most comprehensive liquor control systems on the market, with over 60 technology integrations, including accounting. It is available on both iOS and Android, can stock count on multiple devices. It also supports automatic ordering, detailed analytics, gift card management and promotions management to help maximize bar sales and profit margins.

With that said, Craftable’s pricing is not transparent at all (and we are all about transparency) and they use a remedial slider to count partial bottles instead of a scale which moves it down a notch because of the inaccuracies of the inventory counts.

Craftable Features

• Ordering & Invoicing
• Depletions
• Menu & Recipe Costing
• POS Daily Sales Reports
• Perpetual Inventory
• Snap/Scan Invoices
• Advanced Analytics
• Inventory Slider (No Scale)

Craftable Pricing

Considering how important transparency is to us and being up front, it’s disappointing that finding Craftable’s pricing is so difficult. Like pulling teeth. If you chat with someone on their website, they pretend like pricing is way above their pay grade. Instead they get your information so someone with this complicated knowledge can contact you (i.e. provide a sales pitch to you).

We do not like this form of building a relationship in this day and age. So bottom line is that you’ll have to speak to a rep to find out, but last we heard it was in the $200 – $300/mo range. That was a couple of years ago though, so it could be more now.

Partender

Partender has been around for quite awhile and we have mixed feelings when it comes to this bar inventory app. It is a sleek looking, easy-to-use app with many features, including a barcode scanner, custom product catalog, and automatic ordering. It’s available on both iOS and Android, can count on multiple devices, and supports detailed analytics, recipe builder, and item costing.

Our beef with Partender has always been it’s exaggerated claims. Bar inventory in 15 minutes? This is nothing short of a flat out LIE. There probably isn’t a bar on the planet that can be counted by one person in 15 minutes. If you are counting with multiple devices, then yes, but every inventory app on this list can do that.

Second, Partender claims 99.2% accuracy. Another fabrication. Partender uses the little inventory slider which is better than the one Bevspot and Craftable use, but when we’re talking about using the line slider to mark bottles that are misshapen or not transparent (i.e. Bailey’s or Clase Azul), it is impossible to get an accurate reading.

Thus, we like it as an inventory management system, but we do not like the false marketing, which causes us to question the company’s ethics. Perhaps that’s a bit overdramatic, but it just sort of rubs you the wrong way. If you’d like to see a comparison of Bar Patrol vs. Partender, you can click here to check it out.

Partender Features

• App to shelf inventory mapping
• Inventory slider (no scale)
• Variance and shrinkage reports
• Stock usage reports
• Automated purchase orders
• Cost analytics
• Recipe costing

Partender Pricing

The pricing here is a bit steep for what you get. Partender has a Pro Monthly and a Pro Annual plan, which means you don’t need a long-term contract. Then they have an Enterprise plan that does not disclose pricing.

Pro Monthly Plan – $299/mo. ($3,588/yr.)

Pro Annual Plan – $199/mo. ($2,388/yr.)

Bar Inventory Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I count my bar inventory?

This is a very common question, and here is the answer we believe is best: you should count inventory at least once per week. Make sure to count on the same day every week so your reporting is consistent. In addition, if you count on the day of or the day before you do your ordering, you can run your purchase orders so you have an accurate inventory count before placing an order.

Next, you should be counting inventory at the end of each month so you can do your monthly profit/loss statement.

And finally, we highly recommend spot-checking your bartenders on a weekly basis. This only takes 5 – 10 minutes and involves spot-checking individual bartenders so you can make sure they aren’t overpouring. This is not only a great way to keep them honest, but it’s an excellent training method as well. You can learn more about How to Spotcheck Your Bartenders here.

How do you calculate bar inventory cost percentage?

Bar inventory cost percentage is calculated by the following formula:

Beginning inventory + Purchases – Ending inventory ÷ Total sales

When we talk about beginning inventory, purchases and ending inventory, we’re talking about sitting inventory in wholesale value. For example, on June 1st let’s say your beginning inventory is $12,743. Your purchases are $11,500 for the month of June, and your ending inventory on June 31st is $12,158. Your sales for the month of June were $50,649. Now just plug in the numbers:

Beginning inventory ($12,743) – Purchases ($11,500) + Ending inventory ($12,158) ÷ $50,649 = 23.86%

You can view a more in depth article on calculating pour cost percentage here.

Do I need a barcode scanner?

We do not believe in the need for a barcode scanner. Yes, if you scan a bottle, all of the information will pop up, but what information do you really need besides the brand name, bottle size and pricing information? At Bar Patrol, we use a blueprint mapping system so that all of your products pop up in the exact order that they are on your shelves. This allows you to fly right through your inventory quickly. It’s actually allows you to count faster than using a scanner.

We hope this list helps you find the best beverage inventory system for your business. Each app has its own unique features and pricing. You should consider which one aligns with your inventory needs and provides the most value for your money.

As always, our goal is for you to find the perfect products and services to help improve future sales and increase your profits, whether it’s something we offer or something we don’t offer. We simply want you to succeed on a massive level.

Thanks for being here, we’ll see you next time.

The Bar Patrol Team