Best Bar Inventory Software (2026): 10 Tools for Bars

Bar stock disappears in small amounts: a heavy pour, a free drink for a regular, a broken bottle nobody logged, a delivery that came in short. None of it looks serious on the night, but over a month it adds up to a real gap between what you bought and what you sold.

This list covers counting apps, beverage and wine inventory systems, back-office platforms and inventory services that send people to count for you. If you're thinking about where a bar or restaurant does best, see my guide to cities for a restaurant business, and if supplier invoices are a mess, here's what AI found when I fed it my invoices.

Bar inventory tools at a glance

Here's what each tool is, what it's good for and whether its own site names a free plan, a trial or neither. The list is alphabetical and in no particular order.

Tool	Type	Good for	Free plan
Backbar	Bar inventory app	Independent bars getting started	Trial only
Bar-i	Liquid inventory system	Finding missing servings	No
Barmetrix	Inventory service	Outsourcing the count	No
BevSpot	Food and drink inventory	Bars that also run a kitchen	Trial only
BinWise	Beverage and wine inventory	Large wine programmes	No
BirchStreet	Hospitality inventory suite	Hotel groups and multi-site venues	No
Craftable	Back-office platform	Multi-venue operators	No
Partender	Fast counting app	Quick weekly counts	No
Sculpture Hospitality	Software plus local service	Local support from a franchise	No
WISK	All-in-one inventory	Invoices and stock together	No

Bar inventory apps, systems and services

Backbar

Best for: Independent bars and restaurants that want a simple beverage inventory app they can set up quickly by importing their product details.

Bar-i

Best for: Busy bars that want a fast, accurate liquid count and a dedicated success agent to review results and find where servings went missing.

Barmetrix

Best for: Owners who'd rather have local inventory experts count and report for them than train their own staff on software.

BevSpot

Best for: Venues managing both bar and kitchen stock that want inventory, ordering and recipe data linked to their sales.

BinWise

Best for: Restaurants with serious wine lists that want bottle-level inventory and digital wine menus alongside cocktail and spirits stock.

BirchStreet

Best for: Hotel and hospitality groups that want barcode counts and beverage replenishment tracked across every location in one system.

Craftable

Best for: Multi-venue restaurant and hotel operators who want inventory sitting inside a wider back office, with AI flagging problems early.

Partender

Best for: Bar managers who dread inventory night and want a quicker way to count bottles every week.

Sculpture Hospitality

Best for: Bars wanting software backed by a local franchise team for counts, reporting and advice on margins.

WISK

Best for: Bars and hotels that want inventory counts, invoice processing, purchasing and recipe data together in one platform.

A weekly bar count that takes less time

1. Count at the same time each week, before opening or after closing.
2. Count in the same order every time, shelf by shelf, so nothing is missed or doubled.
3. Record part bottles by weight or by tenths, using whichever method your tool supports.
4. Enter deliveries and transfers between counts, so stock movements are explained.
5. Compare expected and actual stock, then investigate the biggest gaps first.

UK serving measures and your inventory units

GOV.UK says gin, rum, vodka and whisky sold by the glass must be in either 25ml and multiples of 25ml, or 35ml and multiples of 35ml, not both on the same premises. Still wine by the glass is 125ml, 175ml or multiples of those, and draught beer and cider are sold in thirds, halves, two-thirds of a pint and multiples of half a pint.

Set your inventory software to the measures you serve. If your spirits are poured in 25ml measures, your system should know that, so its variance reports compare the servings you sold with the servings each bottle should give, instead of an estimate.

Counting app, system or service?

Counting apps make the weekly count quicker and link it to your sales data. They suit independent bars with a manager who's willing to count, and they're the quickest to set up.

Inventory systems and back-office platforms add ordering, invoices, recipes and multi-site reporting. Inventory services send trained people to count and report for you, which suits owners who don't want to train staff or who want an outside check on their numbers.

Where bar stock usually goes missing

• Free pours and over-pours that are never rung through the till.
• Deliveries signed for without checking every case.
• Breakages and spills that nobody records.
• Staff drinks and comps handled differently on each shift.
• Stock moved between bars or venues without a transfer note.

Most of these are habits, not theft, and they're fixable. Weekly counts make them visible, and visible problems are the ones that get fixed.

Setting par levels that work

A par level is the amount of each product you want on hand after a delivery. Set it from what you sell between deliveries plus a small buffer, and review it every few months, because a par based on last summer's trade won't suit a quiet winter.

Good inventory software suggests orders from your pars and recent sales. Use the suggestions as a starting point, then adjust for events, promotions and seasonal drinks.

Do you make bar inventory software? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.

My advice on choosing bar inventory software

Choose the tool your bar manager will use at one in the morning, not the one that's prettiest in a demo. Speed of counting decides everything, because a system that makes counting slow will be skipped, and a skipped count shows you nothing.

Then link it to your till. Inventory on its own tells you what's on the shelf; inventory compared with sales tells you where stock went. That comparison is the reason to have software at all.

Bigger operations with several suppliers can compare the tools in AI tools for supply chain.

Frequently asked questions

What is bar inventory software?

It's software for counting and tracking bar stock, such as spirits, wine and beer, and comparing it with what was sold.

How often should a bar take inventory?

Weekly is common for spirits and other high-value stock, with fuller counts monthly. The key is counting at the same time and in the same order.

Can bar inventory software connect to my till?

Many tools connect to point of sale systems, so they can compare what was sold with what left the shelves.

What measures must UK bars use for spirits?

GOV.UK says gin, rum, vodka and whisky by the glass must be 25ml or 35ml and multiples of those, not both on the same premises.

Is a bar inventory service better than software?

It depends on your team. A service counts for you and gives an outside check; software is better if your own manager will count regularly.