Ballast Inventory Planner vs Shelflife: low stock forecasts
Two Shopify apps, side by side: detected stores, momentum, reviews, plans, listed features and who runs each. Store counts as of Oct 13, 2026.
The short answer
- Both list a free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month for Ballast Inventory Planner and $35/month for Shelflife.
- Ballast Inventory Planner lists 9 features Shelflife’s listing doesn’t mention, including Analytics, Barcodes, Import and export.
Head to head
Free
- · CSV export on every report
- · Every feature, no time limit
- · Lapsed paid plans fall back here
- · Up to 300 SKUs, 1 location
Starter
- · $9.50/mo if subscribed by 31 Dec 2026
- · Every feature, 30-day free trial
- · Half price for as long as you subscribe
- · Up to 2,000 SKUs, 1 location
Growth
- · $24.50/mo if subscribed by 31 Dec 2026
- · Every feature, 30-day free trial
- · Half price for as long as you subscribe
- · Up to 10,000 SKUs, 5 locations
Pro
- · $49.50/mo if subscribed by 31 Dec 2026
- · Every feature, 30-day free trial
- · Half price for as long as you subscribe
- · Unlimited SKUs, unlimited locations
Free
- · 1 alert email address
- · Automatic inventory sync
- · Critical stockout alerts
- · Customer support
- · Low stock dashboard
- · Purchase order management
Growth
- · Custom safety stock levels
- · Custom stockout thresholds
- · Manual inventory sync
- · Priority customer support
- · Purchase order delivery reminders
- · Unlimited suppliers
Coverage counts what each App Store listing names. Every feature, checked off app by app, is in Shoplist.
See every featureBallast forecasts demand for every variant at every location from your own sales history, then turns those forecasts into purchase orders you can send to suppliers. It holds supplier lead times, currencies and costs, spreads freight and duty across received lines to give you landed cost per unit, and tracks what is on order so you don't buy the same stock twice.
Your top-sellers are your biggest risk. They sell out fastest, ads run, customers click, revenue is gone. Shelflife forecasts when stock will run out, across every location, so you reorder in time. Top features are: sales-based forecasts showing days of stock remaining for every variant, email alerts when a variant enters at-risk territory, POs tracking in one place, an at-risk dash so you know what to act on first,…
- Reorder suggestions per variant per location, with the maths behind each one
- Purchase orders from draft to partial receipt, with landed cost allocated
- Supplier records: lead times, currencies, part numbers and cost history
- Bundles and kits: how many you can build, and reordering for what is inside
- Proven sales forecasting that shows exactly when each variant will sell out.
- Reliable email alerts before stockouts hit. Configurable and efficient.
- Every at-risk product in one effortless dashboard, sorted by urgency.
- Painless purchase order tracking — know what's ordered and when it arrives
All the numbers
Every figure, side by side
A green dot marks the app ahead on a measured figure. Estimates, gaps and apps that leave no storefront trace never take the lead.
Adoption
| Measure |  Ballast Inventory Planner |  Shelflife |
|---|---|---|
| Detected stores | Not published | Not published |
| Net store change, 28 days | 0 | 0 |
| Stores added, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Big-brand share | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Top store categories | Not published | Not published |
| Top store countries | Not published | Not published |
Reviews
| Measure | Ballast Inventory Planner | Shelflife |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating | 5.0 ★ | Not published |
| App Store reviews | 1 | Not published |
| New reviews, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Reviewers a year or more in | Not enough data | Not enough data |
Pricing
| Measure | Ballast Inventory Planner | Shelflife |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Lowest paid monthly plan | $19/month(ahead) | $35/month |
| Longest free trial | 30 days | Not listed |
| Plans listed | 4 | 2 |
Listing
| Measure | Ballast Inventory Planner | Shelflife |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify category rank | #249 | Not enough data |
| Shopify App Charts | Not on this week’s charts | Not on this week’s charts |
| Built for Shopify | No | No |
| Launched | Sep 7, 2026 | Jun 1, 2026 |
| Languages | 1 | 1 |
| Developer | Elvy Software | msfts |
FAQ
Ballast Inventory Planner and Shelflife: common questions
- Is Ballast Inventory Planner or Shelflife cheaper?
- Both list a free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month for Ballast Inventory Planner and $35/month for Shelflife. Shoplist compares base prices only between monthly plans in the same currency; usage charges and annual plans vary, so check each plan’s limits.
- What features does each app list that the other doesn’t?
- Ballast Inventory Planner lists 9 the others don’t mention, such as Analytics, Barcodes, Import and export, Insights. Shelflife lists 4 the others don’t mention, such as Email notifications, Expiry dates, Replenishment reminders, Restock notifications. A feature missing from a listing may still be supported; this compares what each App Store listing says.
- Where does this comparison’s data come from?
- Shoplist crawls Shopify storefronts to detect which apps each store runs, and reads each app’s Shopify App Store listing for reviews, pricing, features and integrations. Store counts are as of Oct 13, 2026; estimated figures are labeled.
How Shoplist compares apps
Store counts come from Shoplist’s crawl of Shopify storefronts, which detects the apps each store runs; they are as of Oct 13, 2026. Reviews, ratings, plans, features and integrations come from each app’s Shopify App Store listing. 28-day figures are labeled when estimated, and a figure that is missing or estimated never decides who leads. Read the methodology.