BuyAhead: Inventory Forecast vs Plumb
Two Shopify apps, side by side: detected stores, momentum, reviews, plans, listed features and who runs each. Store counts as of Oct 13, 2026 for BuyAhead, Nov 8, 2026 for Plumb.
The short answer
- Only Plumb lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month for BuyAhead and $24.99/month for Plumb.
- Plumb lists 6 features BuyAhead’s listing doesn’t mention, including Custom reports, Inventory tracking, Multi-location.
Head to head
Standard
- · CSV export for your supplier
- · Days of stock left, updated daily
- · Dead stock alerts with cash tied up
- · Flat $19/month, no per-order fees
- · Lead time and service level settings
- · Multi-location inventory
Pro
- · Barcode stock counts, phone or scanner
- · Everything in Standard, plus:
- · Flat $49/month, no per-order fees
- · Low-stock and reorder emails
- · Purchase orders with suppliers
- · Receive stock into a location
Single
- · Accuracy, shrinkage and audit reports
- · Count on Shopify POS, including offline
- · Nothing written until you approve it
- · One location, unlimited counts
- · Today's list picked by sales velocity
- · Undo an applied count in one click
Multi
- · Accuracy, shrinkage and audit reports
- · Count on Shopify POS, including offline
- · Nothing written until you approve it
- · Per-location accuracy and coverage
- · Today's list picked by sales velocity
- · Undo an applied count in one click
Unlimited
- · Accuracy, shrinkage and audit reports
- · Count on Shopify POS, including offline
- · Every location, unlimited counts
- · Nothing written until you approve it
- · Per-location accuracy and coverage
- · Today's list picked by sales velocity
Coverage counts what each App Store listing names. Every feature, checked off app by app, is in Shoplist.
See every featureBuyAhead reads your sales, stock and locations, then works out how long each product will last, when to order it and how much to buy. Open a product to see the math behind every number. When stock arrives, receive it against the purchase order and BuyAhead updates Shopify for you.
Plumb turns the whole-store stocktake into a daily task. It picks what is worth counting — ranked by 90 days of sales, so busy products come round often and the slow tail rarely — and hands staff a short list on POS or in the admin. Counting happens while you trade: a sale landing mid-count is refused rather than overwritten, and nothing reaches your inventory until you approve it. One click puts it back.
- Days of stock left for every product, recalculated every day
- Order dates and quantities, with a breakdown of how each was worked out
- Set your lead time, target stock cover and service level in one screen
- Read-only access: nothing in your store is changed, no customer data is read
- Today's count list picked by sales velocity, so you count what matters
- Full stock takes too, when you do want to count everything at once
- Scan barcodes on POS, or with a USB scanner in the admin
- Eleven reports on accuracy, shrinkage and coverage, all exportable
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 |  BuyAhead |  Plumb |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | BuyAhead | Plumb |
|---|---|---|
| App Store rating | Not published | Not published |
| App Store reviews | Not published | Not published |
| New reviews, 28 days | Not enough data | Not enough data |
| Reviewers a year or more in | Not enough data | Not enough data |
FAQ
BuyAhead and Plumb: common questions
- Is BuyAhead or Plumb cheaper?
- Only Plumb lists a free plan. Paid plans start at $19/month for BuyAhead and $24.99/month for Plumb. 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?
- BuyAhead lists 2 the others don’t mention, such as Forecasting, Import and export. Plumb lists 6 the others don’t mention, such as Custom reports, Inventory tracking, Multi-location, Real-time updates. 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 for BuyAhead, Nov 8, 2026 for Plumb; 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 for BuyAhead, Nov 8, 2026 for Plumb. 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.