For most Shopify stores with up to 3,000 orders per month (my rule of thumb), Billbee is the cheapest and best-rated integration (4.5 stars in the Shopify App Store as of November 2026). Xentral is the strongest choice if you need to sync B2B catalogs, volume pricing and multiple warehouses. JTL mainly pays off if you already use JTL, plentyONE if you sell on many marketplaces. JTL and plentyONE show clear problems in their app reviews, so a test run before go-live is a must.
As of November 2026. Net prices per vendor pages, app ratings per the Shopify App Store, each checked on November 5, 2026. Sources are listed at the end of the article.
Most comparisons of inventory management systems for Shopify look the same: one profile per system, a price list, a rule of thumb by order volume. What they almost never answer is the question that costs the most in daily operations: How well does the connection to Shopify actually work?
An inventory system is only as good as its integration. If variants don’t arrive, stock lags behind or orders are imported without a shipping address, the best feature set won’t help you.
In this article, I compare JTL-Wawi, Xentral, Billbee and plentyONE (formerly plentymarkets) from exactly that angle: which Shopify data they sync in which direction, how real merchants rate the integration, what they cost at your volume and which Shopify-specific pitfalls to watch for. All four are popular with merchants in Germany and the EU. Whether you need an inventory system, a WMS or an ERP at all is covered in my (German) article on WMS, inventory management or ERP for Shopify. This one is about the integration.
The four systems at a glance
For most Shopify stores, Billbee is the simplest and cheapest option, Xentral the strongest for B2B and multiple warehouses. JTL and plentyONE have their strengths outside Shopify, and you can tell from the integration.
| Billbee | JTL-Wawi | Xentral | plentyONE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Cloud inventory system | Inventory system (Windows/SQL) | Cloud ERP | Cloud ERP |
| Shopify integration | App in the App Store | App in the App Store (JTL connector) | xentral Connect | App in the App Store |
| App Store rating | 4.5 (57 reviews) | 1.0 (6 reviews) | No app rating checked | 1.2 (17 reviews) |
| Price at 300 orders* | approx. EUR 87 | approx. EUR 109 incl. server | EUR 349 | EUR 99 |
| Price at 1,500 orders* | approx. EUR 200 | approx. EUR 349 incl. server | from EUR 649 | EUR 149 |
| Strength | Simple, affordable, many channels | Own warehouse with JTL-WMS, JTL ecosystem | B2B catalogs, volume pricing, multiple warehouses | Many marketplaces |
| Best for | Most Shopify stores up to a few thousand orders | Merchants already using JTL | Growing D2C and B2B brands | Multichannel merchants focused on marketplaces |
* Net per month, assumptions: EUR 60 average order value, 1,500 SKUs, 2 marketplaces, JTL with EUR 50 server. Billbee only publishes tiers for 500, 1,000 and 3,000 orders, so the 300 and 1,500 values are approximations derived from them. Run your own numbers in the calculator further down.
Before you choose a system: which system is the source of truth?
The most important decision in an integration isn’t the system, but which system leads for which data. If that isn’t clear, Shopify and the inventory system overwrite each other.
For each type of data, it must be clear where it’s maintained:
- Product descriptions, images, SEO data: Often in Shopify, because your theme, metafields and Shopify apps rely on them. If the inventory system writes here, in the worst case it overwrites your optimized copy.
- Product master data, SKUs, prices: Usually in the inventory system, especially with several channels. A price maintained in two places will eventually be wrong in one of them.
- Stock: Always in the inventory system once you have more than one channel or your own warehouse. Shopify receives the available stock, not the other way round.
- Orders and customers: Created in Shopify and flow into the inventory system. Shipping status and tracking numbers flow back.
Billbee: the simplest option for most Shopify stores
For most Shopify stores, Billbee offers the best balance of effort, cost and stability. With 4.5 stars from 57 reviews (Shopify App Store, November 2026), it’s the only one of the four systems with a clearly positive rating in the Shopify App Store.
Integration: Billbee is installed as an app from the Shopify App Store. According to the app listing, it offers inventory, order and price sync. According to Billbee, you can hand sales data and invoices over to tax software such as DATEV and create credit notes. Whether the documents meet German bookkeeping rules (GoBD) in your case is something to clarify with your tax advisor (not tax advice).
What you should test:
- Multiple locations: Billbee doesn’t document how individual Shopify locations are mapped. Ask for a demo with your own data.
- Shopify store credit: According to one app review (June 2025), store credit used for payment isn’t taken into account when invoicing. Billbee replied in September 2025 that this isn’t directly supported.
- POS: According to a Shopify Community post from 2022, POS sales are imported, but billing and shipping address stay empty.
Cost: Billbee charges per order, with a base fee of EUR 9 net per month according to the Billbee pricing page (Starter, up to 200 orders per month). According to the price tiers published by Tax & Bytes (as of September 2026), 500 orders cost EUR 125, 1,000 orders EUR 171 and 3,000 orders EUR 269 per month. All features and unlimited users are included in the Starter tariff according to Billbee (as of November 2026).
Limits: Billbee isn’t a warehouse management system with bin locations and scanner processes, and it isn’t an ERP with purchasing and production. There’s no documented sync for B2B catalogs in Shopify.
JTL-Wawi: strong in its own ecosystem, weak in Shopify ratings
JTL-Wawi is one of the most widely used inventory systems in German e-commerce, but its Shopify integration is the lowest-rated of the four. JTL mainly pays off if you already work with JTL or run your own warehouse with JTL-WMS.
Integration: According to JTL, the integration runs via the JTL ERP connector, which you can book as an app in the Shopify App Store. According to the vendor, it syncs products, variants, categories, prices and availability, transfers stock in real time, creates customers from orders and reports shipping status and tracking numbers back. Metafields for products, variants, customers and orders as well as tags can also be managed from JTL.
What you should test: The app has 1.0 stars from 6 reviews in the Shopify App Store, and the two most recent, from June 2026, essentially say “doesn’t work.” In the JTL forum, merchants report:
- Variant products where only one variant arrives in Shopify (forum, 2021, fixed according to JTL)
- Products and images deleted from Shopify after deactivating and reactivating them in JTL (forum, 2023)
- Connection drops after updates
- Transfers aborting on unexpected values, such as a wrong country code
These are individual reports, not a representative test. But they show exactly where to look closely before go-live.
Cost: According to the JTL pricing page (net, as of November 2026), the Shopify connector is included in all editions, including the free Start edition. Orders from Shopify are billed via order packages:
| Order package | Price per month | Per additional order | From edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | EUR 25 | EUR 0.35 | Start (free) |
| 250 | EUR 45 | EUR 0.27 | Start |
| 500 | EUR 79 | EUR 0.22 | Start |
| 1,000 | EUR 129 | EUR 0.19 | Advanced (EUR 119) |
| 2,500 | EUR 259 | EUR 0.16 | Advanced |
| 5,000 | EUR 429 | EUR 0.13 | Pro (EUR 369) |
| 10,000 | EUR 699 | EUR 0.11 | Pro |
The pricing page shows two amounts each for Advanced and Pro (EUR 119 or 99, and EUR 369 or 329) and promises up to 17% savings with an annual contract. It isn’t clear from the page text which amount belongs to which payment term, so the table shows the higher ones. Clarify this with JTL before signing. On top comes operation: JTL Cloud ERP starts at EUR 49.99 per month, alternatively you run JTL-Wawi yourself on a Windows server with an SQL database.
Strength: If you run your own warehouse, the combination of JTL-Wawi and JTL-WMS with bin locations and scanner processes is a proven package. And if you already use JTL for marketplaces, you keep all channels in one system.
Xentral: the strongest integration for B2B and multiple warehouses
Of the four systems, Xentral is the only one that, according to the vendor, also syncs Shopify B2B catalogs, volume pricing and multiple locations. That makes it the strongest choice for growing brands with a B2B business or several warehouses.
Integration: The Shopify integration runs via xentral Connect, and commerce-os.com describes a migration to this connector for older integrations. The connection is set up via Xentral. According to the Xentral changelog (entry from September 2024), the connector syncs:
- Product master data and prices, including customer-group pricing
- Volume pricing into Shopify B2B catalogs
- Stock, with individual Xentral warehouses mapped to Shopify locations
- Orders, automatically from a defined payment status
- Shipment tracking back to Shopify
- Approved credit notes as refunds to Shopify Pay
What you need to know: By default, products are matched by SKU, and commerce-os names duplicate or inconsistent SKUs as the most common source of errors. Clean, unique SKUs in Shopify are therefore a must before you start. And setup isn’t plug and play: from my experience, plan several weeks for a complete configuration (experience, not a vendor statement).
Cost: According to the Xentral pricing page (net, as of November 2026), the Launch plan costs EUR 99 plus EUR 0.30 per order, but only applies up to 100 orders per month and EUR 500,000 revenue per year. Starter costs EUR 349 with 500 orders per month, Business from EUR 649 and Pro from EUR 849, each with unlimited users. According to Xentral, prices depend on revenue and shipping volume. Scale is priced on request, and the page lists no prices for the onboarding options.
Best for: Growing brands that want inventory, purchasing, accounting preparation and B2B in one system. If you work with Shopify B2B, catalog sync is a real argument. How Shopify B2B works and when 3 catalogs are enough is covered in my article on Shopify B2B.
plentyONE: strong on marketplaces, problematic in the Shopify app
plentyONE (formerly plentymarkets) is strong if you sell on many marketplaces at the same time. Its Shopify app, however, is the second poorly rated integration in this comparison, with 1.2 stars from 17 reviews (14 of them 1-star, Shopify App Store, November 2026).
Integration: The PlentyONE app is installed from the Shopify App Store and is free, but requires a PlentyONE subscription. According to the app listing, plentyONE offers multi-location inventory management and multi-currency support. plentyONE doesn’t publish a complete list of which Shopify data is synced in which direction in the app description.
What you should test: Reviews in the App Store are overwhelmingly negative. In a reply from February 2026, plentyONE points to major 2026 updates, including order import optimization and expanded variant limits (vendor statement, not independently verified). Here too: individual reports, but a clear signal for thorough testing.
Cost: According to the plentyONE pricing page (net per month, as of November 2026):
| Plan | Price | SKUs | Marketplaces | Included revenue per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | EUR 59 | 1,000 | 5 | up to EUR 50,000 |
| Lite+ | EUR 99 | 5,000 | 10 | up to EUR 50,000 |
| Expand | EUR 149 | 10,000 | 15 | up to EUR 200,000 |
| Scale | EUR 229 | 25,000 | 25 | up to EUR 200,000 |
| Ultimate | on request | 150,000 | 150 | not stated |
Above the included revenue, a contractually agreed percentage surcharge applies, and plentyONE doesn’t publish the rate on its pricing page. Ask for it before you sign, because with growing revenue it becomes the decisive cost factor.
Best for: Merchants whose focus is on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Otto, Kaufland or Zalando, and for whom Shopify is one of many channels.
What the systems sync with Shopify
The systems differ less on orders and stock than on Shopify features beyond the standard: B2B, multiple locations, markets and refunds. The table shows what the vendors document.
| Shopify data | Billbee | JTL-Wawi | Xentral | plentyONE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Import orders | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stock to Shopify | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Prices to Shopify | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Manage products and variants | Per description | Yes | Yes | Per description |
| Shipping status and tracking back | Not explicitly documented | Yes | Yes | Status updates per description |
| Metafields | Not documented | Yes | Not documented | Not documented |
| Multiple locations | Limited per community | Not documented | Yes | Yes, per description |
| B2B catalogs and volume pricing | Not documented | Not documented | Yes | Not documented |
| Multiple currencies (Shopify Markets) | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Yes, per description |
| Refunds and credit notes | Credit notes | Not documented | Credit note as refund | Not documented |
“Not documented” doesn’t mean it can’t be done. It means you need to see it in a demo with your own data before relying on it.
Shopify pitfalls
Besides the system itself, there are some Shopify pitfalls that occur regardless of the inventory system. Three of them cost a lot of time in practice.
The plan trap: orders without a shipping address
Shopify protects customer data such as name, address, email and phone. According to Shopify, access to these fields for a custom app created in the admin varies by plan. JTL states that for stores created on or after January 24, 2024, customer data is only transferred from the Grow plan up, unless you use the JTL app from the App Store.
The consequence if you overlook this: orders arrive in the inventory system without name and shipping address, and no shipping label can be printed. So before you start, check whether your system connects via an App Store app approved for protected customer data, or plan for the Grow plan.
SKUs are the key
Almost all systems match products by SKU. Duplicate SKUs, missing SKUs on variants or different spellings in Shopify and the inventory system are the most common cause of wrong stock levels. Per commerce-os, duplicate or inconsistent SKUs are the most common source of errors with Xentral.
Clean up your SKUs before you run the first sync. One week of data cleanup beforehand saves you weeks of troubleshooting afterwards.
Variants and Shopify limits
According to the Shopify changelog, Shopify has allowed up to 2,048 variants per product for all merchants since October 2025 (previously 100). Apps that don’t use the current GraphQL product APIs may show a broken experience with products over 100 variants. Older integrations were designed for the former limit, and variant structures from the inventory system (parent-child products, bills of materials) can’t always be transferred one to one. Test products with many variants specifically.
What does an inventory system cost at your volume?
At low volume, Billbee is almost always the cheapest. At high volume, the math depends heavily on revenue, catalog size and marketplaces. The pricing models are so different that blanket comparisons are hardly useful.
- Billbee charges per order, and the price per order drops with volume.
- JTL is free as software, you pay for order packages, from 1,000 orders an edition, plus the server.
- Xentral has fixed plans that depend on revenue and shipping volume.
- plentyONE charges by plan, catalog size, marketplaces and revenue, with a surcharge above the included revenue.
Enter your own numbers:
ERP cost calculator: what does the Shopify integration cost?
The costs no price comparison shows
The monthly fee is rarely the biggest item. More expensive are:
- Setup: From a few hours with Billbee to several weeks with Xentral, JTL or plentyONE, often with help from a partner (experience, not vendor data).
- Data cleanup: SKUs, barcodes, variant structures. Almost always underestimated.
- Errors in live operation: In my experience, an oversell on Black Friday or a day with deleted products can cost more than a year of licenses (assessment from my projects, not a proven average).
- Dependency: If the integration is only understood by one person or agency, every change becomes expensive.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
Since 2025, several integrations have changed fundamentally, and part of the guides online are outdated as a result.
- Shopify Stocky shut down: According to the Shopify Help Center, Stocky was removed from the App Store on February 2, 2026 and has not been available since August 31, 2026. If you handled supplier orders and stock forecasting in Stocky, you need a replacement, for example an inventory system with purchasing features.
- JTL and customer data: For stores created on or after January 24, 2024, JTL says customer data is only transferred from the Grow plan up or via the JTL app in the Shopify App Store.
- Xentral Connect: The integration runs via xentral Connect, and commerce-os describes a migration for older integrations.
- New plentyONE plans: The plans are now called Lite, Lite+, Expand, Scale and Ultimate. Older price information is no longer valid.
- GraphQL instead of REST: Shopify recommends the GraphQL product APIs. Per the Shopify changelog, apps that haven’t migrated can break with more than 100 variants.
How to test the integration before go-live
You don’t test an inventory integration with one test order, but with the cases that go wrong in daily operations. The safest way is a test or development store with a copy of your real product data.
Week 1: data
- Transfer products with many variants and check that all variants, images, weights and prices arrive.
- Deactivate and reactivate a product in the inventory system. Check whether anything gets deleted in Shopify.
- Change stock in the inventory system and measure how long it takes until Shopify shows it.
Week 2: processes
- Run through orders with different payment methods, discounts and gift cards.
- Run through a partial shipment, a cancellation and a return with refund.
- If you use them: a B2B order, a POS sale, an order from another market with a different currency.
- Check that shipping status and tracking number arrive in Shopify and the customer receives the shipping email.
Only when all cases run cleanly do you enable the sync in the live store, and at first only for stock and orders.
Which inventory system fits your Shopify setup?
In the integration check, we look at your channels, your volume and your Shopify features like B2B, Markets or multiple warehouses. Afterwards, you'll know which system fits, what the integration will cost and what you need to test before launch.
Switching inventory systems later without overselling
Switching inventory systems is doable, as long as there are never two systems writing stock to Shopify at the same time. That’s exactly where most switches fail. If the switch is part of a bigger move away from a legacy system, my article on OXID to Shopify covers that side of it.
The proven process:
- Build the new system in parallel, without write permissions in Shopify. Transfer products, customers and suppliers.
- Set a cutover date, ideally on a low-revenue day.
- Disconnect the old system: disable the sync, uninstall the app or remove write permissions.
- Transfer stock and write it to Shopify once, completely.
- Enable the new sync, first stock and orders, then further data types.
- Open orders from the old system are either completed there or deliberately transferred.
Checklist: connecting an inventory system to Shopify
Connecting Shopify to an Inventory System: Checklist
Go through these points before you enable the sync in your live store.
Before deciding
- Defined which system leads for product descriptions, prices, stock and orders
- Listed the Shopify features you use: B2B, Markets, multiple locations, POS, bundles, store credit
- Checked in a demo with your own data whether the system syncs these features
- Read the current reviews of the Shopify app in the App Store
- Calculated costs at current and double volumeFor plentyONE, ask for the surcharge on extra revenue
Preparing data
- SKUs in Shopify unique and complete, including all variants
- Barcodes (EAN/GTIN) maintained if marketplaces are connected
- Shopify plan checked: is customer data available via the API?Custom apps on the Basic plan receive no names or addresses
- Write permissions of the inventory system in Shopify deliberately restricted
Testing
- Variants, images, weights and prices transferred completely
- Deactivating and reactivating a product deletes nothing in Shopify
- Stock changes appear in Shopify within a few minutes
- Partial shipment, cancellation and return with refund run cleanly
- Shipping status and tracking number arrive in Shopify
- B2B, POS and Markets orders tested, if used
Go-live
- Sync only stock and orders at first
- Check the integration's error log daily for the first two weeks
- Contact for incidents defined (vendor, partner, internal)
Conclusion: the integration decides, not the feature list
On paper, all four systems can do more than most Shopify stores need. What makes the difference in daily operations is the integration: how reliably it syncs variants, stock and orders, and how well it handles Shopify features like B2B, multiple locations or Markets.
My take: Billbee for most Shopify stores that need a lean, affordable solution. Xentral if you need to sync B2B catalogs, volume pricing and multiple warehouses. JTL if you’re already in the JTL ecosystem or run your own warehouse with JTL-WMS. plentyONE if marketplaces are your main business. With JTL and plentyONE: test thoroughly first, then decide.
And before you commit, answer the most important question first: which system leads for which data? Once that’s settled, choosing a system is just a matter of matching features. If you need support with that, take a look at my (German) page on e-commerce consulting.
Sync problems or about to choose a system?
In a free initial call, we look at your current integration or your requirements. You'll get an honest assessment of which system fits and where the risks are.
If you also want to automate your accounting, you’ll find the right tools in my (German) article on automating Shopify accounting. And if you sell on Amazon, eBay and co., my (German) article on Shopify marketplace integration is worth a read.
Frequently asked questions about Shopify and inventory management
Which inventory management system works best with Shopify?
It depends on your business model. Billbee fits most Shopify stores with up to a few thousand orders per month and, at 4.5 stars (57 reviews, November 2026), has the best rating of the four systems in the Shopify App Store. Xentral fits if you need to sync B2B catalogs, volume pricing and multiple warehouses. JTL-Wawi fits if you already work with JTL or run your own warehouse with JTL-WMS. plentyONE fits if you sell on many marketplaces at the same time.
How much does it cost to connect JTL-Wawi to Shopify?
According to JTL, the Shopify connector is included in all editions, including the free Start edition. Billing is based on order packages: 100 orders cost EUR 25, 500 orders EUR 79, 1,000 orders EUR 129 and 2,500 orders EUR 259 per month. The larger packages require a paid edition (Advanced EUR 119, Pro EUR 369; the pricing page also shows lower amounts, presumably for annual contracts). As of November 2026, net. On top of that comes operation, for example JTL Cloud ERP from EUR 49.99 per month or your own server.
Do I need a specific Shopify plan to connect an inventory system?
According to Shopify, access to customer data such as name and address for custom apps created in the admin varies by plan. JTL states that for stores created on or after January 24, 2024, customer data is only transferred from the Grow plan up, unless you use the JTL app from the Shopify App Store. Check how your system connects before you decide, otherwise orders arrive in your inventory system without a shipping address.
How often is stock synced between Shopify and the inventory system?
That depends on the system and configuration. Modern integrations use webhooks and transfer orders almost in real time, while stock syncs often run at intervals of a few minutes. For JTL, an interval of about 5 minutes is recommended for stock. The more channels you have and the faster your stock moves, the shorter the interval needs to be, otherwise you risk overselling.
Can I switch inventory systems later?
Yes, but it's a project. Products, customers and open orders need to be migrated, and during the switch there must never be two systems writing stock to Shopify at the same time. In practice, you set a cutover date, briefly freeze stock changes, transfer stock and only then enable the new sync. Clean, unique SKUs in Shopify are essential, because almost every system matches products by SKU.
What happened to Shopify Stocky?
According to the Shopify Help Center, Stocky was removed from the App Store on February 2, 2026 and has not been available since August 31, 2026. If you handled supplier purchase orders or stock forecasting in Stocky, you need a replacement: either the simpler purchasing features in the Shopify admin, a specialized app or an inventory system that covers purchasing and supplier orders.
Do I need an inventory management system for Shopify at all?
Not always. As a rough rule of thumb from my projects (not a proven threshold), Shopify's built-in tools are usually enough below roughly 100 orders per month with only one sales channel. An inventory system pays off once you sell across several channels, want to automate invoicing and accounting, or have several people working in your warehouse.
Sources
- JTL-Software: Pricing and plans: editions and order packages (as of November 2026)
- JTL-Software: Shopify ERP integration: scope, customer data from the Grow plan (as of November 2026)
- Shopify App Store: JTL ERP-Connector: rating 1.0 from 6 reviews (as of November 2026)
- Billbee: Pricing: base fee EUR 9 (as of November 2026)
- Tax & Bytes: Billbee prices: prices for 500, 1,000 and 3,000 orders (as of September 2026)
- Shopify App Store: Billbee: rating 4.5 from 57 reviews, store credit review (as of November 2026)
- Xentral: Pricing: Launch, Starter, Business, Pro, Scale (as of November 2026)
- Xentral: Shopify connector changelog: synced data, B2B catalogs, warehouses (September 2024 entry)
- plentyONE: Pricing: plans Lite to Ultimate (as of November 2026)
- Shopify App Store: PlentyONE: rating 1.2 from 17 reviews (as of November 2026)
- Shopify Dev: Protected customer data: access depends on plan (as of November 2026)
- Shopify Help Center: Transitioning from Stocky: removal and shutdown dates (as of November 2026)
Christian Schmelzle
Shopify expert · e-commerce consultantI'm a Shopify consultant and the founder of the Shopify agency digitalsprung. I have worked in e-commerce for more than 12 years, and since 2017 I have helped D2C brands and online retailers with migrations, relaunches and conversion optimization. What I write here comes from more than 100 of my own Shopify projects.
- 100+ Shopify projects
- 12+ years in e-commerce
- Shopify Partner
