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Inventory · head to head

DEAR Inventory vs Minitab

DEAR Inventory logo

DEAR Inventory

Inventory

Complete inventory and order management system

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Minitab logo

Minitab

Machine Learning

Statistical software for quality engineering, and the tool Six Sigma training is written around

From
$2394/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: DEAR Inventory starting price of $349/month is high for small businesses; Minitab licensing is a per named user subscription, so an organisation where fifty engineers each need it twice a quarter pays fifty full seats for people who open it eight times a year.
  • They diverge on capability: DEAR Inventory covers Inventory management, Minitab covers Control charts.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DEAR Inventory and Minitab actually diverge.

Attributes where DEAR Inventory and Minitab differ
AttributeDEAR InventoryMinitab
Starting priceOn request$2394/year
PlatformsWeb, Mobile app, Cloud-basedMac, Windows, Web
CategoryInventoryMachine Learning
Founded20131972

Identical on both: pricing model (subscription), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in DEAR Inventory

  • Inventory management
  • Manufacturing
  • Purchase orders
  • Sales orders
  • Accounting
  • Xero
  • QuickBooks
  • Shopify

Only in Minitab

  • Control charts
  • Process capability analysis
  • Measurement systems analysis
  • Design of experiments
  • Classical statistics
  • Assistant
  • Predictive Analytics module
  • Desktop and browser access

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

DEAR Inventory

  • Inventory management and trackingnot Minitab
  • E-commerce integration and synchronizationnot Minitab
  • Multi-channel order managementnot Minitab
  • Stock and supply chain managementnot Minitab

Minitab

  • Six Sigma and process improvement projects where the training materials and internal procedures already assume Minitabnot DEAR Inventory
  • Producing capability and gage studies as evidence for a customer audit or a regulatory submissionnot DEAR Inventory
  • Design of experiments on a production process, run by an engineer who will not be writing codenot DEAR Inventory
  • Quality departments that need credible statistics without hiring a statistician or a data scientistnot DEAR Inventory

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

DEAR Inventory

  • Starting price of $349/month is high for small businesses
  • Base plan limited to 6 integrations; additional integrations require separate purchase
  • No published details on integration add-on costs
  • Redirects to Cin7.com, indicating product has been acquired or rebranded

Minitab

  • Licensing is a per named user subscription, so an organisation where fifty engineers each need it twice a quarter pays fifty full seats for people who open it eight times a year.
  • Analyses are recorded as a project file and a session log rather than as code, so reviewing what somebody did means reading output instead of reading a script, and reproducing it a year later depends on the same version still being installed.
  • The machine learning capability is a separately licensed module with a fixed set of tree-based methods, so it is neither included in the base price nor competitive with what a Python user has for nothing.
  • There is no deployment path in the statistical product, so putting a model into a running process means buying Minitab Model Ops as another product or reimplementing the model somewhere else entirely.
  • Data handling is worksheet-shaped and held in memory, so anything past a few million rows means preparing the extract in another tool first, and joins and reshaping are clumsy compared with SQL or pandas.

Pricing, plan by plan

DEAR Inventory

On request
  • Standard$249/month
    • Core features
    • 5 users
    • Standard support
  • Professional$449/month
    • Advanced manufacturing
    • 10 users
    • Priority support
  • Enterprise$849/month
    • Full features
    • Unlimited users
    • Dedicated support

Minitab

$2394/year
  • Solution Center Core$2394/year
    • Marked as Most Popular
    • Best for quality professionals
    • Minitab Dashboards
  • Solution Center Analytics$2593.5/year
    • Best for analytics professionals
    • Includes predictive analytics capabilities
    • Minitab Dashboards
  • Solution Center Copilot$2793/year
    • All-in-one platform for operational excellence
    • Includes AI-powered insights
    • Minitab Dashboards

Which should you pick?

Choose DEAR Inventory if

  • You need inventory management.
  • You work on Web, Mobile app, Cloud-based.
  • You also want manufacturing.
DEAR Inventory review

Choose Minitab if

  • You need control charts.
  • You work on Mac, Windows, Web.
  • You also want process capability analysis.
Minitab review

Questions people ask

Is DEAR Inventory or Minitab better?
Neither clearly leads. DEAR Inventory starts at On request and Minitab at $2394/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DEAR Inventory or Minitab?
DEAR Inventory starts at On request and Minitab at $2394/year.
Does DEAR Inventory or Minitab run on more platforms?
DEAR Inventory runs on Web, Mobile app, Cloud-based. Minitab runs on Mac, Windows, Web.
What is DEAR Inventory best used for?
DEAR Inventory is most often used for inventory management and tracking, e-commerce integration and synchronization, multi-channel order management, stock and supply chain management. Of those, inventory management and tracking and e-commerce integration and synchronization are not what Minitab is typically brought in for.
What can DEAR Inventory do that Minitab cannot?
DEAR Inventory covers Inventory management, Manufacturing, Purchase orders, Sales orders. Minitab covers Control charts, Process capability analysis, Measurement systems analysis, Design of experiments.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DEAR Inventory: How much does DEAR Inventory cost?

DEAR Inventory (now Cin7) pricing starts at $349 per month for plans that accommodate up to 6 e-commerce and app integrations. Additional integrations are available for purchase.

Source
Minitab: Does Minitab run on macOS?

The installed desktop application is Windows. Mac users work through the browser version, which is included with the subscription but is not identical in every feature.

DEAR Inventory: Is there a free trial for DEAR Inventory?

Yes, Cin7 (formerly DEAR Inventory) offers a free trial option. Contact the vendor directly or visit their website to start a free trial.

Source
Minitab: Is it machine learning software?

Not primarily. It is a statistics package for quality and process work. Predictive modelling exists in a separate Predictive Analytics module and is limited to tree-based methods.

DEAR Inventory: What integrations does DEAR Inventory support?

DEAR Inventory base plans include up to 6 e-commerce and app integrations. Additional integrations beyond the base 6 are available but require separate purchase.

Source
Minitab: Can I buy a perpetual licence?

The current offer is subscription based. Older perpetual licences exist in the field but are not the way the product is sold now.

DEAR Inventory: Is DEAR Inventory still available?

DEAR Inventory has been rebranded as Cin7. The Cin7 platform continues to provide inventory management with e-commerce integrations at $349/month starting price.

Source
Minitab: What is the difference between Minitab and Minitab Workspace or Engage?

Minitab Statistical Software does the analysis. Workspace and Engage are separate products for process mapping, project management and improvement programme governance, and are licensed separately.

Minitab: Can I automate it?

Only to a limited degree. There is a command language and integration options, but it is designed to be driven by a person through menus, not scheduled in a pipeline.

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