Question 1

Why is Refrens not a good fit for retail or wholesale shops?

Accepted Answer

Refrens is a well-designed tool, but it is designed for a completely different type of business. It was built for freelancers, creative agencies, consultants, and service providers who need to send proposals, sign contracts, manage client relationships, and track project revenue. These are genuinely useful features — for that audience. A retail or wholesale shop operates entirely differently. You receive stock from suppliers via purchase bills, store it in one or more godowns, sell it through invoices that reduce your stock, and need to know at any moment what you have on hand, what is running low, and what has moved. None of these core operations are supported in Refrens. Refrens has no inventory tracking, no godown management, no barcode scanning, no purchase entries that update stock, and no stock reports. It is not that these features are weak — they simply do not exist. Using Refrens for a product-based business means managing your inventory entirely outside the app, which defeats the purpose of having a business management tool.

Question 2

Can Refrens track inventory at all?

Accepted Answer

No. Refrens cannot track inventory in any meaningful way. While you can add line items to an invoice with quantities and prices, Refrens does not use this information to maintain a running stock count. There is no concept of stock-in when you receive goods from a supplier, and there is no stock-out that occurs when you create a sales invoice. This means Refrens cannot tell you how many units of a product you currently have in stock, which items are running low, which products you have sold the most of, or how stock has moved over a period. There is no item ledger, no godown, and no stock report. For a service business — a web design agency, a marketing consultant, a photographer — this does not matter at all because they do not have physical inventory. But for any shop that deals with physical goods, the absence of inventory tracking is a fundamental gap that makes Refrens the wrong tool.

Question 3

How much cheaper is Stock Register compared to Refrens?

Accepted Answer

The difference is significant. Refrens' paid plans start at ₹20,900/year and go up to ₹38,900/year. These plans are priced for agencies and service businesses that generate revenue per client and can justify the cost against project billing. Stock Register's Basic plan starts at ₹900/year for single-user Android access. The most popular plan — Advance Plus — costs ₹3,600/year and includes web access, 3 staff accounts, unlimited godowns, barcode scanning, full inventory management, and all GST billing features. Compared to Refrens' starting price, Stock Register Advance Plus saves you ₹17,300 every year. Over five years, that is over ₹86,000 in savings — and Stock Register actually includes inventory management, which Refrens does not offer at any price.

Question 4

What does Refrens do better than Stock Register?

Accepted Answer

Refrens genuinely excels at features for service-based businesses. Its proposal and quotation system lets you create professional proposals with e-signatures and send them to clients for approval. Its contract management module lets you draft, send, and get client sign-off on contracts digitally. Its lead and CRM system tracks prospects through a sales pipeline. Refrens also has strong client portal features, payment tracking for retainer clients, and agency-specific workflows. If you run a creative agency, a consulting firm, a freelance operation, or any business where you pitch to clients and manage ongoing service relationships, Refrens is a well-suited tool. Stock Register does not have these features and does not try to. Stock Register is built for product businesses — retail shops, wholesale distributors, manufacturers — where the core workflow is stock-in, stock-out, and billing. The two tools serve genuinely different businesses and should not be compared as direct competitors in most contexts.

Question 5

Is Stock Register a good alternative if I run a shop and need GST billing?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Stock Register provides full GST billing support — CGST, SGST, IGST, and cess calculations are all handled automatically based on the item's HSN code and the buyer's state. You can create GST sales invoices, purchase bills, delivery challans, credit notes, and debit notes. Stock Register also generates GSTR-1 and GSTR-2 reports that you can share directly with your chartered accountant for GST return filing. Multiple invoice themes are available for both A4 printing and thermal printers (2-inch, 3-inch, and 4-inch). Both Refrens and Stock Register handle GST billing. The key difference is what comes alongside the GST billing. Stock Register packages GST billing with full inventory management — stock tracking, godowns, barcode scanning, item ledger, and purchase entries that update stock. This integrated approach means your billing and inventory are always in sync without any manual reconciliation.

Question 6

How do I migrate my data from Refrens to Stock Register?

Accepted Answer

Migrating from Refrens to Stock Register is straightforward. Start by exporting your product or item list from Refrens — download it as a CSV or Excel file. Also export your client and supplier contact lists. These files contain all the core data you need to move over. In Stock Register, set up your business profile with your GST number, business address, and invoice preferences. Create your godowns — even if you only have one location now, setting it up correctly from the start is good practice. Configure your tax rates (GST slabs) and invoice theme. Use Stock Register's bulk upload feature to import your items from the Excel file. Map the columns — product name, rate, HSN code, tax rate — to the corresponding fields in Stock Register. Once items are imported, enter your current stock quantities as opening balances for each item. Set minimum stock levels for low stock alerts. The whole process typically takes 30 to 60 minutes, and Stock Register's support team can help you on WhatsApp if you need guidance.

Question 7

Does Stock Register work on mobile like Refrens?

Accepted Answer

Stock Register has a full-featured Android app that handles all day-to-day operations — creating sales bills, managing purchases, checking stock, scanning barcodes, and generating reports. Staff members can use the app from their phones without needing access to a computer. Stock Register also has a web version that works in any browser on a computer or tablet. Data syncs automatically between the Android app and the web. You might create a bill on the phone at the shop counter while reviewing stock reports on the web version from a laptop. Refrens has a web platform and a mobile app. Both tools provide cross-device access, but the nature of what you do on each platform differs. Refrens' mobile experience is oriented toward checking proposals and client updates. Stock Register's mobile experience is oriented toward billing, barcode scanning, and stock operations — the daily work of a shop.

Question 8

Can my billing staff use Stock Register without accounting knowledge?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Stock Register is intentionally designed to be usable by billing staff who are not accountants. The interface does not require knowledge of accounting concepts like vouchers, ledgers, or debit and credit entries. The workflow is simple: select items, enter quantities, choose the customer, and create the bill. For barcode scanning, staff point the phone camera at the product barcode and it is added to the bill automatically — no searching required. For stock updates when goods arrive, they select the godown, select the supplier, and enter what came in. The app walks through each step. You can add up to 3 staff accounts in the Advance plan, each with role-based permissions. A billing staff member can create invoices but cannot change your pricing or access financial reports — you control what each staff member can see and do.

Question 9

What types of businesses should use Refrens versus Stock Register?

Accepted Answer

Refrens is the right choice for: freelancers (designers, developers, writers, photographers), agencies (digital marketing, branding, creative), consultants and coaches, software companies billing on retainer, and any service business that needs to manage client relationships and project-based billing. If you invoice clients for time or services and need proposals and contracts, Refrens fits well. Stock Register is the right choice for: retail shops of any kind (grocery, hardware, electronics, clothing, pharma), wholesale distributors, traders, stockists, small manufacturers, and any business that deals in physical goods. If you receive stock from suppliers, store it, and sell it to customers — and need to track all of that inventory accurately — Stock Register is built for exactly your workflow. The confusion arises because both tools support GST invoicing, which makes them appear similar in search results. But the underlying purpose of each tool is quite different. Choosing the wrong one means paying for features you will never use while lacking the features you need every day.

Question 10

How quickly can I switch from Refrens to Stock Register?

Accepted Answer

Most product businesses complete the switch in under an hour. The process is: export your items and contacts from Refrens (5 to 10 minutes), set up your Stock Register account with business details and godowns (10 to 15 minutes), import items using bulk upload and enter opening stock quantities (15 to 20 minutes). Because Refrens does not have inventory data — no stock quantities, no godown balances, no purchase history — there is nothing to migrate on the inventory side. You enter your current stock quantities as opening balances directly in Stock Register. This is actually faster than migrating from a tool that does track inventory. Stock Register's support team is available on WhatsApp to help if you run into any questions during the migration. You can also start a 7-day free trial before committing, which gives you time to test the features and confirm it meets your needs before cancelling Refrens.

Feature	Stock Register from ₹900/year	Refrens ₹20,900 to ₹38,900/year
Built for Retail / Wholesale Shops	Core focus from day one	Built for freelancers and agencies
Stock Tracking & Item Ledger	Full inventory with movement history	No inventory management
Godown / Warehouse Support	Unlimited godowns included	Not available
Barcode Scanning	Scan to bill and manage stock	Not supported
Low Stock Alerts	Automatic alerts with min-qty	Not available
Purchase Billing (updates stock)	Purchase bills update inventory	Basic expense tracking only
Thermal Printer Support	2, 3, and 4-inch printers	Not supported
GST Billing	Full GST with GSTR reports	Full GST invoicing
Proposals & Contracts	Not applicable for shops	Core feature for freelancers
Client / Lead Management	Not applicable for shops	Full CRM for service businesses
Android App	Full-featured Android app	Limited mobile experience
Staff Access with Permissions	Up to 3 staff in Advance plan	Available on paid plans
Manufacturing / BOM	Full production module	Not available
Price (per year)	₹900 to ₹3,600	₹20,900 to ₹38,900

Refrens Is for Freelancers. Your Shop Needs Something Else.

Stock Register vs Refrens — Full Feature Comparison

The Verdict: Stock Register vs Refrens

Choose Stock Register if:

Stay with Refrens if:

What Stock Register does better than Refrens

Real Inventory Built for Product Businesses

Barcode Scanning for Fast Billing

Never Run Out of Stock Again

Save Up to ₹35,300 Per Year

Reports That Actually Help Your Shop

Staff Access That Works for Retail

Pricing: Stock Register vs Refrens

Stock Register

Refrens

Try Stock Register free for 7 days

Stock Register vs Refrens — Common Questions