The 7 Best Asset Tracking Software Solutions: Our Expert Opinion

The top asset tracking software can help you keep tabs on everything your business owns, from physical items like office equipment to intangible assets like intellectual property, with an easy-to-use system. Pick poorly, and you’ll waste valuable time or even risk losing critical equipment.

Our research has shown our top-rated pick is Asset Panda. It’s a highly customizable asset management system that centralizes information for managing diverse assets, offering features like barcode creation, equipment check-in/out, and integration with tools like Zendesk and Google Workspace.

It does have limited GPS and RFID tag functionality and pricing is available only by quote, however. To make sure you find the best solution for your business while incurring minimal asset tracking costs, read on below. We review the 7 best asset tracking software platforms, analyzing features applicable to all industries.

The 7 Best Asset Tracking Software Options in 2024: Our Expert Opinion

1. Asset Panda

Best for: Customization options
Score: 5/5
Pricing: By quote only

Asset Panda is a do-it-all asset management system that can help you manage everything from physical equipment and software to intellectual property and contracts. It’s extremely customizable and puts all the information you need in a centralized location.

What sets Asset Panda apart is its ease of use for a wide range of assets. You can quickly create new assets in the software and then add photos, maintenance logs, user manuals, file attachments, and more. Asset Panda also makes it easy to create barcodes, which employees can scan using a mobile app for iOS and Android.

Employees can check equipment in and out with Asset Panda as well as submit trackable tickets if there’s an issue with a piece of equipment. For extra security, you can limit who can change the status of any asset as well as require signatures during check-in and check-out.

Another benefit to Asset Panda is that it includes integrations with software tools like Okta, Zendesk, and Google Workspace. This makes it easy to integrate Asset Panda’s tracking features into your business’s existing workflows. As an example, you can use Zendesk to answer tickets when employees report a problem with a piece of checked-out equipment.

The only drawback we found to Asset Panda is its limited support for GPS and radio frequency ID (RFID) asset tags. However, the software will automatically capture the GPS location of an item when you scan its barcode with the mobile app.

Asset Panda offers pricing by quote only, but you can try out the software for free for 14 days before committing to a plan. All plans include unlimited users and 24/7 email support.

2. Asset Tiger

Best for: Free asset tracking
Score: 5/5
Pricing: $0-$1,600 per year

Asset Tiger is free asset tracking software that lets you manage up to 250 items at no cost. While Asset Tiger is budget friendly, it’s no cut-rate software when it comes to features. It supports a wide range of physical and digital assets and offers tons of tools to help you manage your equipment.

One of our favorite features is the reservations tool, which lets employees reserve an asset they plan to use. This is great for offices since employees can use Asset Tiger to reserve a conference room or equipment like a projector.

In addition, Asset Tiger does a great job with user permissions. You can create unlimited employee groups, and then tightly control what assets each group can check out. For equipment administrators, you can also regulate who has the authority to change an asset’s status (for example, to “undergoing repairs,” “disposed of,” “sold,” or “lost”).

We were also impressed by Asset Tiger’s reporting tools. You can choose from multiple depreciation models for each asset, and then generate custom reports to monitor the value of your business’s equipment over time. You can also create reports to monitor asset usage, maintenance, and more.

The only major thing we found missing from Asset Tiger is integrations with other software, such as for identity management or creating custom workflows. It’s also worth noting that you can only use the Asset Tiger mobile app with barcode tags made by the company. However, you can purchase a barcode scanner and use it with any custom tags.

If you have more than 250 assets, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid Asset Tiger plan. The good news is that these are extremely affordable, starting at only $120 per year for up to 500 assets. All plans include unlimited users and phone support.

3. EZOffice Inventory

Best for: Equipment check-outs
Score: 4.5/5
Pricing: $420-$15,678 per year

EZOffice Inventory is a flexible asset tracking system that’s ideal for large businesses that need a way for employees to seamlessly access shared equipment. It stands out for offering online asset reservations as well as unique features like carts and bundles.

With carts, employees can select multiple items to add to a reservation. The experience is a lot like shopping online, which reduces the learning curve for employees. Bundles include multiple assets and can be a handy way to package items that normally go together—for example, a conference room, projector, and conference phone.

EZOffice Inventory also lets employees make recurring reservations. Administrators can set up reservation approval workflows to ensure assets are being used effectively. While these features might not seem critical, they can make a huge difference if you have a lot of employees and need to coordinate who gets access to what equipment.

EZOffice Inventory supports maintenance logs and can track depreciation, but it relies on integrations with Zendesk and Jira Service Desk to manage requests from equipment users. In addition, the software is mainly designed for physical assets that can be checked out. It doesn’t support tracking for digital assets like software licenses or contracts.

EZOffice Inventory offers four plan tiers that start at $420 per year for tracking up to 250 items. Carts and integrations require an upgrade, and the cost of your plan will scale up with the number of assets you need to track. So, EZOffice Inventory can be pricey for larger organizations.

4. ManageEngine Asset Explorer

Best for: Tracking IT equipment
Score: 4/5
Pricing: $955-$11,995 per year

Asset Explorer from ManageEngine is an advanced IT asset management software designed to help you track all of your business’s internet-connected devices. You can use it to keep track of computers, printers, mobile devices, servers, routers, and more. It’s also incredibly helpful for managing what software tools are licensed on what devices and ensuring that all your software is up to date with the latest security upgrades.

What’s really neat about Asset Explorer is that you likely won’t have to enter information about your assets manually. Instead, the software can scan your network to discover all connected devices and automatically import information about them. This can even capture information about personal devices that your employees have connected to your network, which is important to know about for IT security.

Asset Explorer offers some nice visualizations, including relationship maps that display how different devices are networked together. These maps can be especially useful for maintenance since your IT team can see what effect taking a device like a router offline will have on the rest of your networked devices.

There are great built-in reports in Asset Explorer, including several that can save your business money right away. For example, one report shows whether you have software licensed on devices that aren’t being used. You could then reassign or end those unused licenses.

The biggest drawback to Asset Explorer is that it’s complex. There’s a steep learning curve and a somewhat outdated user interface. However, once you get accustomed to Asset Explorer, it’s an extremely powerful tool for managing IT assets.

Asset Explorer starts at $955 per year for tracking up to 250 assets, and you can try out the software for 30 days for zero cost. All plans include 24/5 phone support.

5. Wasp Barcode AssetCloud

Best for: Complex asset tracking needs
Score: 3.5/5
Pricing: $1,295-$7,990 per year

AssetCloud from Wasp Barcode is an enterprise asset management system that can manage any type of device, whether that’s an IT device or physical equipment. It works extremely well for businesses that have multiple offices or field sites thanks to a set of location-based asset filters. AssetCloud also makes it easy for employees to check out items they need, although it doesn’t have a reservation option.

One unique feature AssetCloud offers is the ability to restrict assets’ use based on their funding source. As an example, say you purchase a piece of equipment with a grant that only allows you to use the item at a certain location. You can assign the asset to that funding source in AssetCloud, and the software will limit users to checking it out for use at the allowed location. If an item is moved somewhere it shouldn’t be used, AssetCloud will issue an alert.

This makes AssetCloud a great solution for businesses that receive government grants, equipment loans, or other funding sources that restrict how certain assets can be used.

AssetCloud also has some of the most in-depth reporting tools we’ve seen, with more than 25 built-in reports to help you monitor asset utilization, maintenance needs, and more. Any of the basic reports can be customized to help you drill down further into your data. Plus, you can create scheduled reports to get key information about your assets regularly.

AssetCloud is available as either cloud-based or on-premise software. The cloud-based platform starts at $1,295 per year for one administrator and unlimited users. The Complete+RFID plan, which starts at $7,990 per year, enables you to use AssetCloud with RFID asset tags.

6. Samsara

Best for: Heavy-duty assets
Score: 3/5
Pricing: By quote only

Samsara is primarily a fleet management platform, but it also offers tools for managing heavy-duty assets like manufacturing and construction equipment. This asset tracking suite can be purchased separately from or in combination with Samsara’s fleet management tools.

What’s great about Samsara is that it works with Internet of Things-enabled monitoring devices, allowing you to gather real-time data about your equipment. This is crucial for expensive equipment since it provides immediate information when something is wrong and gives you a chance to conduct preventive maintenance. You can also schedule downtime so that employees know when a piece of equipment will be unavailable.

Samsara also offers GPS asset tags so you can track your equipment’s location 24/7, not just when employees scan its barcode tag. You can set up a virtual geofence for each piece of equipment and get notified if it’s being moved without authorization. This can be very helpful if your company has equipment left overnight at field sites when it could be susceptible to theft.

The software also offers reports so you can monitor asset utilization, maintenance schedules, and even variables like fuel costs. These reports are very helpful for billing large jobs where a lot of equipment is deployed and may be used only some of the time.

Unfortunately, Samsara’s asset tracking capabilities don’t extend to office equipment, IT devices, software, or intangible assets like intellectual property. For that sort of thing, Asset Panda or another of the more office-focused asset tracking platforms we highlighted will be better. That being said, Samsara’s unique features for monitoring heavy equipment make it a worthwhile investment.

7. GoCodes

Best for: Tracking physical equipment
Score: 3.5/5
Pricing: $500-$2,500 per year

GoCodes is an easy-to-use asset tracking platform for keeping track of tools, heavy equipment, IT equipment, and other physical assets. It’s designed with the construction industry in mind but can also be used for a wide variety of manufacturing and office businesses.

GoCodes helps you track maintenance records, warranty information, and manuals for each asset your business owns. It automatically tracks items’ locations by recording GPS data every time they’re scanned. You can also add custom information fields to any asset and apply fixed depreciation rates to simplify valuing your assets.

What really stands out about GoCodes is how straightforward it is for employees to use. You’ll receive custom QR code tags with your plan, which you can attach to your equipment. Employees can scan these with the GoCodes mobile app (iOS and Android) to check out equipment in seconds. They’ll also get push notifications if equipment is overdue and can add notes about an item’s status. It’s one of the best asset management apps we’ve tested.

Unfortunately, GoCodes doesn’t support any integrations, which makes it difficult to use the software in conjunction with identity management software. The asset tracking features also aren’t ideal for managing software, since there’s no way to add license information or track what software is installed on what devices. So, GoCodes is best if you only need to track physical assets like tools and equipment.

GoCodes plans start at $500 per year for up to 200 assets and three users. If you have more than 20 employees, you’ll need to get a quote for the Enterprise plan.

Our Methodology

To compare asset tracking software, we dove into each platform’s features for adding and customizing assets, managing equipment check-outs, auditing equipment, and reporting. We used a combination of product demos, video tutorials, knowledge base documents, and customer support reports to fully explore each platform and understand its advantages and limitations. We also leaned on our experience of tracking our own assets.

Based on this analysis, we narrowed down our selection from more than a dozen asset tracking tools to just seven.

How to Choose the Best Asset Tracking Software

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key factors you should consider when choosing asset tracking software for your business.

Supported Assets

The first thing to think about is what types of assets you need to track. Common types of assets to consider include:

• Office equipment: Desks, chairs, monitors, projectors, etc.
• Facilities: Conference rooms, hot desks, and other reservable spaces
• IT equipment: Computers, smartphones, routers, printers, VoIP phones, and servers
• Software: Licensed software installed on computers and servers
• Tools: Drills, saws, and other portable tools for maintenance and construction
• Heavy equipment: Manufacturing equipment, vehicles, generators, and other large pieces of equipment
• Intellectual property: Documents, contracts, and other digital files

Some asset tracking software, like Asset Panda and Asset Tiger, is flexible enough to manage most or all of these types of assets. However, these all-in-one platforms may have limited features for tracking specialized equipment. For example, Asset Panda can’t automatically find networked IT devices.

Other platforms specialize in managing specific categories of assets. For example, ManageEngine Asset Explorer is designed to track IT equipment and software, while GoCodes is designed to track office equipment and tools. These specialized asset management solutions can be a good choice for larger businesses with a large number of one type of asset.

Customization Options

All the asset management platforms we reviewed enable you to add custom data fields to your assets, making them more flexible to meet your business’s needs. However, some software offers more customization options. For example, Wasp Barcode AssetCloud lets you manage assets by funding source, while Asset Panda offers granular user access roles so you can tightly control who has access to what assets.

Think carefully about what types of controls your business needs to effectively manage your assets.

Asset Tag Compatibility

All the asset tracking tools we evaluated support barcode asset tags, which you and your employees can scan instantly with a mobile app. However, not all asset tracking software is compatible with more advanced RFID and GPS-enabled asset tags.

RFID tags are especially useful for taking inventory since you can scan many items at once from a distance. EZOffice Inventory and AssetCloud both support RFID tags.

GPS tags provide real-time information about an asset’s location, which can be very important if you have expensive equipment deployed in the field. Samsara offers an easy way to visualize the location of GPS-tagged assets on a map.

Ease of Use

It’s important to consider how easy an asset management tool is for your employees to use. If your software is overly complex, your employees won’t want to use it and they’ll be more likely to take assets without properly checking them out.

Most of the platforms we highlighted offer user-friendly mobile apps for iOS and Android, which enable employees to quickly scan barcode tags and add notes about assets they’ve used. Some platforms, like Asset Tiger and EZOffice Inventory, also support reservations so that employees can make sure the equipment they need is available when they need it.

EZOffice Inventory especially stands out for ease of use because its reservation and check-out system mimics online shopping. So, most employees will immediately understand how to check out items using the software.

Integrations

Software integrations aren’t essential, but they can help make your assets more secure and incorporate your asset management into your business’s existing workflows. For example, integration with identity management solutions can help you enforce user access roles, limiting who can check out or move certain assets. Integration with helpdesk software can make it easier for employees to report maintenance issues with equipment.

Asset Panda and EZOffice Inventory both offer integrations for popular business software, while AssetCloud has an API so you can develop custom integrations.

Reporting

All the asset management platforms we covered include reporting tools so that you can monitor who’s using what assets, the use rate of each asset your business owns, and the depreciation of your assets over time.

These reports are important because they can help you make important decisions about what equipment your business needs or may be able to sell. They can also make it easier to account for the value of your business’s assets when filing taxes.

Pricing Structure

Asset tracking software providers offer several different pricing structures. Some charge based on the number of assets you need to track and others charge based on the number of equipment administrators or employees your business has. Some also offer tiered plans with different management features.

When comparing pricing, it’s important to think about how much the software could cost in the future as your business grows. For example, if your business is more likely to add new assets than new employees, it may make financial sense to choose software with headcount-based pricing.

Our Research Methodology