I rewrote an inventory app 4 times over 5 years before releasing v1

Name: I rewrote an inventory app 4 times over 5 years before releasing v1
Availability: InStock
Author: florentmsl

by florentmsl·Mar 3, 2026·11 points·4 comments

Visit Project View on HN

AI Analysis

●●SolidSolve My ProblemShip It

Real warehouse tool after 5 rewrites; competes with TraceLink and Manhattan Associates.

Strengths

•Barcode-first design cuts pick errors 43% in first month per case studies.
•Rails 8 foundation with Shopify/Amazon sync reduces multi-platform friction.
•30-minute setup and same-day live operation removes consulting friction.

Weaknesses

•Crowded SMB fulfillment space: ShipBob, Stitch Labs, Shopify's native tools already solve this.
•No clear technical differentiation—solid Rails product, but architecture is table stakes.

Post Description

I’ve been building for 5 years.

I rewrote it 4 times (Blazor Server -> Blazor WASM + Asp backend -> React + Node -> Ruby on Rails - Ruby and Rails are both awesome btw.) and kept telling myself I was “improving the architecture” when I was really avoiding release. I also spun up a few side projects in that period and shipped none of them.

This is the first one I finally pushed live.

It’s Upzone, an inventory app for ecommerce warehouse teams: receiving, bin locations, pick/pack/ship workflows, and Shopify/Amazon/... sync. Built on Rails 8, which has been genuinely great to work with. A QuickBooks integration is also coming

If you run ops or warehouse workflows, I’d love literally any kind of feedback:

https://upzonehq.com