Best FiveM Inventory Scripts Compared (2026)

Your inventory system is the single most-used script on your server. Every player opens it dozens of times per session — picking up items, using drugs, equipping weapons, checking what’s in a stash. If it’s slow, ugly, or buggy, your players notice immediately. If items vanish, duplication exploits slip through, or the UI stutters every time someone opens their bag, you’ve got a problem that no amount of custom cars or fancy MLOs can cover up.

I’ve migrated inventory systems on multiple servers and watched player counts react in real time. A good inventory makes your server feel polished. A bad one makes it feel broken. Here’s what the options actually look like in 2026, what each one does well, and where they fall apart.

Why Your Inventory Script Matters More Than You Think

Think about what your inventory system actually touches. Items, weapons, shops, crafting, drug systems, stashes, trunks, gloveboxes, evidence, clothing — it’s the connective tissue for almost every other script on your server. When someone builds a drug system or a restaurant script, they’re building on top of your inventory’s item system and its exports.

A weak inventory means every script built on top of it inherits those weaknesses. Metadata doesn’t work properly? Your weapon serial numbers break. Stash system has no weight limits? Players stuff entire warehouses into their trunks. No proper decay support? Food items last forever and your economy has no consumable sinks.

If you’re still running whatever default inventory came with your framework, it’s worth evaluating whether it’s actually serving your server well or just being tolerated because nobody wants to deal with migration.

ox_inventory — The Standard

Framework support: ESX, QBCore, Qbox (native) Cost: Free and open source GitHub: overextended/ox_inventory

ox_inventory has become the default recommendation for good reason. It’s free, it’s actively maintained, it performs well, and it works across every major framework. If you’re building a new server today, this is where you start.

What it does well:

The slot-based system with metadata support is the real draw. Every item can carry arbitrary metadata — serial numbers on weapons, expiry dates on food, custom labels, quality levels, whatever your scripts need. This is the foundation that makes advanced gameplay systems possible. Without metadata, you’re stuck with basic “item exists or it doesn’t” logic.

Performance is excellent. ox_inventory uses Lua 5.4 and is designed to be lightweight. On a server running 100+ players, you’re not going to see this script topping your resmon. That matters when you’re running 200 other resources and every millisecond of frame time counts.

The built-in shop system is solid. You define shops in config, assign items and prices, drop them at locations, and they work. Crafting support, weapon attachments, clothing integration, evidence stashes — it’s all there without needing separate scripts for each feature.

Framework compatibility is handled through bridges. It works natively with Qbox (it’s basically the official Qbox inventory), supports QBCore through its bridge system where most QB resources work without modification, and has ESX Legacy support as well. If you ever switch frameworks, your inventory doesn’t have to change.

The integration with the broader OX ecosystem is a major plus. ox_lib, ox_target, and ox_inventory are designed to work together seamlessly. If you’re already using ox_lib (and you probably should be), ox_inventory slots right in.

Where it falls short:

The UI is functional but not flashy. It gets the job done with a clean grid layout, but it won’t win any design awards out of the box. Some server owners want that premium visual feel, and ox_inventory’s default interface is deliberately minimal.

Installation on existing servers requires some work. If you’re migrating from qb-inventory or ESX’s default, you need to handle data migration — player inventories, stashes, trunks, and gloveboxes all need to be converted. There are community tools for this, but it’s not a one-click process. Check the cfx.re forums for detailed migration guides.

Documentation exists but assumes you’re comfortable with Lua and FiveM development. If you’re brand new to scripting, the learning curve is steeper than “extract and start.”

Best for: Any server that values performance, flexibility, and long-term maintainability. If you’re starting fresh or willing to invest time in migration, this is the inventory to run. Especially if you’re on Qbox or planning to move there.

qs-inventory — The Pretty One

Framework support: QBCore, ESX Cost: Paid (~$35-50, check Quasar Store for current pricing) Escrow: Yes (Asset Escrow)

Quasar’s inventory is the premium option that people buy primarily for one reason: it looks fantastic. If visual polish matters to your server’s brand, qs-inventory delivers the best-looking inventory UI in the FiveM ecosystem.

What it does well:

The UI is genuinely impressive. Smooth animations, clean item cards, drag-and-drop that feels responsive, and a visual design that makes your server look like it had a professional UX designer on staff. For servers that market heavily on aesthetics — think custom loading screens, branded HUDs, cinematic trailers — qs-inventory fits that vibe.

It integrates with the broader Quasar ecosystem. If you’re already running qs-hud, qs-smartphone, or other Quasar resources, everything looks and feels cohesive. That visual consistency across all your UI elements makes a real difference to player perception.

Feature-wise, it covers the essentials: slots, weight, metadata, shops, crafting, stashes, trunks, and clothing. It’s not missing anything critical compared to free alternatives.

Support is a paid product perk. You get actual support channels, documentation, and updates from a team that has financial incentive to keep the product working. When a framework update breaks something, you don’t have to wait for a community contributor to submit a PR.

Where it falls short:

It’s paid, and some would argue you’re paying primarily for the UI since ox_inventory offers comparable or better functionality for free. If your budget is tight and you’d rather spend that $40 on a custom vehicle pack or another gameplay script, the free option is objectively fine.

Being escrowed means you can’t modify the core code. You’re limited to config changes and whatever customization hooks Quasar exposes. If your developer wants to add a custom inventory behavior that isn’t supported, you’re stuck submitting a feature request and hoping.

Framework support is narrower than ox_inventory. No native Qbox support — if you’re planning to migrate to Qbox, you might be buying something you’ll eventually need to replace.

Performance is acceptable but not best-in-class. The fancier UI comes with slightly higher resource usage. On most servers this is negligible, but if you’re running a high-pop server where every resmon tick matters, it’s worth benchmarking against ox_inventory on your specific hardware.

Best for: Servers that prioritize visual polish and are willing to pay for it. If your server’s identity leans heavily into aesthetics and you’re running other Quasar products, this keeps everything consistent.

qb-inventory — The Default You’ll Probably Replace

Framework support: QBCore Cost: Free and open source GitHub: qbcore-framework/qb-inventory

If you set up a QBCore server with a txAdmin recipe, this is what you got. qb-inventory is the default that ships with the framework, and it does the minimum viable job of being an inventory.

What it does well:

It works out of the box with QBCore. Zero additional setup, zero compatibility issues with other QB resources, zero configuration required to get a functional inventory on your server. For someone setting up their first server and just trying to get things running, that matters.

The community is enormous. Because every QBCore server starts with this, there are more tutorials, forum posts, and YouTube videos about qb-inventory than any other option. If you hit a problem, someone has hit it before you.

It’s free and the source is open. Your developer can modify anything they want, add custom features, or completely overhaul the UI without hitting escrow walls.

Where it falls short:

The UI looks dated. It’s functional but clearly a generation behind what players expect in 2026. When your players have seen servers running ox_inventory’s clean grid or qs-inventory’s polished design, the default QB interface feels like a downgrade.

Feature gaps become obvious as your server grows. Metadata support is limited compared to ox_inventory, the shop system is basic, and advanced features like item decay, quality degradation, or custom item interactions require community patches or custom development.

Performance isn’t terrible, but it’s not optimized the way ox_inventory is. On a 64-player server you won’t notice. On a high-pop server with 200 concurrent players, the difference starts to show up in resmon.

It’s QBCore-only with no bridge to other frameworks. If your server evolves, this script doesn’t evolve with it.

Best for: Brand new QBCore servers that need something working immediately and plan to upgrade later. Think of it as the starter inventory — functional, familiar, and replaceable.

Other Notable Mentions

A few other inventory scripts worth knowing about:

Codem Inventory (~$30, QBCore/ESX) — A mid-range paid option with a clean UI and decent feature set. It sits between qb-inventory and qs-inventory in terms of visual polish. Solid choice if you want something better than default without spending top dollar.

Core Inventory (QBCore, Qbox, ESX) — A newer entry that’s gaining traction, particularly for servers wanting a grid-based system with modern UI. Worth watching as it matures.

Origen Inventory (QBCore, ESX) — Another paid alternative with a focus on customization and a modular approach. Good documentation and active development.

None of these are bad choices, but they’re competing in a space where ox_inventory being free and excellent makes it hard for mid-tier paid options to justify their price tag unless they offer something genuinely unique.

Making the Switch — What Migration Actually Involves

Switching inventory systems isn’t just “remove old, add new.” Your inventory stores player data in the database, and every item a player has ever picked up, every stash they’ve filled, every vehicle trunk they’ve loaded — that all lives in MySQL tables tied to your current inventory’s schema.

Here’s what a typical migration looks like:

Back Up Everything First

mysqldump -u root -p your_database > backup_before_inventory_migration.sql

This is non-negotiable. If the migration breaks something and you don’t have a backup, you’re looking at a full player inventory wipe. Your Discord will not survive that.

Handle Data Conversion

If you’re moving from qb-inventory to ox_inventory on QBCore, the community has built conversion scripts. The ox_inventory docs cover the supported migration paths, and there are GitHub repos with helper scripts specifically for QBCore data conversion.

The main tables you need to worry about:

-- Player inventories (items each player is carrying)
-- Stashes (shared storage locations)
-- Trunks/Gloveboxes (vehicle storage)
-- Shop configurations (if moving from config-based to database-based)

Update Dependencies

Your other scripts talk to the inventory through exports and events. After switching, you need to verify that every script that touches items still works. Common breakage points:

• Scripts using qb-inventory exports directly instead of through the framework’s abstraction
• Weapon scripts that depend on specific metadata formats
• Shop scripts with hardcoded inventory references
• Job scripts that give or remove items

Test each one. Open resmon, check for errors in the F8 console, and have someone actually play through the systems. Don’t just start the server and call it done.

Update Your server.cfg Start Order

ox_inventory has specific dependencies that need to start first:

ensure oxmysql
ensure ox_lib
ensure [your_framework]
ensure ox_inventory

Getting the start order wrong is the single most common reason inventory scripts fail to load. If ox_inventory starts before ox_lib, you’ll get errors that look scary but are just a dependency timing issue.

Which One Should You Pick?

Let me make this simple:

Starting a new server? Use ox_inventory. It’s free, it’s the best, and it works with every framework. There’s no reason to start with anything else.

Running QBCore and haven’t touched the inventory yet? You have qb-inventory and it’s fine for now. When you’re ready to upgrade, migrate to ox_inventory. Budget a few hours for the migration and data conversion.

Your server’s brand is all about visual polish? Consider qs-inventory if you’re already in the Quasar ecosystem and the UI matters more than saving $40. Otherwise, ox_inventory with a community UI reskin gets you 90% of the way there for free.

On ESX Legacy? Switch to ox_inventory immediately. ESX’s built-in inventory is the single biggest quality-of-life improvement you can make. The performance difference alone is worth the migration effort.

Planning to move to Qbox? ox_inventory is already the native Qbox inventory. You’ll end up there anyway, so start now and save yourself a second migration.

The inventory is one of those systems where “good enough” works until it doesn’t. Every script you add that touches items — drug systems, store scripts, crafting, evidence — builds on top of your inventory’s capabilities. Start with a solid foundation and everything you build on it works better.

Check out our free scripts collection for inventory add-ons and item packs that work with ox_inventory, and join our Discord if you need help with the migration process.