Cloud WMS: what it is, how it differs from an installed one and what to ask before signing up

November 13, 2026 · 7 min read

“In the cloud” is a way of saying that the software is not in your office but on the servers of whoever provides it, and that you access it over the internet. For a warehouse that changes who looks after the machines, how it is paid for and what happens the day the connection fails. This article explains what a cloud WMS is, how it differs from an installed one and which questions to ask before signing up.

What a cloud WMS is

A warehouse management system (WMS; SGA in Spanish) is the software that runs the inside of the warehouse: what comes in, which bin it is stored in, what is picked and what leaves, with every movement confirmed by a scan. If you are new to it, start with what a WMS is.

A cloud WMS does the same, but the software and the database are on the supplier's servers. In the office it opens in the browser; in the building, on the PDA or on a phone. There is nothing to install on a server of yours and nobody has to come and update it: the new version appears by itself.

Cloud WMS or installed WMS: differences

Swipe the table sideways to see all the columns →

	Cloud WMS	Installed WMS
Where it is	On the supplier's servers	On a server of yours, in your office or in your data center
How it is paid for	Monthly or annual fee	License up front and, normally, annual maintenance
Servers and backups	The supplier runs them	You or your IT person run them
Updates	Included; they arrive by themselves	They have to be installed, sometimes paying for the new version
Getting started	No machines to buy: the data is loaded and you start	First the server has to be bought, installed and configured
If the internet goes down	You cannot work until it comes back	Inside the building, work carries on over the local network
Access from outside	From anywhere with a connection	It has to be set up separately (VPN or similar)
If you leave	You stop paying and export your data	The license is still yours, without updates

Neither way is better for everyone. The cloud removes work and up-front cost; installing gives independence from the internet and full control of the machines, in exchange for maintaining them. How that shows in the price is in how much a WMS costs.

What to ask before signing up for cloud WMS software

Since the data is going to be kept in someone else's house, the important questions are about it:

→Which country are the servers in? If they are in the European Union, the processing falls under the GDPR with no transfers to third countries.
→How often are backups made, where are they kept and is it checked that they work? A copy on the same machine as the software does not protect against that machine failing.
→Is my data separated from that of the supplier's other customers?
→Who can get in? Permissions per user, two-step sign-in and a record of who changed what.
→Can I export everything —items, stock, movements— whenever I want, in an open format and without asking?
→What happens to my data the day I cancel? How long do I have to get it out?
→Is there a lock-in period? Does the price go up with users, PDAs or orders?
→What does the software do when the PDA loses the connection halfway through a task?
→Is there an API, or ready-made connections to my store, my carriers and my invoicing software?

Ask to be shown the export and the permissions screen in the demo, not to be told about them. More questions for that demo are in how to test WMS software before you buy.

What happens if the internet goes down

It is the most common doubt and it has to be answered plainly: a cloud WMS needs a connection. If it drops, scans cannot be confirmed until it comes back. What you can prepare is for an outage to be a nuisance and not a lost afternoon:

→A second line: a router with mobile data that takes over when the fiber fails, or sharing a phone's connection. A WMS moves text and fits with room to spare.
→Good wifi coverage across the whole building. Most of the “it has gone down” moments in a warehouse are spots with no coverage at the far end of an aisle, not outages at the internet provider.
→Software that warns clearly. The operator has to know whether the last action was saved or not, and be able to repeat it without starting the task from scratch.
→A plan on paper for the essentials: which truck leaves today and with which parcels, so that dispatch does not stop.

With an installed WMS an internet outage does not stop the building, but it does stop everything that faces outward: the store's orders do not come in and the carrier's labels cannot be requested. In an e-commerce warehouse that is almost the same as being stopped.

Who a cloud WMS is for and who it is not for

It fits well if you have no IT person on staff, if you want to start without a large purchase, if you work with online stores and carriers that are already internet services, or if you need your clients or yourself to be able to look at the stock from outside the building. It is the usual choice for small businesses and for small and mid-sized third-party logistics providers; we cover it in warehouse software for small businesses.

It fits worse if the building is somewhere with no way of getting a stable connection, if by internal rule the data cannot leave your premises, or if you already have an IT team and servers that you maintain anyway.

How we do it at Ubika

Ubika is a subscription cloud WMS for non-automated warehouses. The data is in European data centers, under the GDPR, with each customer in its own isolated space, permissions by role, two-step sign-in and a record of every change. Encrypted backups are made every day, outside the main server. And the data is yours: it can be exported as CSV or through the API whenever you want, also if you leave.

The PDA is a web page: it opens on a phone or on any Android with a scanner, with nothing to install. It needs a connection; if it is lost in the middle of a task, the PDA warns that the last action has not been saved and lets you retry it, without losing the task. There is no lock-in and the price is published: Start €199/month up to 1,000 shipments a month, Pro €499 up to 3,500 and Max €799 up to 8,000, VAT not included, with the store and carrier integrations included.

You can ask for the demo with your data or first see what it does in warehouse management software.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cloud WMS?

It is a warehouse management system that is not installed on your computers: it sits on the supplier's servers and is used over the internet, from the browser and from the PDA. It is normally paid for with a monthly fee that includes servers, backups and updates.

What is the difference between a cloud WMS and an installed one?

The installed one lives on a server of yours: you buy it, maintain it, make the backups and apply the updates. The cloud one lives on the supplier's servers, and the supplier takes care of all that; in exchange you depend on your internet connection and on that supplier.

What happens to a cloud WMS if the internet goes down?

While there is no connection, movements cannot be recorded. What matters is how the software behaves: that it tells the operator the action has not been saved and lets them repeat it when the connection returns, and that you have a second line (mobile data, for example) for outages.

Is my data safe in cloud WMS software?

It depends on the supplier, and you can ask: which country the servers are in, how often backups are made and where they are kept, who can get into your data and whether there are permissions per user, two-step sign-in and a record of changes.

Can I take my data with me if I change software?

You should be able to. Before signing up, ask to see the export: items, stock by bin and movements in an open format such as CSV, without having to ask anyone for it and also on the day you cancel.

Who does a cloud WMS make sense for?

For warehouses with no IT team of their own that want to start without buying servers and pay according to use: online stores that pick their own orders, small businesses and small and mid-sized third-party logistics providers. If you need to work cut off from the internet, an installed one is a better fit.

Keep reading

What Ubika does: warehouse management software · software for 3PLs · WMS for e-commerce