PDQ Inventory Review: Should You Go For It in 2025?

PDQ Inventory has a reputation for being fast, lightweight, and useful, more so if your IT stack is Windows-only. 

Let’s find out if it delivers in this detailed PDQ Inventory review.

TL;DR:

• PDQ Inventory is a self-hosted, agentless tool that scans and organizes Windows machines with impressive depth and speed.

• Dynamic and static collections make grouping machines for updates, compliance, or audits easy.

• Custom scanners, remote tools, and reporting features add flexibility, but complex reports are a pain.

• Easy PDQ Deploy integration lets you quickly turn inventory insights into targeted deployments.

• It's a strong tool for on-prem environments, but not ideal for remote or off-network devices or large teams on a budget.

What is PDQ Inventory?

Via PDQ Inventory

PDQ Inventory is a Windows-based IT asset management tool that helps system administrators automatically scan, collect, and organize detailed data about the hardware, software, and configurations across all the computers in their network.

It’s built to save time and eliminate the hassle of manually tracking devices or dealing with outdated asset spreadsheets. PDQ Inventory scans your network without requiring agents on each machine, as long as they are on-premises or connected via VPN.

Here’s what you get with PDQ Inventory:

• Always-know inventory: Automatically gather detailed system info like CPU, RAM, installed software, OS versions, and more.

• Dynamic and static collections: Group machines as needed. Collections update themselves based on rules, or you can manually build them. 

• Custom data collection: Use custom scanners and fields to pull in precisely what you want, such as registry values or PowerShell output.

• Flexible reporting: Build, schedule, and email reports with the data that matters to you.

• PDQ Deploy integration: PDQ Inventory identifies systems requiring updates or changes, while PDQ Deploy facilitates the distribution of those updates, scripts, or installations

• Built-in admin tools: Access tools for common administrative tasks, including remote desktop access, system reboots, and network diagnostics, with the ability to create custom tools.

• AD Sync support: Automatically sync with Active Directory to keep the inventory accurate and show current domain structures and changes.

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Feature Review of PDQ Inventory

For a tool made to scan and organize your Windows, its setup should be flawless. After all, what good is a tool that deals with configs if it can’t configure itself properly?

Setup and configuration

PDQ Inventory runs locally on a Windows machine, without any cloud involvement. It’s self-hosted, so you have complete control over where your data lives and how it moves across your network. 

Since it’s agentless, you don’t have to install anything on your scanning devices. It uses admin credentials over the network to do its job, which makes setup a breeze and keeps your endpoints clean.

It also syncs with Active Directory from the outset. Computer objects from your domain are pulled in automatically, and they stick to your existing OU structure. That means you can build reports and collections that match the way your environment is organized.

Verdict: Fast setup, no endpoint clutter, and a smooth AD integration. 9/10.

Read More: Best IT Inventory Management Software

Infrastructure organization

PDQ Inventory offers two ways to group your machines: Dynamic collections and Static collections.

Dynamic Collections are built using query logic; machines automatically fall in or out based on real-time data. They categorize devices based on criteria like running a specific software version, low disk space, or missing a required patch. 

These collections constantly update as new scan results are received, making them perfect for compliance checks or patch rollouts.

Static Collections, on the other hand, are more hands-on. You build these manually when you need a fixed list of machines, such as for a test lab setup, kiosk systems, or a pilot group for rolling out new policies.

Collections are the foundation for how most teams organize everything. You can get really specific, too, such as flagging machines that haven’t checked in for over a month or ones missing a specific registry key.

Verdict: Flexible and scales well for most environments. 9/10.

Scanning ability

PDQ Inventory comes with a reliable set of scanners. It picks up hardware specs, OS details, installed apps, running processes, services, and Windows updates. Scans run over SMB and WMI, and you can initiate them manually or set up schedules, whichever works best for your workflow.

Custom scanners let you build your scan profiles using PowerShell, WMI queries, registry checks, or file existence checks. Want to see if a specific GPO is applied? Or check for a particular DLL in a folder? That is no problem; build a scanner for it.

Custom Fields and Variables add even more control. You can tag machines with things such as department, asset owner, or warranty dates, and then use that info in reports or filters. 

Verdict: You get deep visibility and custom scan power. 9/10.

Tools and remote access

PDQ Inventory includes a Tools Library that includes command-line utilities and PowerShell tools for remote administration. These include Wake-on-LAN, dervice management via Services.msc, access to ADMIN$ for Windows shares, NSLookup for IP/hostname resolution, and more.

You can also add your custom tools. For instance, you can script a tool to trigger a scheduled task on a target, restart specific services, or even execute vulnerability scanners from a centralized console. These tools can be parameterized using system fields (%ComputerName%), making them reusable.

Verdict: Remote tools are practical and extensible, allowing for hands-on control. 8.5/10

Reporting engine

The reporting system in PDQ Inventory supports both built-in and custom reports. Reports may include any field scanned or manually added, including custom values.

Reports can be scheduled to run and emailed automatically. Reports are very useful for compliance, maintenance cycles, and license audits. If your organization conducts periodic reporting (monthly patch rollup, quarterly audits, etc.), this eliminates the need for manual querying and formatting.

However, if you’re creating complex or highly specific reports, it feels clunky.

Via Capterra

Moreover, complex reports are difficult to debug, and no pointers are provided to make the process easier. For this reason, sometimes troubleshooting takes more time than it should.

Verdict: Reporting is adequate but not the best. 7/10

PDQ Deploy integration

When paired with PDQ Deploy, Inventory becomes an intelligent targeting engine. Dynamic Collections are often used as deployment targets, like “all machines missing Adobe Reader 23.003.” Once a machine meets the condition, it’s automatically pulled into the collection and targeted by the corresponding PDQ Deploy schedule.

You also receive deployment feedback: after a package is pushed via Deploy, Inventory can reflect success/failure, version changes, and installation status. With this feedback loop, you can close the loop on patch validation and reduce drift.

You can also use scan logic variables that match versions used in Deploy to ensure that your detection and remediation stay aligned.

Verdict: Deploy integration turns Inventory into a live compliance engine. 9/10

Ratings and Reviews

Via G2

PDQ Inventory is rated an impressive 4.8 stars out of 5 in G2, based on over 250 reviews. On the review site Capterra, it’s also rated 4.8, based on over 300 reviews.

Via Capterra

The platform gets plenty of praise even on community sites like Reddit:

Via Reddit

Where PDQ Inventory Falls Short

No tool is perfect, and PDQ Inventory is no exception.

One of the most common complaints is how it handles remote or off-network devices. Because it’s agentless, PDQ Inventory works best when machines are on-premises or VPN-connected. You can't maintain visibility if you’ve got a fleet of remote workers or laptops that rarely touch the corporate network.

Other drawbacks to know:

• Per-admin licensing, which starts at a steep $1,575 per admin annually, gets expensive for larger IT teams, even if the endpoint count stays low.

• There’s no smooth way to run quick, one-off scripts across machines. You often have to build a deployment package for even the simplest task, which slows down ad-hoc fixes.

• Prebuilt software packages are helpful, but they can sometimes be too rigid. For example, deploying Chrome via PDQ can disable auto-updates. This isn’t ideal for machines that aren’t checked regularly.

None of these are deal breakers for most teams, but they’re good to keep in mind.

Final Verdict: Is PDQ Inventory Right for You?

PDQ Inventory focuses solely on asset visibility, and it performs well within that scope. It focuses on giving sysadmins visibility and control over their Windows environments without friction, and it delivers.

PDQ doesn’t limit you to canned reports or surface-level data; you can script your own scans, build collections, and automate anything you can do from a shell. 

That said, it’s not without its trade-offs. If you’re in an environment with a modest number of endpoints, and you value speed and hands-on control, we think PDQ Inventory is a practical, admin-friendly tool you can add to your stack. 

The agentless architecture makes managing devices outside your network challenging. The pricing model also adds up quickly for larger teams.

Control Your Hardware With Workwize

If you're using PDQ Inventory, you're already ahead regarding visibility. But knowing where your devices are is only half the battle—getting them to the right people, keeping things organized, and ensuring they are returned on time is another issue.

Workwize picks up where PDQ leaves off, making hardware management effortless from day one to day returned. 

Brands like HighLevel, DuckDuckGo, and others trust Workwize for IT hardware management. Schedule a Workwize demo now.