Comparison
Itemlist vs Sortly: different jobs.
We build Itemlist, so read this knowing that. The honest summary: Sortly is multi-user stock software for warehouse-style operations, Itemlist is a home and small-business inventory app, and picking between them mostly means noticing which of those two jobs you actually have. Every figure here was checked against the App Store and both companies' own sites on August 19, 2026.
Short answer
Which one to pick
- Documenting what you own at home, on iPhone or iPad: Itemlist.
- Running business stock with a team, reordering, low-stock alerts: Sortly.
- A small business tracking its equipment, assets and supplies: Itemlist, until you need multi-user operations like supplier and reorder workflows or low-stock automation.
- Android or web access: Sortly. Itemlist does not run there.
Side by side
Itemlist vs Sortly
| Itemlist | Sortly | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Homes and small businesses | Multi-user stock and warehouse operations |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad | iOS, Android, web |
| Free plan | 100 items, 20 containers, unlimited locations | 100 unique items, 1 user |
| Paid plans | Pro $29.99/yr (1-week free trial) or $59.99 lifetime | $49 to $299/mo list price; half off year one on new annual plans |
| Rating (Aug 19, 2026) | 4.7 (198 ratings) | 4.7 (9,435 ratings) |
| Organization | Location, room, container; containers nest inside containers | Visual item entries with photos |
| Sharing | Shared locations with editor and viewer roles on Pro | Per-user licenses, 2 to 8 plus on paid plans |
| Barcode scanning | Yes | Yes, plus label generation |
| Export | CSV, free on every tier | CSV, Excel, PDF and Dropbox, per its help center |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes |
Ratings are App Store averages with the number of ratings in parentheses. Sortly prices are from sortly.com/pricing, checked on August 19, 2026; Itemlist pricing is our own current pricing.
Credit where due
Where Sortly is the right pick
Sortly is good software for what it is built for. It runs on iOS, Android and the web, it is rated 4.7 from 9,435 App Store ratings, and it shipped an update the very day we checked, so it is clearly actively maintained. It has the operations features a stock-holding business actually needs: low-stock and date-based alerts, barcode scanning and label generation, per-user licenses, and industry setups for construction, medical and warehouse work.
If that list describes your week, stop reading and use Sortly. We are not going to pretend Itemlist does purchase workflows or staff roles across a warehouse, because it does not.
The other job
Where Itemlist is the right pick
A home is not a warehouse. What you need at home is to remember what you own, where it lives, and what it is worth if you ever have to claim it. Itemlist organizes the way a home is organized: locations hold rooms, rooms hold containers, and containers nest inside other containers, so the box inside the bin on the garage shelf has an address. Items carry photos, brand, model, value and a serial number the barcode scanner fills in for you. Search covers all of it, and CSV export is free, so your record is never locked in.
The same structure carries a small business's equipment, assets and supplies. The boundary is not what kind of business you run but which workflows you need: supplier and reorder management, low-stock automation and staff roles across a team are Sortly territory. Where Itemlist fits a shop, office or workshop, and where those operations features genuinely take over, is on our small business page.
The pricing difference is the clearest signal of who each app is for. Both free tiers cap at 100 items. Past that, Sortly's cheapest plan lists at $49 a month, while a full year of Itemlist Pro costs $29.99, and $59.99 buys it outright for life. Sortly charges like the operations tool it is.
FAQ
Itemlist vs Sortly questions
Is Sortly free?
Sortly has a free plan capped at 100 unique items and one user. Paid plans list at $49, $149 and $299 a month on its own pricing page as of August 19, 2026, with a 50 percent first-year discount for new customers on annual billing and a 14-day trial that asks for a credit card up front.
Can you use Sortly for home inventory?
Yes, and inside the free 100-item cap it works fine. The problem starts when a whole home does not fit in 100 items, because the next step up is $49 a month at list price. That is business software pricing for a household job, which is exactly the gap home inventory apps like Itemlist exist to fill.
Which one should a small business pick?
If you manage stock with a team, reorder from suppliers, and need low-stock alerts and user roles, pick Sortly. That is what it is built and priced for. If your business does not need those multi-user operations, and inventory means knowing what equipment, assets and supplies you have, where they are and what they are worth, a shop, office or workshop photographing its gear and finding it again, Itemlist covers that without the monthly software bill.
Does either app run on Android?
Sortly does: it runs on iOS, Android and the web. Itemlist is iPhone and iPad only, with no Android version. If your household or team is on Android, that alone decides it.
Keep going
Related reading
Built for what you own
Locations, rooms and nested containers, photos and serial numbers, barcode scanning and free CSV export, at home or in a small business. Free up to 100 items on iPhone and iPad.
Free to start on iPhone and iPad