---
{"title": "Scanlily vs Sortly in 2026: Box and Inventory Apps", "description": "Compare Scanlily, Sortly, and Packing Buddy for moving box labels and household inventory.", "url": "https://cleverdings.com/scanlily-vs-sortly/", "date": "2026-10-11"}
---
Compare Scanlily, Sortly, and Packing Buddy for moving box labels and household inventory.

Scanlily's Pro plan costs $9 USD per month, Ultra costs $35 USD per month and Premium costs $75 USD per month. [^1] [^1] [^1] Sortly describes its software as for small businesses to manage physical inventory. [^2] Packing Buddy lets you photograph box contents, print box labels, scan a box's QR code, and search your boxes. [^3] [^3] [^3] [^3]

| Option | Plans and prices | Source described use |
|---|---|---|
| Scanlily | Pro costs $9 USD per month. [^1] Ultra costs $35 USD per month. [^1] Premium costs $75 USD per month. [^1] Enterprise has custom pricing. [^1] | Pro is described for homes, collectors, and solo professionals. [^1] Ultra is described for small teams that lend, move, and track equipment. [^1] |
| Sortly | Price: not published. Card fee: not published. | Sortly describes itself as inventory management software for small businesses managing physical inventory. [^2] |
| Packing Buddy | Free: 3 test boxes per device without an account; with a free account, 10 boxes, 25 AI reads and up to 4 photos a box. [^3] Plus costs $12.99 a month or $59 a year for 100 boxes. [^3] Pro costs $19.99 a month or $99 a year, with unlimited boxes and Bluetooth printers. [^3] Card fee: not published. | Photos of what goes into a box, with AI listing the items and picking the room. [^3] Labels from a home printer, QR scanning, and box search. [^3] [^3] [^3] |

## The short answer

Scanlily's Pro plan is described for homes, collectors and solo professionals. [^1] Its Ultra plan is described for small teams that lend, move, and track equipment. [^1] Sortly describes its software as for small businesses to manage physical inventory, including supplies, materials, tools, and equipment. [^2] Packing Buddy lets a household take photos of moving box contents, have AI list the items and pick the room, and search boxes to find items later. [^3] [^3]

## What Scanlily and Sortly are built for

Scanlily's pages describe a Pro plan for homes, collectors, and solo professionals. [^1] Scanlily's pages describe an Ultra plan for small teams that lend, move, and track equipment. [^1] Scanlily's Ultra plan supports multiple sites and locations for picking, sending, and transferring stock. [^1] Scanlily's Ultra plan includes equipment booking for checkouts, reservations, and pickups. [^1] Sortly's page describes its software as for small businesses to manage physical inventory, including supplies, materials, tools, and equipment. [^2] Sortly says users can upload an existing inventory list, organize inventory folders by location and type, and add item details with custom fields. [^2] [^2] [^2]

## What Packing Buddy is built for

Packing Buddy is made by the team that publishes this site. Packing Buddy lets a person running a household take photos of what goes into a moving box, and AI lists the items and picks the room. [^3] Each box gets a short code like K-03 that is printed on its label. [^3] Labels can print on common Avery or compatible label sheets from a home printer, or on plain paper. [^3] A phone camera can scan a box's QR code and open that box in the browser without an app. [^3] A person can search boxes to find which box an item is in. [^3]

## Pricing and fees

Scanlily's Pro plan costs $9 USD per month. [^1] Scanlily's Ultra plan costs $35 USD per month. [^1] Scanlily's Premium plan costs $75 USD per month. [^1] Scanlily's Enterprise offering has custom pricing. [^1] Packing Buddy publishes a free option with 3 test boxes per device without an account, and a free account with 10 boxes, 25 AI reads, and up to 4 photos a box. [^3] Packing Buddy Plus costs $12.99 a month or $59 a year for 100 boxes. [^3] Packing Buddy Pro costs $19.99 a month or $99 a year, with unlimited boxes and Bluetooth printers. [^3] Sortly's price is not published, so check it before choosing it.

## Getting started

Scanlily mentions a 14-day free trial. [^1] Scanlily lets users download all their data, images, and attachments anytime without subscription lock-in. [^1] Sortly lets users upload an existing inventory list and organize inventory folders by location and type. [^2] [^2] Sortly can be used on mobile, desktop, or tablet through automatic cloud-based syncing. [^2] Packing Buddy runs on phones and in a web browser, while Bluetooth printing works only in the phone app and not on the web. [^3] The web app is live and on a computer a person can choose photos already taken with nothing to install. [^3]

## Things to check before you choose

A person running a household should check how each tool handles moving boxes, item details, labels, scanning, sharing, and searching. A person should check whether the tool supports the devices they plan to use. A person should check what happens to stored information if a subscription changes. A person should check whether the available plans match the number of boxes or items that need tracking.

## How to choose

For a household that wants photos of box contents, room choices, labels, QR scanning, and box searching, Packing Buddy provides those functions. [^3] [^3] [^3] [^3] Scanlily's Pro plan is described for homes, collectors, and solo professionals. [^1] Sortly describes itself as inventory software for small businesses, with folders, custom fields, photos, and barcode and QR scanning. [^2] [^2] [^2] [^2] [^2]

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Scanlily for moving boxes at home?

Scanlily's page describes its Pro plan as being for homes, collectors, and solo professionals. [^1] Its other plans are described for small teams that lend, move, and track equipment or for companies and client-service professionals. [^1] [^1] Check whether those described uses match the way a household wants to organize boxes.

### Can Sortly track household items?

Sortly describes its software as for small businesses to manage physical inventory, including supplies, materials, tools, and equipment. [^2] It also describes custom fields for item details, photo uploads, and an in-app barcode and QR code scanner. [^2] [^2] [^2] A household should check whether those functions match its needs.

### Does Packing Buddy make labels for moving boxes?

Each box gets a short code like K-03 printed on its label. [^3] Labels can print on common Avery or compatible label sheets from a home printer, or on plain paper. [^3] A person can also scan a box QR code with any phone camera to open that box in the browser. [^3]

### Can someone else help with Packing Buddy boxes?

Packing Buddy share links let a partner, friends, or movers join by typing their name with no account. [^3] The movers link comes with your plan; which plans include it is not stated. [^3] Check the plan details before sharing boxes with other people during a move.

### What happens to Packing Buddy boxes after cancellation?

If Packing Buddy is canceled, stored boxes can still be opened, edited, reprinted, and searched, but new boxes cannot be added. [^3] A person should review the subscription terms before changing plans.

Free: 3 test boxes per device without an account; with a free account, 10 boxes, 25 AI reads and up to 4 photos a box. [^3] - [Visit Packing Buddy](/go/scanlily-vs-sortly)

## Sources

[^1]: Scanlily, scanlily.com, read 2026-10-07 (https://scanlily.com/)
[^2]: Sortly, sortly.com, read 2026-10-07 (https://www.sortly.com/)
[^3]: Packing Buddy's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher) (/go/scanlily-vs-sortly)