Intellist vs Sortly: Which Inventory App Is Right for You?

Who Is Each App For?

Intellist is designed for personal and household use. If you're the kind of person who has boxes in the attic you haven't opened in years, a pantry that's a black hole of forgotten cans, or a garage full of bins you can never quite remember the contents of, Intellist was built for you. It's a free-to-download iPhone app that combines flexible list-making (checklists, shopping lists, to-do lists) with detailed inventory tracking — and it can optionally use NFC tags so you can tap your phone on a box and instantly see what's inside.

Sortly is designed for small to mid-sized businesses. It's most commonly used by companies in construction, retail, warehousing, medical, and interior design to track commercial inventory, equipment, tools, and supplies. It supports features like multi-user permissions, activity logs, business reporting, and QR code/barcode scanning — all geared toward teams managing professional inventory workflows.

This difference in audience matters. Sortly's features, pricing, and complexity are tuned for business needs. Intellist is purpose-built for the realities of home life — shared family lists, quick pantry checks, and the kind of everyday organization that shouldn't cost $50 a month or require a learning curve.

Scanning Technology: NFC Tags vs. QR Codes

This is the single biggest differentiator between the two apps.

Intellist uses NFC (Near Field Communication) tags — the same technology behind Apple Pay. You stick a small, inexpensive NFC sticker on a box, bin, or shelf, and tap your iPhone against it. The app opens instantly to that container's contents. There's no camera required, no aiming, no waiting for a scan to register. NFC tags work through packaging, don't need line-of-sight, and cost around $0.15–$0.50 each. You write a list link directly to the tag using Intellist, and it becomes a permanent, instant connection between the physical container and its digital inventory.

Sortly uses QR codes and traditional barcodes. You can scan existing product barcodes or generate custom QR code labels within the app. This works well for business environments where products already have barcodes, but it requires pointing your camera at the code and waiting for it to focus and register. For home use, QR codes are functional but less seamless than tapping an NFC tag — especially when you're standing on a step stool reaching for a box in the back of a closet.

It's worth noting that NFC tags are completely optional in Intellist. Everything works without them. But if you want the fastest possible way to check what's in a container, NFC is significantly quicker than scanning a QR code.

List Types and Flexibility

Intellist offers two core list types: checklists (for shopping lists, to-do lists, and task tracking) and inventories (for tracking items with quantities inside specific containers or locations). This means you can use a single app for both your grocery list and your home storage system. Checked items move to the bottom of the list automatically, and you can uncheck everything with a single tap for reusable lists.

Sortly is inventory-focused. It uses a folder-and-subfolder structure to organize items, with the ability to add photos, custom fields, notes, and tags to each entry. It's powerful for cataloging, but it doesn't have a built-in checklist or shopping list feature. If you want a simple to-do list or grocery list alongside your inventory, you'd need a separate app.

Automations

Intellist includes smart automations that can automatically add items to a shopping list when your inventory runs low. For example, if you track eggs in your fridge inventory and the quantity drops below a threshold, Intellist can automatically add eggs to your shopping list. This bridges the gap between knowing what you have and knowing what you need to buy.

Sortly offers low-stock alerts that notify you when an item hits a minimum quantity. On higher-tier paid plans, it supports webhook integrations for custom automation workflows. However, it doesn't natively create shopping lists from low-stock items the way Intellist does — it's designed more for reorder alerts in a business context.

Family and Team Sharing

Intellist supports family sharing, allowing household members to share lists so everyone can see what's stored where and what needs restocking. This is designed for the reality that in most households, more than one person needs to know where the holiday decorations are or what's running low in the pantry.

Sortly supports multi-user access with role-based permissions — admin, manager, and viewer roles. This is essential for businesses where you need to control who can edit inventory and who can only view it. The free plan is limited to a single user; adding team members requires a paid plan.

Pricing

This is where the comparison gets stark.

Intellist is free to download with core features — up to 3 lists, unlimited items, and NFC scanning. Pro subscriptions unlock unlimited lists, automations, and group sharing at $4.99/month for individuals or $9.99/month for families, with a free 2-week trial. Annual plans bring the cost down further ($29.99/year individual, $49.99/year family).

Sortly starts at $49/month for its Advanced plan (billed monthly) with 2 user licenses. Annual billing offers a discount, but even the entry-level paid plan costs nearly $600/year at full price. Several Sortly users on review sites have noted frustration with recent price increases, with some long-time customers reporting their annual costs nearly doubling.

For home users, the pricing difference is decisive. Sortly's pricing makes sense for businesses that can justify the cost. For personal or family use, paying $49/month or more to track what's in your pantry and garage simply doesn't make sense — especially when Intellist offers a purpose-built solution starting at under $5 a month, with core features available for free.

Platform Availability

Intellist launches on iPhone on March 31, 2026 and is available for pre-order now on the App Store. It's iOS-first, with additional platform support planned based on demand.

Sortly is available on iPhone, iPad, Android, and the web. If you need Android or web access right now, Sortly has the edge here.