Sortly vs. BoxHero
Sortly is published by Sortly Inc. and has been on the App Store since 2012-06-05. BoxHero is published by BGPworks and has been available since 2019-05-23. Both are mobile inventory apps with barcode scanning, both start free at a hundred items, and both charge $288 for a year. What that $288 buys is where they separate. This comparison is built from what each developer publishes — App Store listings and both companies’ own pricing pages — with every claim sourced and anything unverifiable listed as such.
Everything below comes from published sources, checked on 2026-08-21 — with Sortly’s pricing page re-checked on 2026-08-25 — and linked in each section. Where the sources don’t answer a question, it’s listed under What we couldn’t verify rather than guessed at.
Sortly
A mobile inventory platform organised into folders and items, with barcode scanning, label generation and tiers priced per user licence.
BoxHero
An inventory app built around locations and transactions, priced per team rather than per seat.
The free plans are close enough to be interchangeable, and the paid plans cost the same for a year. The difference is what the money covers: BoxHero’s entry plan carries more items, more people and more locations at that price, while Sortly’s carries fewer of each but comes from a far more established app with a much longer track record.
At a glance
| Field | Sortly | BoxHero |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Sortly Inc. | BGPworks |
| Price | Free plan at $0; Advanced $49/month or $24/month billed yearly ($288/yr); Ultra $149/month or $74/month billed yearly ($888/yr). The yearly discount shown is a first-year rate — per Sortly’s pricing page on 2026-08-21 | Personal plan free with 1 member, 100 items and 1 location; Business $24 per team per month, or $288 annually, per BoxHero’s pricing page on 2026-08-21 |
| App Store rating | 4.73 from 9,466 ratings | 4.54 from 169 ratings |
| Current version | 10.26.1, updated 2026-08-26 | 3.58.0, updated 2026-08-27 |
| First released | 2012-06-05 | 2019-05-23 |
| Install size | 57.3 MB | 85.6 MB |
| Minimum iOS | 18.5 | 15.5 |
| iPad support | Yes | Yes |
Pulled from the App Store on 2026-09-04. Prices, versions, ratings, install sizes and OS requirements change — check the current App Store listing before relying on any of these values.
Feature comparison
| Field | Sortly | BoxHero |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan limits | 100 unique items, 1 user licence and 2 active jobs | 100 items, 1 member and 1 location, on a plan its page calls the Personal plan |
| Differs: What $288 a year buys | Advanced — 500 unique items, 2 user licences and 5 active jobs, at $24 a month billed yearly | Business — 1,000 items, 3 members and 3 locations, at $24 per team per month |
| Differs: How people are counted | Per user licence, with the number of licences fixed by the tier you are on | Per team, with the plan price covering the members included in that tier |
| Differs: Transaction history | One month on the free plan, one year on Advanced, three years on Ultra, unlimited on Premium | 30 days on the free Personal plan, unlimited on Business |
| Differs: Minimum iOS | 18.5 | 15.5 |
| Monthly option | Advanced at $49 a month, with the yearly rate stated as a first-year discount that drops after year one | Business at $24 per team per month, with annual billing described as saving 20% |
| Locations | Not stated as a counted limit on its pricing page | 1 location on Personal, 3 on Business, with inventory movable between them |
| Import and export | Inventory import and inventory reporting, per its App Store description | Excel import and export with bulk actions, on both plans |
| Label printing | Unlimited QR code label creation on Advanced; barcode label creation begins at Ultra. The free plan includes none | Custom barcode printing, on the Business plan |
Sources for this section: Sortly App Store listing, Sortly pricing page, BoxHero App Store listing, and BoxHero pricing page. The BoxHero sources were checked on 2026-08-21, and the Sortly sources were re-checked on 2026-08-25. Published feature lists change — check the current pages before relying on any row above. A heavier amber rule marks a row where the two apps meaningfully differ.
Where each one fits
Sortly brings fourteen years on the App Store against BoxHero’s seven, a far larger body of ratings as the table above shows, folders and photos for physical items, and active jobs for connecting items to work orders. Against that, it requires iOS 18.5, its $288 tier carries half the items and fewer people than BoxHero’s, and its yearly rate is a first-year discount. That discount, and what the paid tier actually buys, come up again in Sortly vs. Orca Scan.
BoxHero brings twice the items, three members and three locations at the same annual price, unlimited transaction history on the paid plan, Excel import and export on the free plan, and an iOS 15.5 floor. Against that, it is a much newer and far less used app, and its free plan allows one location and thirty days of history.
What we couldn’t verify
These are questions the published sources do not answer. They are listed here unresolved rather than guessed at.
- What BoxHero charges beyond three members or a thousand items. Its pricing page shows further figures that did not resolve into named add-ons when the page was read
- Whether Sortly counts locations at all, which its pricing page does not mention as a limit
- Whether BoxHero’s in-app subscription price matches the price on its website, which its App Store listing does not show
- Why Sortly’s App Store in-app-purchase list prices its Advanced plan at $449.99 a year against the $288 on its pricing page, which nothing Sortly publishes explains
- What BoxHero’s trial period length is, since its page states a free trial with no credit card required but names no duration
Ownership disclosure
AppMatchup is operated by Fogarty Holdings LLC, which publishes its own iOS apps.
Neither app on this page is one of them. Sortly and BoxHero are published by Sortly Inc. and BGPworks respectively, and Fogarty Holdings LLC has no stake in either.
Where a comparison on this site does include an app published by Fogarty Holdings LLC, that fact is labeled on that comparison page itself, next to the app it concerns.