Marcus Reyes
Supply Chain & Inventory Specialist | 12 Years
Marcus has managed supply chain and inventory operations in food & beverage manufacturing for over a decade, with a focus on compliance, lot traceability, and waste reduction. He has worked with FDA-regulated manufacturers across the US.
Sortly is genuinely good at one job: simple, photo-based tracking for tools, equipment, and supplies, free for up to 100 items and roughly $29-$149/mo beyond that (as of August 2026). It is not manufacturing software — no bills of materials, no production runs, no cost rollup — so the right "Sortly alternative" depends entirely on which job you're actually trying to do. For general asset and equipment tracking at bigger scale, EZOfficeInventory and Asset Panda are the honest picks. For manufacturers who make products rather than just track physical items, Nstock, Katana MRP, and Fishbowl are built for that job instead.
Sortly shows up in a lot of searches for inventory software because it's approachable, visual, and cheap to start with — snap a photo, tag a QR code, and know where something is. That's a real and valuable job, and Sortly does it well. The confusion starts when a manufacturer, rather than someone tracking tools or office equipment, ends up on Sortly's pricing page looking for something it was never built to do: recipes, bills of materials, production tracking, or cost of goods sold.
So this roundup splits cleanly in two. If you're evaluating Sortly because you need to track physical items — equipment, tools, supplies, inventory that doesn't get transformed into something else — the first two alternatives below are the honest comparison set. If you're evaluating Sortly because you actually make products and need real manufacturing depth, skip to the second half. Pricing below is approximate and current as of August 2026 unless noted — confirm current numbers directly with each vendor before you commit.
At a Glance: Sortly Alternatives Compared
- EZOfficeInventory — From $40/mo (Essentials, up to 250 items), unlimited users (as of 2026). Standout: reservations, checkouts, and maintenance scheduling for equipment that gets lent out or moved between sites. Best for: teams tracking equipment usage and condition, not just location.
- Asset Panda — Custom, quote-based pricing; no public pricing or open trial. Standout: highly configurable tracking workflows across multiple sites. Best for: larger, multi-site organizations that want to align the tool to their own internal process.
- Nstock — Free tier; paid plans from $49/mo (as of August 2026). Standout: multi-level BOM cost rollup, lot traceability, and live-COGS sales quoting. Best for: manufacturers who need the full production and costing workflow Sortly was never built for.
- Katana MRP — From $299/mo flat (as of August 2026). Standout: shop-floor production scheduling in a modern interface. Best for: manufacturers who've outgrown Sortly entirely and need real MRP depth.
- Fishbowl — Inventory tiers ~$229-$729/mo; separate Advanced Manufacturing add-on from ~$675/mo (as of August 2026). Standout: mature QuickBooks integration alongside manufacturing. Best for: QuickBooks-centric manufacturers who outgrew simple asset tracking.
For Asset & Equipment Tracking (the Same Job as Sortly, at More Scale)
1. EZOfficeInventory
EZOfficeInventory publishes its pricing openly: the Essentials plan starts at $40/mo for up to 250 items, Advanced runs $55/mo, and Premium is $65/mo, all with unlimited users (as of 2026 — confirm current tiers directly, as limits and pricing shift). It's built for teams that lend, reserve, move, and maintain equipment — cameras, tools, lab devices, event gear, medical items, rental equipment — with reservations, checkouts, audits, barcode scanning, and maintenance tracking built in.
Where it beats Sortly: if your equipment actually gets checked out, reserved, or serviced — not just counted — EZOfficeInventory's reservation and maintenance-scheduling features cover a workflow Sortly doesn't really address. Where it falls short: it's still asset tracking, not manufacturing — no BOMs, no production, no COGS. Pick it if your problem is "who has this and when do they need to return it," not "what does this cost to make."
2. Asset Panda
Asset Panda is known for highly configurable asset tracking — organizations managing many different asset types across multiple sites can adapt its workflows and fields to match their own internal processes closely. It doesn't publish public pricing or offer an open trial, so budgeting requires a sales conversation rather than a self-serve signup.
Where it beats Sortly: for larger, multi-site operations with asset workflows too specific for an off-the-shelf tool, Asset Panda's configurability is a real advantage. Where it falls short: the lack of public pricing and open trial makes it a heavier evaluation process than Sortly's self-serve free plan, and — like EZOfficeInventory — it's asset tracking, not manufacturing software. Pick it if configurability across a complex, multi-site asset fleet matters more to you than fast self-serve setup.
For Manufacturers (a Different Job Than Sortly Does)
3. Nstock
Nstock is inventory and production management software — the tool for when what you're tracking isn't just physical items, but raw materials that become finished products with a real cost. There's a genuinely free tier for finished-goods tracking, and paid plans start at $49/mo, with a 90-day free trial on signup.
Where it covers what Sortly can't: multi-level bills of materials with cost rollup, FIFO lot tracking for traceability, production run tracking, AI demand forecasting, and sales quotes with live COGS and margin visible to your team but not your buyers. If your actual problem is "what does this product cost to make and how much can I produce," rather than "where is this item," this is the right category of tool. See the full Nstock vs Sortly comparison.
4. Katana MRP
Katana is a polished, manufacturing-focused platform at $299/mo flat (as of August 2026), with strong BOM handling, production scheduling, and shop-floor tracking. If you've fully outgrown asset-tracking-style tools and need deep production scheduling on top of the manufacturing core, it's worth evaluating alongside Nstock — the free plan caps at 30 SKUs, so budget for a paid tier from day one if you're testing it seriously.
5. Fishbowl
Fishbowl covers manufacturing and warehouse inventory, with Inventory plans tiered from about $229/mo (2 users) to $729/mo (10 users) and a separate, custom-quoted Advanced Manufacturing product from around $675/mo (as of August 2026). It's worth a look specifically if your accounting is already anchored to QuickBooks Desktop or Online and you want that integration alongside real BOM and production tracking.
How to Choose
One question does most of the work: do you make products, or just track them?
If you're counting, locating, or checking equipment and supplies in and out — nothing gets transformed into something else — you're in the asset-tracking category, and EZOfficeInventory or Asset Panda will serve you better than a manufacturing platform you'll never fully use. If you're actually running production — recipes, assemblies, batches with a real bill of materials and a cost that needs to roll up into a finished product — you need a manufacturing tool, and Sortly (along with the asset trackers above) was never going to cover that, no matter how long you evaluated it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Sortly alternative for manufacturers?
Nstock is the closest full alternative for manufacturers: it covers bills of materials, lot tracking, production runs, and live-COGS quoting that Sortly doesn't have at all. Katana MRP and Fishbowl are also worth evaluating if you need deeper production scheduling or QuickBooks integration specifically.
What is the best Sortly alternative for general asset tracking?
EZOfficeInventory and Asset Panda are the closest like-for-like alternatives — both built for tracking, reserving, and maintaining physical equipment rather than manufacturing products. EZOfficeInventory publishes its pricing openly (from $40/mo); Asset Panda requires a sales conversation for pricing.
Can Sortly handle manufacturing?
Not really. Sortly is designed for visual asset and supply tracking — it has no bills of materials, production workflow, lot genealogy, or COGS reporting. Manufacturers typically outgrow it immediately once they need to cost or produce anything, rather than just locate it.
Is there a free Sortly alternative?
Nstock has a free tier for finished-goods tracking if you're evaluating manufacturing software. For pure asset tracking, Sortly's own free plan (100 items) is hard to beat on price — EZOfficeInventory and Asset Panda don't offer comparable free tiers.