Home inventory app

A home inventory app is a phone app that records what you have stored and exactly where you stored it, so that instead of opening eight boxes in the garage you search a name and get an answer like "Garage, top shelf, Box W2, Bag 1". The good ones let you catalogue by photo rather than by typing, because nobody finishes a home inventory they have to type by hand.

What people actually use one for

Home inventory tools get recommended for insurance documentation, and that is a real use, but it is not why most people open one. The everyday reason is smaller and more annoying: things get put somewhere sensible and then the sensible place is forgotten.

Seasonal storage. Decorations, winter gear and camping equipment that live in the loft for eleven months.
Documents. Passports, certificates, warranties and the folder they went into.
Tools and hardware. The specific drill bit, the spare screws from a flat-pack.
Moving and unpacking. Knowing which of forty identical boxes has the kettle in it.
Insurance and claims. A dated photo record of what you own, which is the one use where having it before you need it matters most.

Why most home inventories get abandoned

The failure is almost always data entry. A spreadsheet or a generic inventory tool asks you to type a name, a quantity, a category and a location for every object in your house. That is an afternoon of work before the tool has done anything useful for you, and the payoff arrives months later. Most people stop somewhere in the second box.

The second failure is staleness. An inventory that is not updated when things move is worse than none, because it sends you confidently to the wrong shelf. Anything that makes updating slow guarantees it stops happening.

What to look for

Judge a home inventory app on how little work it asks of you, in this order.

Photo-first capture. Photographing an open box should create the entries. Typing them should be the exception, not the method.
Location as a hierarchy, not a text field. Room, then shelf, then box, then bin. A flat "location" box collapses under a few hundred items.
Labels you scan. A QR code on the box means checking its contents without unstacking it.
Real search. Searching "charger" should find "USB-C charger, 2 m" without you remembering how you named it.
Export. Your inventory should leave in CSV or PDF, especially for an insurance claim.
A free tier that is not a trial. Home use is intermittent, and a subscription you forget you have is a subscription you cancel.

How Locately approaches it

Locately is built around the photo step. You point your phone into an open box or shelf, AI reads the picture and drafts a label for each item it can see, and you confirm or correct them. You print one QR code for that spot, and from then on scanning the code shows you what is inside without opening it.

Locations nest the way a house does: room, shelf, box, bin. Search returns the item, its photo and the full path to it. The free plan has no item cap and does not expire.

Locately is pre-launch. There is no app to download yet, and this page describes what is being built rather than something you can install today. You can join the free waitlist, or buy a founding lifetime seat that is refundable in full until the beta opens.

Common questions

Is a home inventory app worth it for insurance?

Yes, and it is the one use case where doing it in advance really matters. Insurers settle contents claims faster with dated photographs and a written list than with a recollection. Whatever tool you use, make sure it exports to PDF or CSV so the record exists outside the app.

How long does it take to inventory a house?

With typing, most people never finish. Photographing shelf by shelf is realistic in short sessions, and the useful trick is to start with the storage you already struggle to search, usually the garage, loft or a document drawer, rather than attempting the whole house.

Can I use a spreadsheet instead?

For a few dozen items, yes. Spreadsheets fall down on photos, on searching from your phone while standing in the garage, and on nested locations. Below roughly a hundred items a spreadsheet is fine and free.

Can I use Locately today?

No. Locately is pre-launch and there is nothing to log into yet. You can join the free waitlist and get one email the day the beta opens, or buy a founding lifetime seat, which is refundable in full at any time before launch.

Founding cohort

Pay once. Keep Plus forever.

Locately is pre-launch. The first 100 people pay $99 once and never pay again, refundable in full until the beta opens.

Get lifetime access for $99 Or join the free waitlist

Labels & scanning

QR code inventory system

A QR code inventory system labels shelves and boxes so scanning a code shows what is inside. How it differs from barcodes, and how to label locations rather than items.

Compared

Inventory spreadsheet alternative

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