VNDLY vs Sortly 2026: Which Inventory Tool Fits Your Business?

Sortly has built a reputation as the "pretty" inventory app — visual, mobile-first, and dead simple to set up. But when your business starts growing, does pretty keep up? In this honest comparison, we break down where Sortly shines, where it falls short, and how VNDLY stacks up for businesses that need more than a digital stockroom.

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What Sortly Does Well

Sortly's biggest win is its visual approach. You snap photos of items, tag them, and build folder-based inventories that feel more like a photo album than a database. For small teams tracking equipment, supplies, or a limited product catalog, it's genuinely pleasant to use.

The mobile app is another strong point. Barcode and QR scanning work smoothly, and the interface is clean enough that non-technical team members pick it up in minutes. If you're a contractor tracking tools, a school managing IT equipment, or a tiny retail shop with under 100 SKUs, Sortly's free plan gets you surprisingly far.

Sortly also offers a free tier with 100 items and 1 user — rare in this space. That makes it a low-risk entry point for businesses just dipping their toes into inventory tracking.

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Where Sortly Starts to Struggle

The problems show up when you try to run a real product business on it.

Item limits are rigid. The free plan caps you at 100 unique items. The Advanced plan ($24/month) bumps that to 500. Ultra ($74/month) and Premium ($149/month) raise the ceiling further. If you're a growing ecommerce brand or wholesaler with thousands of SKUs, you'll hit the ceiling fast — and Sortly doesn't let you buy add-ons for specific limits. You must jump to the next full tier.

No purchase orders on lower tiers. You can't create or manage POs until the Ultra plan ($74/month). For a product business, purchase orders aren't a "nice to have" — they're how you restock. Being forced into a higher plan just to send a PO to your supplier is painful.

Sales order management is basic. Sortly can track what you have, but it doesn't handle the full sales workflow — quotes, confirmations, partial shipments, backorders, invoicing. It's an inventory tracker, not an operations platform.

Integrations are thin. Native connections are limited to QuickBooks Online (Premium plan only), Slack, and Microsoft Teams. No Shopify, no WooCommerce, no Xero. API access is locked behind the Enterprise plan with custom pricing.

Pricing volatility is real. Sortly restructured its plans in 2024, forcing legacy customers onto new tiers with significant cost increases. The current "50% off first year" promotions look attractive, but renewal rates are much higher. Several reviewers report sticker shock when promotional pricing expires.

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What VNDLY Brings to the Table

VNDLY was built for product businesses — the ones buying inventory, selling it, and needing to see the full picture from purchase to payment.

Full purchase and sales order workflows. Draft POs, confirm them, receive partial shipments, track backorders. Sales orders flow from draft → confirmed → shipped → delivered, with invoices generated automatically. See how VNDLY handles purchase orders.

AI-powered insights. VNDLY's AI assistant (with BYOK — bring your own API key) can generate custom reports, flag anomalies, compare periods, and answer questions about your data in plain English. No data analyst required.

Demand planning and stock projection. See when you'll run out of stock before it happens. VNDLY charts your projected inventory levels against reorder points and highlights upcoming stockouts — so you can place orders with confidence, not panic.

Real integrations. Shopify, WooCommerce, and Xero connect natively. Inventory syncs automatically. Orders flow in. Invoices flow out. It actually talks to the tools you already use.

Predictable pricing. Starter at $49/month, Professional at $149/month, Enterprise at $349/month. No item limits. No user limits that force upgrades. No promotional pricing games. What you see is what you pay.

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Feature Comparison

Feature	VNDLY	Sortly
Purchase Orders	✅ Full workflow	✗ Ultra+ only
Sales Orders & Invoicing	✅ Built-in	✗ Not available
Multi-location Inventory	✅ Unlimited	✅ All plans
Barcode/QR Scanning	✅ Yes	✅ Yes
Shopify Integration	✅ Native	✗ Not available
WooCommerce Integration	✅ Native	✗ Not available
Xero / QuickBooks	✅ Xero native	⚠️ QBO Premium only
AI Assistant / Reporting	✅ BYOK AI	✗ Basic only
Demand Planning / Forecasting	✅ Built-in	✗ Not available
Stock Projection Charts	✅ Yes	✗ Not available
API Access	✅ All plans	✗ Enterprise only
Free Plan	✗ 14-day trial	✅ 100 items

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Sortly Pricing 2026: What You Actually Pay

Sortly restructured its pricing in 2024, moving from usage-based tiers to a simpler plan structure. Here's what Sortly actually costs in 2026:

• Free: 100 items, 1 user, basic folders and QR labels. No purchase orders, no integrations.
• Advanced ($24/month): 500 items, 3 users, activity history (3 months), custom fields, alerts.
• Ultra ($74/month): 2,000 items, 5 users, purchase orders, pick lists, stocktake, 3-year activity history. QuickBooks Online integration (read-only).
• Premium ($149/month): higher limits and additional capabilities for larger teams.
• Enterprise (custom): Unlimited items, SSO, API access, dedicated support.

The catch with Sortly pricing in 2026: promotional discounts (often "50% off for your first year") are common, but renewal pricing is significantly higher. G2 and Capterra reviews from 2024-2025 repeatedly flag sticker shock when the promotional rate expires. If you're comparing costs, use the renewal price - not the intro price.

Item limits are the real blocker. Sortly Ultra at $74/month caps you at 2,000 items. If your catalog grows beyond that, you're on the Premium ($149/month) or custom Enterprise pricing. VNDLY has no item limits on any plan.

At $49/month, VNDLY Starter gives you unlimited items, full purchase and sales workflows, and ecommerce integrations. Sortly's comparable tier (Ultra at $74/month) still lacks sales orders, invoicing, Shopify connectivity, and forecasting — and you'd need its $149/month Premium tier for higher limits. For product businesses, the math is stark.

If you're evaluating Sortly because you need a simple asset tracker, it's worth the money. If you're a product business that buys and sells inventory, see also best inventory software for small business for more options in this price range.

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Watch the VNDLY Demo

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From the Founder

I get why people love Sortly. It's pretty. It's fast to set up. You can hand it to anyone on your team and they'll figure it out in ten minutes.

But here's the thing — I ran a product company for 13 years. We went from one container every six months to 75+ per year. And at every growth stage, the tool that felt "good enough" last year became a bottleneck the next.

Sortly is perfect for tracking your tools, your IT equipment, or a tiny product catalog. But the moment you need to send a purchase order, invoice a customer, or see whether you'll run out of stock next month, you hit a wall. That wall costs you money — in missed sales, in emergency freight, in spreadsheets you swore you'd never use again.

We built VNDLY because we lived that wall. Not to be prettier than Sortly, but to handle the full operational cycle that product businesses actually run on.

— Henrik Åberg, Founder of VNDLY

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The Verdict: Who Should Use What

Choose Sortly if:

• You're tracking equipment, supplies, or assets (not selling inventory)
• You have fewer than 500 SKUs and no plans to scale dramatically
• Visual organization and mobile ease are your top priorities
• You don't need purchase orders, invoicing, or ecommerce integrations
• Your budget is tight and the free plan covers your needs

Choose VNDLY if:

• You buy inventory, sell it, and need to manage the full cycle
• You run an ecommerce store on Shopify or WooCommerce
• You need purchase orders, sales orders, and invoicing in one place
• You want demand forecasting and stock projection
• You prefer predictable pricing without item or user limits

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Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Sortly cost in 2026?

Sortly's paid plans in 2026: Advanced at $24/month (500 items, 3 users), Ultra at $74/month (2,000 items, 5 users, purchase orders), Premium at $149/month (higher limits), and Enterprise at custom pricing (unlimited items, API access). A free plan covers 100 items for 1 user. Note that promotional intro pricing is commonly offered - always verify the renewal rate before committing.

Does Sortly integrate with Shopify?

No. As of 2026, Sortly does not have a native Shopify integration. It connects with QuickBooks Online (Ultra plan and above) and has a Zapier-based API on Enterprise plans. If Shopify sync is important to your workflow, VNDLY, inFlow, or Cin7 Core are better fits.

Is Sortly good for product businesses?

Sortly works well for asset tracking, IT equipment, and small product catalogs under 500 SKUs with simple workflows. It struggles for product businesses that need purchase orders (Ultra only), sales order management (not available on any plan), invoicing, or ecommerce integration. Product businesses typically outgrow it within 12-18 months.

Can VNDLY replace Sortly?

For most product businesses, yes. VNDLY covers everything Sortly does for inventory tracking, plus adds purchase orders, sales orders, invoicing, Shopify/WooCommerce sync, demand planning, and a B2B buyer portal. The main thing VNDLY lacks vs Sortly is Sortly's purely visual/photo-first UX and a free tier.

What's cheaper: Sortly Ultra or VNDLY?

VNDLY Starter ($49/month) vs Sortly Ultra ($74/month): the headline prices are close, but VNDLY includes features Sortly Ultra doesn't have at any comparable tier (sales orders, invoicing, Shopify integration, demand forecasting). For $149/month — the price of Sortly's Premium tier — VNDLY Professional adds a B2B buyer portal, advanced reporting, and 10-user access with no item limits, vs Sortly's 5 users and 2,000 item cap.

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Sources: Sortly pricing from sortly.com/pricing and software review aggregators (May 2026); inFlow and Ordoro pricing from costbench.com; user ratings from G2 and Capterra. Pricing subject to change - verify on vendor websites before purchasing.